Today’s News Clips Oct. 31, 2019

Chicago Tribune

First-round pick Kirby Dach will stay with the Blackhawks all season

Jimmy Greenfield Oct. 30, 2019

Kirby Dach showed the Blackhawks enough in six games that they didn’t need to see more: He’s staying.

Dach, the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft, was informed by general manager and coach Jeremy Colliton on Tuesday that he won’t return to his junior team in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and will remain with the Hawks.

Colliton shared the news with reporters after practice Wednesday in El Segundo, Calif.

“He’s shown he can help us and he’s only going to get better,” Colliton said. “I think the player he is now, there’s likely going to be a huge improvement as the year goes on, and the player (he is) in February I’m sure is going to be an impact player for us.”

Once Dach, 18, has played in 10 games, he will have burned the first year on his entry-level contract.

There is one more game benchmark to watch for regarding Dach. Once he plays in his 40th game, he will move one year closer to unrestricted free agency, which would then come after the 2025-26 season. Dach is scheduled to be a restricted free agent after 2021-22.

The 6-foot-4 forward has a and an assist while averaging 11 minutes, 59 seconds of ice time.

Beyond the statistical measures, Dach immediately showed he was comfortable playing against NHL competition. He hasn’t looked overmatched or intimidated no matter the opponent or who his linemates have been.

Dach’s season got a delayed start when he suffered a concussion during a prospect tournament just before training camp. He made his NHL debut Oct. 20 against the Capitals and scored his first goal in his second game two nights later against the Golden Knights when a puck bounced off his leg and into the net.

“I came into camp wanting to make this team,” Dach told reporters. “And to finally get that recognition from Jeremy and the management group is awesome, and I’m thrilled to be here.”

Dach will continue to live with Brent Seabrook and his family, which Colliton believes has helped with Dach’s development and comfort.

“Everyone knows Seabs is a tremendous leader and great teammate,” Colliton said. “Takes care of everyone. So it’s pretty good for Kirby to be around that.”

No longer having to wonder if he would stay or go is a plus, even if the decision came only a few days early.

“It’s a little bit more comforting knowing I’m going to be here year-round instead of that question mark always surrounding me,” Dach said. “A little bit more comfortable that way, but at the same time, I’ve been comfortable here for a while now.

“I’ve got a good living situation and I’m happy where I’m at in life and I just want to keep things going and hopefully get a couple of wins on the rest of the road trip.”

Chicago Sun-Times Blackhawks to retain Kirby Dach for rest of NHL season

Ben Pope Oct. 30, 2019

LOS ANGELES — Were it not for a few telltale pimples, Blackhawks rookie Kirby Dach’s stoic expression and monotonous delivery would belie his youth. He carries himself as though he’s 28, not 18.

But talking with the media as a permanent member of the Hawks for the first time Wednesday, Dach’s serious face broke into a slight grin.

‘‘It’s thrilling and it’s exciting for me,’’ Dach said. ‘‘It’s something I’ve dreamed of my whole life.’’

Moments earlier, coach Jeremy Colliton had said the Hawks would be keeping Dach, the No. 3 overall pick in the NHL Draft in June, for the rest of the 2019-20 season.

Colliton and general manager Stan Bowman sat down with Dach for lunch Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee, to tell the young center of his fate. But the impending game overshadowed the news in Dach’s mind, and Colliton likewise didn’t tell the rest of the team immediately.

Wing was pleasantly surprised to hear the news after practice Wednesday in Los Angeles.

‘‘I didn’t even know that, so that’s great for him,’’ Kane said. ‘‘He’s a good player, and he’s going to be a really good player in this league.’’

Now Dach finally can settle in.

In some ways, not much will change. He’s going to keep living with defenseman Brent Seabrook, proving himself against older defenders and occupying roughly the same niche in the lineup. Mentally, however, this represents a huge moment of affirmation.

‘‘It’s a little more comforting, knowing that I’m going to be here year-round instead of that question mark that was always surrounding me,’’ he said.

Through six NHL games, Dach has one goal, one assist and nine shots on goal while averaging 11:59 of ice time. Nearly all of that has come at five-on-five.

