Blackhawks open training camp with full NHL lineup already built out

Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill delivered a rousing speech to his team Wednesday night, some 12 hours before the first on-ice session of training camp.

The Hawks’ media relations team wanted to record it for future promotional videos. Blashill declined that request. He wanted those words to stay private forever.

“You come out of a meeting like that last night, and you’re ready to go,” Patrick Kane said Thursday. “You want to run through a wall.”

Any other year, a speech like that might’ve been best saved for the night before the regular season, given how much of a grind training camps used to be.

This year, though, there’s a real chance for the Hawks to keep that adrenaline flowing into the season, since the opener is only 12 days away.

This shortened camp will resemble sprint more than marathon. During a grueling 90-minute session Thursday, it certainly did.

“We have to get to our numbers, or get to a more realistic NHL lineup, right away and try to create some chemistry immediately,” general manager Kyle Davidson said.

The 50-man camp roster was immediately divided into a group consisting of 24 players competing for NHL jobs (all but one will make the opening roster) and another group consisting of 25 players bound for the AHL or junior teams — plus one injured player (Connor Bedard).

“There’s not a lot of opportunity for guys to surprise in camp,” Davidson added.

The Hawks have four preseason games in an eight-day span starting Saturday, but players with 100-plus games of NHL experience are no longer allowed to appear in more than two preseason games. Some will only appear in one, Davidson said.

Forward lines

For the aforementioned reasons, the initial lineup the Hawks debuted Thursday is particularly relevant this year. At its top, Frank Nazar is centering Kane and Russian rookie Roman Kantserov on the first line.

“Patrick is a super high-IQ hockey player, and [there’s] a lot of give-and-go to his game,” Blashill said. “Both Frankie and Roman can play some of that give-and-go game with him. They think [the game] a little bit the same way.

“Historically, when Patrick has had a center that can create lanes with his speed, it has helped him. Frankie, with his speed through the middle, will open up some different passing lanes.”

Below them, Anton Frondell centered Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Lardis on the second line, Oliver Moore centered Ryan Donato and Andrew Mangiapane on the third and Ryan Greene centered Cole Smith and Jordan Greenway on the fourth.

Landon Slaggert and, interestingly, Teuvo Teravainen were the extras rotating in.

Meanwhile, Davidson said Bedard has “cleared every hurdle” so far with his shoulder rehab. There’s a predetermined plan for the next few weeks, after which Bedard’s timeline for returning will become clearer.

Davidson noted there’s also “healing component that’s not necessarily visible on the ice that the doctors will have to sign off on.”

Defensive pairings

Bowen Byram shifted to the right side to form the top pairing with Alex Vlasic. The other pairings featured Wyatt Kaiser with Artyom Levshunov, Ian Cole with Sam Rinzel and Kevin Korchinski with Ethan Del Mastro.

“Our ‘D’ pairings, we still have to figure that out,” Blashill said. “There could be some fluidity, even within games. With [Byram], he’s comfortable on the right. Most players would rather play their normal side if everything was equal, but you don’t always fall into that spot.”

Davidson said he’ll consider carrying all eight defensemen, although that would require waiving one of the 14 forwards, all of which Blashill described as NHL-caliber. Davidson also clarified he’s OK with young players (such as Korchinski) sitting out of the playing lineup.

“It’s not a concern for me at this point,” Davidson said. “If this were years past … I would maybe have a different thought on it.”

That’s because Davidson’s ambitions are higher for this team, mirroring the players’ frequent talk about making the playoffs. It’s a priority now to deploy the best possible lineups every night.

“We wouldn’t make some of the transactions that we made if we didn’t believe there was a step to be had here,” Davidson said. “Now, there’s a lot that goes into it. Sometimes getting into the playoffs is 90 points, sometimes it’s 100. It’s all about showing up and expecting something every night, and we should expect to arrive and win.”