FEATURE: Blackhawks Prospects Made 'Great Progress' in Development

While the Blackhawks development staff didn't know what to expect from the prospects going into this season, Blackhawks Assistant General Manager of Player Development Mark Eaton noted that this year's group exceeded expectations with how they played the game and their work off the ice as well.

Whether they have been in the system for two-plus years or were just drafted last season, every player showcased their developmental growth.

"I don't think you could look at any one player from this year's class and say that they had an off year," Eaton said. "For us on the development staff, [we didn't know] a lot about them going into the season. I think we were pleasantly surprised with every single guy that we drafted."

With the 2022 NHL Draft Class, Gavin Hayes (81 points), Kevin Korchinski (73 points) and Samuel Savoie (59 points) were some of the top leaders in points for their respective Canadian junior league teams as well as Aidan Thompson (32 points) and Ryan Greene (31 points) in the NCAA. The group also had three players compete in the Frozen Four with Michigan's forward Frank Nazar and Boston University's forward Greene and goaltender Drew Commesso (second round, 2020).

Not only did they stand out in the regular season, but some players even added other awards to their long list of achievements. Ethan Del Mastro (fourth round, 2021) secured his second goal medal with Team Canada in this year's World Junior Tournament. Alongside him, Korchinski, Nolan Allan (first round, 2021) and Colton Dach (second round, 2021) earned their first goal medal, but also helped the Seattle Thunderbirds capture the WHL Championship Title and compete in the CHL's top tourament, the Memorial Cup.

With most of the Blackhawks prospects producing career highs in points and winning league titles, it just proved to Eaton and the staff that every player proved that they are stepping in the right direction of their development. As they continue to move forward in their career, the players will now need to remember to bring the same momentum to reach their goal of playing in the NHL.

"They all made really great progress throughout the course of the year and developed really well," Eaton said. "So, it's just a matter for us on the development side, just continuing to ingrain in them the style that's going to be expected of them at the pro level, which is that foundation of competing shift in and shift out and being able to play a fast game."

Outside of their on-ice performance, the development staff also takes into consideration what prospect show with their development off the ice as well. Whether it's their maturity, ways they value nutrition or physical development, all of these can be key factors for a player's overall growth.

Heading into this year's development camp in July, Eaton and the hockey operations staff decided to take players off the ice to shift the players' focus on how to eat healthier as well as how to take care of their bodies with different routines. Not only is the off-ice training giving some players who are still competing a break, but also reinforces that these components can factor heavily in their growth as a professional player.

"Everything that we're going to be teaching them and throwing their way during that week, it's for their benefit," Eaton said. "I think what we're looking for is just an open mind from them and at a high engagement level from day one to day seven of development camp."

As the prospect pool grew, Eaton described how this can cause some challenges for the development staff with providing players attention that they need and deserve as they play throughout the season.

Between the staff on the Blackhawks and the Rockford IceHogs, he noticed that with this year's class, they were still able to be organized and provide the resources to their prospects to make sure they can reach their chance to play in the NHL one day.

"Even though our prospect pool is big, being able to stay organized and make sure that we're giving these guys access to all the resources that they feel they need to get the most out of themselves and eventually become everyday NHL players," Eaton said. "We want to continue to build on that and provide that for all of our prospects, amateur and pro."