Fans have clamored for Dach to get a look on the power play and in a bigger even-strength role, but Colliton said he thinks the youngster will benefit from the somewhat limited workload.

‘‘It’s a long year,’’ Colliton said. ‘‘Playing 80 games in the NHL is a lot different than playing 70 in the Western [Hockey] League. Even the minutes, playing 10 in the NHL is a lot more taxing than playing 20 in the [WHL] or 15 in the American [Hockey] League.

‘‘We’ll manage that, and he may not play every game, either. He’s still pretty light, and we need him to continue to get his strength work in. And during the year, it’s difficult when you play so many games.’’

Dach agreed strength is his biggest area of need. He has a 6-4 frame on which to add muscle, and he has looked top- heavy at times — especially against the Predators on Tuesday, when he went down too easily a few times.

Nonetheless, Dach quickly has shown a solid comfort level and an impressive upside, especially considering his recovery from a concussion robbed him of training camp.

The Hawks could have waited until the end of their road trip — Saturday against the Kings, Sunday against the Ducks and Tuesday against the Sharks — to decide whether to burn the first year of Dach’s entry-level contract this season. That they felt confident enough to do so four games early is noteworthy.

‘‘He’s played well, he’s shown he can help us and he’s only going to get better,’’ Colliton said. ‘‘There’s likely going to be huge improvement as the year goes on. The player [he is] in February I’m sure is going to be an impact player for us.’’

The Daily Herald Blackhawks say Dach is playing well so he'll stay with the team all season

John Dietz Oct. 30, 2019

It's official: Kirby Dach is sticking with the Blackhawks.

After meeting with GM Stan Bowman, coach Jeremy Colliton told the media that the Hawks are indeed going to keep the No. 3 pick of last June's draft on the roster all season.

"Stan and I sat with him yesterday and told him he's going to be here," Colliton told reporters after practice Wednesday in California as the team prepares to face the Los Angeles Kings Saturday. "He's played well. He's shown he can help us and he's only going to get better."

The 6-foot-4, 198-pound Dach has 1 goal and 1 assist in six games and is averaging 12 minutes of ice time. The Hawks could have sent him back to juniors at any before his 10th appearance to avoid burning a year of his three-year deal.

Dach has centered the third line the last two games with Brandon Saad and Andrew Shaw as his wingers.

"It's thrilling and exciting for me," Dach said. "It's something I've dreamed of my whole life. I came into camp wanting to make this team and to finally get that recognition from Jeremy and the management group is awesome and I'm thrilled to be here."

Colliton is excited to see how Dach develops as the season progresses.

"There's likely going to be a huge improvement as the year goes on and the player (he is) in February I'm sure is going to be an impact player for us," Colliton said.

The Athletic Powers Points: How bad were the Blackhawks in Nashville? Let’s count the ways

Scott Powers Oct. 30, 2019

There have been more lopsided scores in the Blackhawks’ last five seasons, like the 7-0 loss to the Florida Panthers in 2017.

There have been more dominant periods against them. The Tampa Bay Lightning’s 33-shot period last season comes to mind.

But when it comes to the total package, from the opening to final minute, the Blackhawks probably haven’t had as bad a game in the last five years as they did in their 3-0 loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

Let’s start with a reliable metric used often in analytics: expected goals. It factors in shot quantity and quality and predicts how much a team is expected to score in 5-on-5 play. The Blackhawks’ expected goals percentage was 22.65 against the Predators, according to Natural Stat Trick. That’s the lowest it’s been in the last five seasons. That game against the Lightning last season? It’s the second lowest at 28.51 percent.

The metric doesn’t include special teams, which factored into the Blackhawks’ performance on Tuesday. The kill came out unscathed thanks to Robin Lehner — who is also responsible for the game not being lopsided in score — as he made eight saves shorthanded. He has the highest shorthanded save percentage in the NHL at .970 (minimum 30 minutes).

The power play was a disaster again. The Blackhawks didn’t record a single shot on goal and allowed two shorthanded shots on goal in their three power plays. The Blackhawks have now not scored on their last 22 such opportunities. For the season, they’ve scored three times on 34 power plays and are tied for second to last in the NHL with an 8.8 percentage.

