Reichel, Chicago's first-round draft pick in 2020, was the Blackhawks No. 1 prospect on The Hockey News Future Watch list a year ago and No. 2 behind Connor Bedard when the 2023-24 season started.
The Chicago Blackhawk have finally seen — or not seen — enough out of highly-touted forward Lukas Reichel.
On Sunday morning, the team demoted Reichel, drafted in the first round, 17th overall in 2020, to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. The 21-year-old native of Nürnberg, Germany had been given a shot as the rebuilding team's No. 2 center behind Connor Bedard to start the season, but has been mostly invisible and ineffective on the ice.
The wiry Reichel had just three goals and seven assists and was a minus-28 in 50 games. Skating, passing, shooting, defensive coverage, going into traffic, smart decisions or whatever, Reichel did none of them consistently this season.
He was a healthy scratch in Chicago's last two games after Bedard, the NHL's rookie scoring leader, returned from a broken jaw.
Was Top Prospect
Reichel was considered the best prospect in Chicago's organization after Bedard as the 2023-24 season started. He was ranked as the Blackhawks top prospect by a scouting panel in the 2023. The Hockey News Future Watch edition was released at the end of February and before Bedard was drafted.
As recently as this week, Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said the team wasn't considering sending Reichel, the nephew of longtime NHL forward Robert Reichel, to the minors. See video.
Improved Last Season
Reichel had made progress on improving his game to North American pro standards last season, first in Rockford and then with the Blackhawks.
The 6-foot, 170-pound forward worked on becoming a two-way center in 55 games with the IceHogs, posting 20 goals and 31 assists. Then in 23 games with the Blackhawks, Reichel started to fit in as an NHLer, with seven goals and eight assists in 23 games.
Reichel was drafted under the regime of former Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman, a group that was in place during the downturn of the franchise. Bowman stepped down in October 2021 following a report on the Kyle Beach sexual assault scandal.
The 2024 THN Future Watch edition is about to be released and includes information on the top prospects of all 32 NHL teams. Subscribe at thn.com/free to get it. Based on scouting reports, Chicago's new No. 1 prospect is... ? Well, another first-round draft pick that current GM Kyle Davidson was pumped to get.
