The Chicago Blackhawks made the move to hire Jeff Blashill during the off-season. He has a notable history of coaching in the NHL and other leagues worldwide, and he looks to be well-positioned for another head coaching opportunity.
He is now a handful of days into training camp, and the Blackhawks already appear poised to be an incredibly well-conditioned team.
Chicago made a coaching change in the middle of last season, which made it feel like a tale of two teams. Under Luke Richardson, they clogged things up, but it didn't give the talented forwards enough leeway to make plays. Under Anders Sorensen, things opened up a bit more, but they starting looking lackluster defensively.
Under Jeff Blashill, they are looking to find a nice mix. On Saturday, he explained what he plans to have them look like defensively, which could lead to the offensive chances being of higher quality.
"It's a hybrid." Blashill described. "Basically, when the puck's low, we want five in our quadrant, and outnumber them in that quadrant and get the puck and get out of there. When the puck goes up high, we're going into our man right away in man-on-man."
The Blackhawks are depending on their skaters to be nimble and fast with a system like this. With the conditioning that they are already partaking in during practice, they should be well-prepared.
"It's different than they did last year, not that one system's better than another, but for us personally, we want to be a pressure team when we don't have the puck," Blashill said. "We got really big, long defensemen that can skate, so let's get them into people right away."
Most of the players on the team, especially on defense, are young with a lack of experience compared to veterans in the NHL. With that, there will be mistakes made.
However, this could be the one way that the team defends that allows Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, and Oliver Moore, amongst others, to stay creative once the puck is still on their stick.
Blashill believes that the speed and edge-work that his defenseman have will work well in this system. If he didn't think that they had the speed or tenacity, they'd defend in a completely different way.
If this team clicks and plays this type of defensive system well, Blashill will have his team in a lot more games. Only time will tell if the talent gap is their undoing in 2025-26, but it will be great for their overall development if they show a certain level of competitiveness.
Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.