The overall stats weren’t kind to the Blackhawks either. The Predators had an 87-41 advantage in total shot attempts and 51-20 in shots on goal. In 5-on-5 play, the Predators led 70-35 in shot attempts, 41-19 in shots on goal, 30-13 in scoring chances and 13-3 in high-danger chances. Even in the third period, when score effects usually pop up in a game like that, the Blackhawks were still outplayed. The numbers were closer, but the Predators still had more of everything than the Blackhawks.

The numbers dictated what everyone saw. I can recall all three legit scoring chances for the Blackhawks. There was hitting the post, David Kampf’s shorthanded rebound attempt and Dylan Strome’s attempt late in the game.

Midway through the third period, Predators color analyst Chris Mason said, “As good as the Predators are and have been for the last however many years, I just don’t remember seeing a game where they absolutely dismantled another team like they are tonight.”

Predators goalie Pekka Rinne had a notable quote, too.

“Lehner, he was on fire,” Rinne told reporters after the game. “He was the only reason this game was reasonable for them. I haven’t been a part of that kind of game, I don’t think in my career. We played extremely well throughout the game. We didn’t have any lapses, just kept going and generating more and more. For me personally, it was for sure one of the easier shutouts.”

1. So, what went wrong?

The Blackhawks’ biggest issues were getting through the neutral zone, denying the Predators through the neutral zone and then getting the Predators out of the offensive zone.

Let’s start with the Blackhawks’ offensive entries. I tracked the Blackhawks’ entries through the first period. Of their 24 entries, they had nine carry-in entries and 15 dump-in entries. A lot of the Blackhawks’ smooth entries came from forcing turnovers in the neutral zone. But if the Blackhawks gave the Predators any sort of chance to be ready for them, the Predators made life quite difficult through the neutral zone.

Jeremy Colliton would like his defensemen to do what the Predators’ do — push up, pressure the puck and either deny entries or force opponents to dump the puck in. On the other hand, the Blackhawks’ defense gives up that blue line often.

The Blackhawks’ defensive breakdowns also occur when the game is less tidy and opponents counter them. In this clip, the Blackhawks are forechecking after dumping the puck in. There are a few opportunities to win the puck, and the Blackhawks lose those opportunities, creating an odd-man rush against them.

The Blackhawks’ failure to sort out defensive assignments at times was also notable. The Predators had a few instances where they had a player completely wide open. Lehner saved the first opportunity below. The Blackhawks were fortunate on the second one.

2. The Blackhawks also struggled mightily just getting the Predators out of the offensive zone. That showed up on all three of the Predators’ goals.

On the first goal, the Predators had 39 consecutive seconds of offensive zone time against the Blackhawks’ line of Alex DeBrincat, Ryan Carpenter and Dylan Strome and defenseman pairing of Dennis Gilbert and Erik Gustafsson. Lehner made six saves on the Predators’ possession before being unable to stop their last rebound attempt. The Predators also had 14 puck touches within the zone off passes, rebounds and loose pucks. The Blackhawks were getting outworked.

On the second goal, the Predators only had 16 seconds of offensive zone time, but they were all over the puck again. The goal came after the Predators passed the puck up high, attempted a shot on net, swarmed for the rebound and cashed in off another rebound.

The third goal featured a similar recipe. They were in the offensive zone for 21 seconds, won battles, put pucks on net, got to them first and then scored off a rebound.

3. Colliton went to the line blender as the game got away from them. Little worked. Even going back to the Brandon Saad-David Kampf-Dominik Kubalik line didn’t provide great results, as they were on the ice for one shot attempt for and 10 against. For the game, Kubalik was on the ice for one shot on goal for and 12 against.

Colliton tried the DeBrincat-Strome-Patrick Kane line late in the game, and it actually showed some promise. In 3:06 of 5-on-5 ice time, the line had five shot attempts for and zero against.

Colliton gave Kirby Dach, Jonathan Toews and Kane a look together, and that didn’t fare so well. In 7:01 of ice time, the line was on the ice for three shot attempts for and 12 against.

