On last season’s Blackhawks, MacKenzie Entwistle played in 66 games — eighth-most on the team.
Boris Katchouk wasn’t far behind him, making 58 appearances. Reese Johnson made 57. Colin Blackwell made 53. And Joey Anderson, after a February trade from the Maple Leafs, played in all 24 games for which he was on the team.
So far in training camp, however, none of those five forwards — neither Entwistle, Katchouk, Johnson, Blackwell (who’s injured) nor Anderson — have been included in the Hawks’ four forward lines.
That leaves them battling just to be the 13th forward and a healthy scratch on opening night, barring any injuries, and only one will win that competition. The rest will end up back on waivers, then either the AHL or elsewhere.
Times have changed, which is good for the Hawks but less than ideal for them.
“You don’t have to be a genius to know there’s a lot of forwards here,” Entwistle said. “You count the numbers. There’s a couple of us fighting for some spots.”
Added coach Luke Richardson: “[Those guys have] been around the NHL for a while. They know the numbers. It’s a battle. Every year, it really is. They might be in the same situation as last year, and they’ll have to work their way up the lineup and wait for their opportunity and take the most of it. But I know they’ve shown that in the past.”
The top four lines of Taylor Hall-Connor Bedard-Ryan Donato, Andreas Athanasiou-Lukas Reichel-Philipp Kurashev, Taylor Raddysh-Cole Guttman-Tyler Johnson and Nick Foligno-Jason Dickinson-Corey Perry seem fairly locked in, even if the exact combinations change over time.
Meanwhile, Entwistle, Katchouk and Anderson have been operating as the de facto fifth line — and they’ve looked solid in scrimmages, forechecking tenaciously and motivated to impress — while Johnson has rotated with prospects.
That’s not even mentioning Anders Bjork, who tallied eight points in 13 NHL games late last season but received an AHL-only contract for 2023-24.
All the guys in question have outwardly maintained positive attitudes about their predicaments. But it would unquestionably be difficult to wind up back in the relative anonymity of Rockford after experiencing a full year of NHL spotlights, five-star hotels and charter flights.
“It’s hockey,” Entwistle said. “The decision is in my control but, at the same time, out of my control. We’ll see what happens. If I go down to Rockford, then I go down to Rockford. I’ll compete and do whatever I can to get back up here.”
Said Johnson: “Every day, there’s a chance to prove yourself. I remind myself every day that playing in the NHL is a privilege, and I never get complacent with myself.”
Anderson is most familiar with this situation, as he has regularly bounced between the NHL and AHL for five consecutive years (save for last spring). He has a family now to keep him grounded, and he feels more comfortable with the Hawks than he ever did with the Devils and Leafs.
“We’re all buddies,” Anderson said. “It is a job, but...we want to see each other succeed along with ourselves. You push each other to play hard and be better. [Management is] going to make the decision they’re going to make.”
But for somebody like Johnson, who wasn’t drafted yet has steadily climbed up the hockey ladder entirely within the Hawks organization, it’s a little more personal.
Entering his sixth pro season, he’s determined to make his case why he should be kept around, even from an off-ice perspective.
“That’s big thing the team, from an organizational standpoint, has looked at: they want to create a better culture around here,” Johnson said. “I’m a guy able to help build that. Hopefully [I can] stay here and be a Blackhawk. That’s my goal.”
