On Monday, the Chicago Blackhawks held their fifth practice of training camp. It included a scrimmage, with heavy emphasis on special teams.
Both ahead of the scrimmage and during, Jeff Blashill had his players working hard on the power play and penalty kill.
The power play units at the beginning of practice went as follows:
Power Play Unit One
Tyler Bertuzzi
Teuvo Teravainen - Frank Nazar - Connor Bedard
Sam Rinzel
Power Play Unit Two
Nick Foligno
Ryan Greene - Oliver Moore - Lukas Reichel
Matt Grzelcyk
It must be noted that Andre Burakovsky, although dressed, had a limited participation in practice due to a lower-body injury. He is sure to figure into these units when he is back to being 100 percent.
Grzelcyk (PTO) is not expected to make the team unless multiple young players clearly need more time in the AHL, so it is interesting to see him as the second unit's quarterback.
We know that Connor Bedard is the team's biggest offensive weapon, and using him to his full potential on the power play is the key to success.
"On the power play, I think he was in good spots last year," Blashill said on Connor Bedard's power play usage. "He probably has the ability to play both flanks, so that gives us some flexibility." Blashill said all of this before commenting on Bedard's ability to be a threat as a shooter or a passer, which helps on any man-advantage.
"I think the best way to utilize Connor is to win face-offs and have good entries, spend as much time in your end as you can," Blashill continued.
If Bedard and the power play can take their game to another level in 2025-26, it will help them win more games. Their penalty kill needs to match the intensity that their power play brings, too.
There were three groups of penalty killing units practicing. They looked like this:
Penalty Kill Unit 1
Frank Nazar - Teuvo Teravainen
Ethan Del Mastro - Sam Rinzel
Penalty Kill Unit 2
Sam Lafferty - Nick Foligno
Matt Grzelcyk - Louis Crevier
Penalty Kill Unit 3
Ryan Greene - Oliver Moore
Cavan Fitzgerald - Ryan Mast
These penalty killing units are made up of players with two major assets, big brains and/or speed. Jeff Blashill will not be afraid to use veterans or young players on these units, as long as they kill penalties the right way.
Blashill also spoke about how he wants these groups to play on the penalty kill. It will be the same style that the Tampa Bay Lightning had while he was an assistant coach there. The scheme is to be more aggressive, which will allow them to push the puck up the ice for short-handed chances in addition to clearing the puck out of their defensive zone.
"We definitely want to score shorthanded goals," Blashill said. "That's a huge part of the penalty kill."
Obviously, the Blackhawks don't have Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Brayden Point, or the other elite players that the Lightning had, but he wants to mold these young men into players like that.
The Blackhawks will reveal which players are going to suit up against the Detroit Red Wings in the first preseason game on Tuesday morning. Expect some of these units to be put together in the game, where they can see where they're at against actual opponents.
Spending a lot of time on special teams is important to Jeff Blashill because it can be the difference in games. He has been around some incredible performers over the years, so he knows what these young players need to advance in that aspect.
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