4. Toews continues to struggle, and it has to be concerning for the Blackhawks.

After posting a 28.13 Corsi percentage (9-23 shot attempts) against the Predators, he has a Corsi percentage of 42.16 through 11 games. Tuesday’s game marked the fourth time he’s been under 30 percent Corsi in a game this season.

The last time that happened four times in a season for Toews was the 2015-16 season. It occurred three times last season, twice during the 2017-18 season and once during the 2016-17 season.

5. Colliton was probably right in sitting Brent Seabrook on Sunday.

He probably wasn’t right doing it again Tuesday.

Benching Seabrook was a message in some ways and an experiment in others. Colliton let everyone know he was willing to do whatever it took to win by sitting Seabrook against the Los Angeles Kings. The Blackhawks needed a win, and Colliton sat the player who probably deserved it the most.

The Blackhawks won Sunday, but the difference wasn’t that noticeable without Seabrook. Gilbert is a fine player, especially as a rookie, and could have a bright NHL future, but he doesn’t provide enough right now where it’s worth having Seabrook disgruntled and potentially having that reverberate throughout the room. You don’t gain enough on the ice to have that happen off the ice.

6. The difference with and without Seabrook wasn’t noticeable in the data either. Corey Sznajder tracked the Blackhawks’ back-to-back games over the weekend to see whether the Blackhawks were much different without Seabrook.

The Blackhawks had similar defensive zone exits in both games. They had a success rate of 42 percent against the Carolina Hurricanes with Seabrook and 30 percent against the Kings without him. Against the Hurricanes, he had five exit attempts and two failed exits.

As for defensive zone entries, the Hurricanes went 4-for-4 when targeting Seabrook on Saturday. But the Hurricanes did what they wanted against the Blackhawks’ defense for much of that game. They were perfect in seven entry attempts against Calvin de Haan, went 3-for-4 against , 4-for-6 against Olli Maatta and Gustafsson and 1-for-2 against Slater Koekkoek. Gustafsson and Koekkoek were the only defensemen to force a break-up at the blue line, and each did it once.

Against the Kings, the Keith-de Haan pairing fared better against zone entries as the Kings had five carry-ins on 12 targets against them, but the rest of the defense struggled. The Kings had 14 carry-in entries on 16 attempts against the bottom two pairings.

Individually, Gilbert’s numbers weren’t that much different than Seabrook. The Kings targeted Gilbert four times and had three carry-ins and one dump-in on zone entries. On defensive zone exits, Gilbert had seven attempts and three successful exits.

7. Sznajder also provided some notes from the games.

“What was interesting was that the zone exit report was basically the same and a little better in the Carolina game,” he said. “Seabrook being out of the lineup didn’t make much of a difference.

“The main differences in the two games I thought were the forechecks. I added a new category at the end to show how often each team was pressured when they tried to exit the zone and it was basically a tale of two games. They couldn’t get much pressure at all on Carolina’s defensemen and they pressured L.A. on 33 percent of their breakout attempts. It led to a few goals and it was a big reason why that game felt so different. The forwards did a better job of helping out on exits against L.A. too, especially Kubalik.

“Keith and de Haan also seemed to play better against the Kings. Their forwards aren’t as fast as Carolina’s and they shut down a lot of their rushes. Seemed to make a difference even if the Kings got a lot of shots. Gustafsson was the only D willing to challenge anyone at the line in the other game.”

8. The Blackhawks have finally caught up with a lot of the league in games played. That doesn’t mean the standings have much weight just yet, but it’s worth glancing at.

It appears as if the Predators and Colorado Avalanche are the teams to beat in the Central. Both have 17 points (Predators through 12 games and Avalanche through 11). The St. Louis Blues aren’t far behind with 15 points through 12 games, but the loss of Vladimir Tarasenko for five months is a major blow. The are fourth with 12 points through 12 games. The Pacific could make a push for both wild-card spots this season, though it’s obviously early.

9. Things aren’t going much better for the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL. They’re 2-5-0 through seven games and are coming off a weekend where they lost 7-1 and 5-0 to the Cleveland Monsters.

