FEATURE: Traverse City through the eyes of Player Development

High above the West Rink at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Mich. a meeting of hockey minds intently gazes down as Chicago's rookie team battles the St. Louis Blues prospects.
A whistle and a stoppage may lead one scout to lean over and whisper to his colleague. Together they nod in agreement and go back to watching as play resumes. Another scout scribbles something on a notepad.

Eaton agreed to let chicagoblackhawks.com sit next to him in the "scouts only" section during the third period on Monday evening. He shared his observations and provided an exclusive, inside look at how a team's player development department utilizes these games to evaluate talent.
"A lot of these guys I've already worked with for a couple of years," Eaton said. "This (tournament) is kind of my first look at (Adam) Boqvist… (Nicolas) Beaudin, (Philipp) Kurashev, and guys who we've drafted this year. It's kind of my first read on all of those guys and I get a glimpse at them."
Eaton got a short look at those players at the team's Development Camp in July. However, this is valuable game action against players in jerseys with logos other than that of the Blackhawks.
It's an important tool for teams like Chicago, allowing them to see how their players have taken to their offseason training programs and how on-schedule they are with their development.

Each player has a development plan tailored to their particular skill set, their body type, and their talent level.
"You don't want to make a cookie-cutter plan," Eaton said. "Everybody is a different player with a different skill set. Something you give to Dennis Gilbert is not what you give Adam Boqvist, as far as on the ice goes. As far as off the ice, we look for character and work habits. That's pretty static."
Down below, Kurashev drives to the net for a scoring chance.
"I've liked him a lot," Eaton said, noting the progress of the 2018 fourth-round pick since draft day.
"I've liked him really since game one (here). I liked him at Development Camp. There's definitely a lot to work with there."
Scoring chances and plays made with the puck like that one are easy to track, easy to spot. You don't have to be a classically trained pianist to recognize a melody when you hear one.
So, what is Eaton looking for that the fans in the stands aren't?
"Something maybe a typical hockey fan wouldn't look for is seeing the reads, how the player is seeing the game, how each player is thinking the game," he said.
"Is he putting himself in the right spots offensively and defensively? Does he have anticipation? That type of stuff. It's more away from the puck, where fans maybe would just focus on the puck. We look a lot away from the puck."
As play continues, St. Louis, which has just scored, is playing with a bit more energy than they had earlier in the game when Chicago was dominating the shot volume. 2017 first-round pick Henri Jokiharju is quarterbacking a cycle in the offensive zone. The whistle blows and a penalty is handed out to a Blues player.
"We talk about the reads, and Henri made a great read there," Eaton says, gesturing to the Blues zone below. "He didn't have to back out of the zone as quickly as you see other D. He stayed in the zone, kept the puck in, made a good little touch pass and then ended up drawing a penalty. It's little things like that that lead to a power play and kill some of the momentum St. Louis had going."
Jokiharju isn't the only one catching Eaton's eye.
"I think Ejdsell has gotten steadily better," he said. "He's raised his game. He has elite skill. He's got a great shot, that we saw on display (on Saturday). I think all of our D collectively have gotten better every game. I think a lot of them, whether they're coming from Europe or coming from college or junior, they're not used to this level of play. But I think it says a lot of them that they're pretty quick learners and they've got a feel in game one and have stepped it up each game thereafter."
The Blues have now tied the game at 3-3 and the Blackhawks have seen a couple of shooting opportunities pass by with a player electing to pass rather than put the puck on net. With the Blackhawks on a man advantage, defenseman Lucas Carlsson joins that group.
"A lot of new guys want to be unselfish, especially when guys go to Chicago with All-Star players, sometimes they think pass first," Eaton said. "In a situation like that, when you're at the top of a power play with a clear shot, that's where you've just got to let it rip."
These players are young and eventually, they'll learn to not defer as much. Eaton knows the coaching staff will likely address this with the players at some point.
After the game, Eaton and his fellow members of the Blackhawks front office will chat and go over things they've seen - such as that.
"We'll go in and have a conversation. It's kind of back and forth. They ask who we like, I'll ask who they like."
Player development doesn't stop here in Traverse City. It's an ongoing process that will run through the imminent hockey season and then the offseason. Rinse and repeat, year after year.
Down below, Kurashev rips around the offensive zone with the puck and catches Eaton's eye again. Using him as an example, Eaton explains what comes next for these young players.
"We have multiple coaches," said Eaton. "(Development Coach) Derek Plante is a guy who focuses on the amateur forwards so the main contact with Kurashev will be Plante. I have him on my schedule a couple of times as well, so the main thing with that when you have multiple guys seeing a player is just when you're talking to him or his coaches, the message is unified. The last thing you want is one guy saying one thing, another guy saying another thing and then the kid's head is going around in circles.
Late in the game, with the score still tied at three, Eaton gives insight into what he's hoping to see the rest of the way.
"It's never niceto blow a lead, butit's good to see how guys react in tight games and tight situations. Who plays nervous? Who steps it up?"
Up to that point it appeared to Eaton that the individuals and team as a whole had kept their play the same.
"Nobody has really stood out as far as raising their level or dipping. Now is crunch time so you hope somebody will step up," Eaton said.

Right on cue, Alexandre Fortin backchecks, strips the puck and turns to race down the ice. With a Blues player draped all over him, Fortin drives to the net for a scoring chance. A tangle of bodies knocks over the goalie. Some rough stuff ensues, with Fortin drawing a penalty thanks to a lack of discipline from a St. Louis player after the whistle.
"He's certainly gotten better," Eaton mused as he watched Fortin skate off. "He's learned to use that speed and he's been a factor.
"There you see from Fortin. He has that speed. He can either use it to back D off or if they're trying to stand him up he can drop his shoulder and take it to the net."
Fortin is healthy after previously battling injuries. He played 53 games for the Rockford IceHogs in the regular season and just one in the playoffs. Player Development worked with him the whole way and this summer to help him through it.
"From my first AHL season last year, I learned a lot from everybody I had around me," said Fortin. "They showed me exactly what I had to do and what I had to improve on to be at the next level."
"That's when you tell them that 'you might be injured physically, and you can't be on the ice, but that doesn't mean you still can't be doing things to help yourself develop,'" said Eaton. "Learn more about the mental game and a lot of things we talked about at Development Camp, as far as the off-ice stuff goes."
"You can never stop learning."
The power play Fortin helped create at 18:21 of the final period of regulation didn't generate the game-winner, but the Blackhawks did leave the rink that night victorious. Dylan Sikura scored at 3:10 of overtime to give Chicago a 2-1 record and a spot in the third-place game on Tuesday night.
The 2018 NHL Prospects Tournament has been a learning experience for everyone, including Chicago's hockey operations group. They now have more information on their youngest players to take into training camp and then the regular season, wherever these individuals go on to play.
Perhaps some of this group will see NHL time this season, and quickly.