I didn’t see much of the games, but a team source said the puck management, especially from the defensemen, was a major factor in the loss.

It obviously doesn’t help that the IceHogs are last in the AHL in power play and penalty kill percentage. They’re a remarkable 0-for-28 on the power play. On the penalty kill, they have a 71.4 percentage and allowed eight goals on 28 chances.

The IceHogs have been outscored 26-12 in their first seven games. Dylan and Tyler Sikura each have a team-leading three goals. Anton Wedin and Phillip Holm each have two goals.

Adam Boqvist returned to the lineup over the weekend. He had missed two games after being hit by a puck. He has zero points through five games.

10. I talked to new Blackhawks defenseman prospect Alec Regula on Thursday. He was acquired from the for Brendan Perlini earlier in the week. I’ll write something more in-depth on him in the near future, but I wanted to share a few things.

Regula was drafted by the Red Wings in the third round in 2018 when Ken Holland was the general manager. With Steve Yzerman taking over, it wasn’t clear whether Regula would get a contract from them. His draft rights expire in June 2020. Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman got to see Regula a bunch while watching Boqvist and the London Knights last season.

“(Bowman) said he watched about 15 games of us last year, watching Boqvist,” Regula said. “He said every time he left the game, he felt impressed with my play. When the Wings came asking for Perlini, he thought the deal made sense for everyone. Yzerman wasn’t the general manager who drafted me; it was Holland. I don’t know how high he was on me. I don’t think it was too hard to let me go. I know Bowman and the Blackhawk liked me. I think it just made sense for everyone.”

Regula does expect to sign with the Blackhawks.

“I think I’m pretty confident in that at least,” Regula said. “I’m thinking something will get done in the next month here. I talked to Stan Bowman the other day. He said he’s pretty busy for the next 10 days or so. He said he was on the road or something. I figure I got a strong suspicion I’ll probably put the pen to the paper here sometime in the future.”

Regula grew up in the Detroit area and his father, Chet, was the Red Wings’ team dentist for many years. Now that Regula’s been traded, he’s ready to move on.

“I didn’t really grow up hating the Blackhawks,” Regula said. “I grew up hating the Penguins. But I definitely wasn’t a big fan of the Blackhawks. I was obviously a Red Wings fan my whole life. When I was growing up, I was really fortunate because they were really good every year. But I’m obviously past that now and just excited to be a Blackhawk.”

11. Blackhawks forward prospect Niklas Nordgren, a 2018 fourth-round pick, is back on the ice training after missing the start of the season with an undisclosed injury. Nordgren, 19, is expected to begin play with HIFK’s junior team in Finland.

There haven’t been any discussions with Nordgren about signing yet. It’s something that could be examined in the spring if he plays well this season. He’s so far struggled to stay on the ice due to injuries since being drafted.

12. Blackhawks forward prospect Andrei Altybarmakyan was recently assigned to Russia’s second league, the VHL, for three games to get more ice time, according to a source. Altybarmakyan played 7:41 and 5:48 in his last two games for Sochi in the KHL. His last KHL game was on Oct. 13.

Altybarmakyan, 21, has two goals and four assists in 15 games in the KHL this season. His KHL contract expires after this season.

The Athletic

Roundtable reaction: Kirby Dach will remain with Blackhawks in NHL

Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus Oct. 30, 2019

The Blackhawks announced Wednesday that Kirby Dach, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 draft, will remain in the NHL for the foreseeable future and will not return to his junior team.

The Blackhawks’ decision to keep Dach will result in his NHL entry-level contract commencing this season. If he had played fewer than 10 NHL games this season, his contract would have slid a year. Dach has one goal, one assist and averaged 11:59 of ice time in six games.

The Athletic staff writers and others around hockey reacted to the news of Dach sticking with the Blackhawks:

Scott Powers: When he was first drafted, I would have been shocked if Dach had stuck with the Blackhawks. As I got to see him more, first in development camp, then in Traverse City, then in Rockford and most recently in the NHL, I became convinced he was ready for the NHL now. I honestly would have been shocked if he hadn’t stayed. He’s certainly a work in progress and there will be times where he makes mistakes and looks like an 18-year-old, but you can already see that his ceiling is likely in the penthouse of a skyscraper. He has the makings of a special player for a long time for the Blackhawks.

What the Blackhawks needed to decide was whether Dach helped them now and if him sticking in the NHL was best for his development. They answered those questions with their announcement on Thursday. It’s clear Dach can hang in the NHL now and can be a contributor. You would think with more experience, ice time and confidence that Dach will only continue to improve too. As much as he might have gotten from returning to the Saskatoon Blades and dominating the WHL this season, it’s hard to see how he won’t develop while getting consistent minutes in the NHL.

The Blackhawks probably don’t want to talk about it now, but they could still send him to the World Junior Championship in December if Dach needs a confidence boost just as they did with Henri Jokiharju last season. It’s also possible Dach could return to his junior team in January and play out the rest of the season there. Again, it’s not what the Blackhawks have in mind right now. They’d love for Dach to play consistently, get better in the NHL and help them win this season. It’s just a card they have in their back pocket.

Outside of all those bigger points, there’s something exciting for the organization, fans and everyone else that Dach is going to remain in the NHL. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more and more Dach jerseys pop around the United Center. He’s the future of the Blackhawks. In some ways, he’s the present now, too.

Mark Lazerus: To me, this was pretty simple. Kirby Dach is one of the Blackhawks’ 12 best forwards, therefore, he belongs in the NHL. Whether or not it’s mildly disconcerting that an 18-year-old is one of your best 12 forwards is another story.

Had the Blackhawks sent Dach back to Saskatoon, it would have sent a terrible message to both the other players and the fans, that they were basically punting on the season. Keeping Dach tells the veterans that the Blackhawks are still looking to win now, not later. And keeping Dach gives fans something to watch every night should the wins continue to be hard to come by. But that’s hardly the only reason to keep him around.

First and foremost, he’ll develop faster playing with and against professionals than he will playing against kids in the WHL. I don’t buy the argument that he’d be better off playing major minutes and special teams in Saskatoon than he would be playing 10-12 minutes in Chicago. There’s something to be said for learning how to be a pro from the likes of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith day in, day out. And were he in Saskatoon, the Blackhawks would have virtually no control over his development. In Chicago, Jeremy Colliton, Chris Kunitz, Barry Smith, Paul Goodman and the rest of the Blackhawks development staff will have access to him every day. That matters.

And, hey, let’s face it: Bowman and Colliton don’t have the luxury of patience here. Both of their seats could heat up very quickly if things go sideways over the next few weeks, so sweating a distant contract doesn’t make much sense for either of them. Sure, Dach’s second contract is now just two years away, and unrestricted free agency will be hot on its heels. If the Blackhawks were still in the midst of their dominant years, that would be a concern. But this team — and its coach and its GM — need to win now. And they need to hang on to anyone who can help them do that.

Corey Pronman: He’s looked solid in the NHL so far. I wouldn’t say he’s blown people away. In the six games he’s played, he’s looked like he’s belonged. For a third overall pick and given how much they believe in him, it’s not unreasonable to keep him. Being pragmatic, I don’t know if you can expect him to become a top player this season, although that’s what he’s projected to become with time. I’m a firm believer if the guy looks ready, you keep him. But they still have time to reverse the decision if they wanted to. The moving trend has been one of 40 NHL games rather than 10 games. Around the World Juniors, it’s become more a critical decision for teams. Do we keep him and tick off one of the seven years of free agency or send him back? You hope by December we’ll get more clarity.

League scout: “I have been impressed with his ability to skate with the puck and his vision. His speed is deceptive; it doesn’t look like he has to go all out to play at an NHL pace. The kid might be a beast if he adds 10-20 (pounds).”

League scout No. 2: I think it’s a great decision. He’s going to dominate junior. What’s the point? He’s not going to develop. He’s one of the better forwards the Blackhawks have.

Colin Priestner, Saskatoon Blades general manager: I’m very happy for him. It’s a great accomplishment. I think he’d be the first player since Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, a 1993 born and Kirby’s a 2001, so eight years since an 18-year-old has stuck from the WHL. We’re really happy for Kirby. It’s tough news for the Blades in terms of not having him with our team this year. We feel obviously he would have been the best player in the league probably. Anytime you lose a player like that, that’s tough for the team. More important for us, developing a player to be able to play with the men at 18 is something I suppose the Blades will be holding our hat onto for a long time for future recruitment and stuff. Long term, it’s great. It stings a little bit in the short term, but we’re very excited for Kirby.

Scott Wheeler: I’m normally of the opinion that 18-year-old players like Dach, particularly centers (who need to meet a higher threshold to be good NHL options at their position), should most often return to junior for one more year, work to push toward a 100-point season and play a big role at the world juniors. There are obvious exceptions to that rule (Dahlin and company). I think Dach fits somewhere in between though, in that he already has a lot of NHL tools (his size, his strength, his puck control game) that a player like, say, a Mitch Marner in 2015 or Clayton Keller in 2016, didn’t have. Will it be the worst thing for his development to spend a full year in the NHL? No. But will he be the impact guy you want him to be? No. If the Blackhawks can keep patience in mind during the process, he’ll be fine. But they can’t toy with his confidence if things go south (like they did for a player like Jesse Puljujarvi, who also had size and strength).

NBC Sports Chicago

Blackhawks announce Kirby Dach will remain in NHL all season

Charlie Roumeliotis Oct. 30, 2019

Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton announced Wednesday that No. 3 overall pick Kirby Dach will remain in the NHL and is expected to be with the group all season. He will not be returned to his junior team.

"It's thrilling and excited for me," Dach told reporters in Los Angeles. "It's something I've dreamed of my whole life. I came into camp wanting to make this team and to finally get that recognition from Jeremy and the management group is awesome and I'm thrilled to be here."

With the decision to keep him past the nine-game mark, Dach's entry-level contract with the Blackhawks will kick in this season. The next benchmark to watch is 40 games, which would count as an official full season and pull him a year closer to unrestricted free agency, but it appears Dach is here for good.

"Stan [Bowman] and I sat with him yesterday and told him he's going to be here," Colliton said. "He's played well. He's shown he can help us and he's only going to get better. I think the player he is now, there's likely going to be a huge improvement as the year goes on and the player [he is] in February I'm sure is going to be an impact player for us."

The 18-year-old Fort Saskatchewan native has two points (one goal, one assist) in six games this season and is averaging 11:59 of ice time. The Blackhawks would prefer to get him roughly 12-14 minutes per game at least, but that should come over time.

Dach has looked more comfortable each game he's played in and has been one of their most noticeable forwards over the last week and a half.

Blackhawks.com

BLOG: Dach to Stay with Blackhawks for 2019-20 Season

Carter Baum Oct. 30, 2019

Kirby Dach is officially staying in Chicago.

The third overall pick from June's draft has played in six NHL games since making his Blackhawks debut just 10 days ago, with a goal and an assist to his name while averaging just shy of 12 minutes of ice time per game. He's showcased a growing comfort level with the pace of play at the NHL level and shown enough to be designated a full-time NHLer, at least in the eyes of Senior Vice President/General Manager Stan Bowman and head coach Jeremy Colliton.

"Stan and I sat with him yesterday and told him he's going to be here," Colliton told the media after practice Wednesday in California. "He's played well. He's shown he can help us and he's only going to get better. I think the player he is now, there's likely going to be a huge improvement as the year goes on and the player (he is) in February I'm sure is going to be an impact player for us."

The Blackhawks had the option to send Dach back to his junior team, the WHL's Saskatoon Blades, as long as Dach played nine or fewer games this season, in turn delaying the start of his entry-level contract for a year. After six games, Chicago has seen enough to forego their remaining three-game trial run.

The 18-year-old has said from almost the moment he was drafted that he wanted to prove he belonged in the NHL this season.

"It's thrilling and exciting for me," Dach said after it became official. "It's something I've dreamed of my whole life. I came into camp wanting to make this team and to finally get that recognition from Jeremy and the management group is awesome and I'm thrilled to be here."

Blackhawks.com

FEATURE: Dach's NHL Adjustment Guided by Veteran Presence

Chris Kuc Oct. 31, 2019

LOS ANGELES - Brent Seabrook's home in Chicago is a maelstrom of activity thanks to the presence of the Blackhawks defenseman, his wife, Dayna, their three young children and three dogs.

Oh, and one No. 3 overall selection in the 2019 NHL Draft.

Kirby Dach has been living in Seabrook's basement while his fate with the team this season hung in the balance. When the Blackhawks are on the road, Dach often holes up with his roommate in the team hotel, Alex Nylander, and the two watch a lot of Netflix.

Currently, the rookies are powering their way through episodes of the British drama series "Peaky Blinders" when they aren't discussing the rigors of being young players trying to prove themselves in the NHL.

With Wednesday's announcement that Dach will remain with the Blackhawks this season instead of being sent back to his junior team in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the 18-year-old's living arrangements - in Chicago and on the road - won't be changing anytime soon.

"It's thrilling and it's exciting for me," Dach said. "It's something I've dreamed of for my whole life. I came into camp wanting to make this team and pushed to make it and to finally get that recognition from (coach Jeremy Colliton) and the management group is awesome."

Dach found out the plan to keep him all season during a lunch with Colliton and Senior Vice President/General Manager Stan Bowman prior to the Blackhawks game against the Predators on Tuesday night in Nashville.

"I looked at it as it could go two different ways," Dach said of the meeting. "I was hoping it was a positive one so that was exciting."

It was positive thanks to Dach's play in six games with the Blackhawks during which he has a goal and an assist. Most important is that Dach showed he belongs and there is room for greater improvement.

"He's played well and he's shown he can help us and he's only going to get better," Colliton said. "The player he is now, there's likely going to be huge improvement as the year goes on. The player (he is) in February I'm sure will be an impact player for us and that's exciting.

"He makes a lot of plays," Colliton added. "He's a very good skater (and) the puck seems to find him. For him to have an impact every shift it's just the work away from the puck and getting to top speed. He's a great skater so use his skating to pressure pucks on the forecheck and strip guys on the backcheck and get into battles. Because often when he gets to the battle on time he comes out with the puck and then his skill can show through. When he's done that he's been extremely effective and created for himself and his linemates."

The Blackhawks made the decision sooner rather than later - they could have waited until the center played nine games before deciding whether to send him back to juniors or burn a year of his entry-level contract - and that should ease some of the pressure on Dach.

"It's a little more comforting knowing that I'm going to be here year-round instead of that question mark that was kind of always surrounding me," Dach said. "At the same time. I've been comfortable for awhile now. I've got a good living situation and I'm happy where I'm at in life."

Back to that living situation. At some point, Dach will likely get his own place but for now plans to remain a guest of the Seabrooks.

"We stuck him down in the basement and turned the power off down there," Seabrook said with a smile. "I gave the kids a few rules and I gave Kirby a few rules. For one, he has to do his own laundry."

Dach spends much of his time interacting with the family, including Seabrook's 6-year-old son, Carter, and daughters Kenzie, 4, and Dylan, 2.

"I grew up in a busy household - I had two siblings and two dogs so it's nothing new for me," Dach said. "I enjoy the busyness of the house."

"Busyness" is one way to put it. Seabrook described it as "chaos."

"A big thing for us was having Kirby come over and see what our life is like," Seabrook, 34, said. "I'm not a single guy with nothing going on. I've got three kids, I've got three dogs, it's noisy, it's loud, it's chaotic at times and we wanted him to see that first-hand before he made the decision to stay with us. It took a lot of courage for him to come ask. My wife was open to it and he's been great."

Well, great for the most part.

"He eats way too much," Seabrook said. "I'm going to have to do a daily stipend for him or like a swear jar but for food. The first night he came over he had three plates of food and me and my wife looked at each other like, 'I guess we won't have leftovers for tomorrow.'"

That last part is probably music to the ears of Colliton and Bowman, who would like to see a bigger, stronger Dach on the ice. At 6-feet-4, Dach weighs 194 pounds and could use some filling out.

"He's still pretty light and we need him to continue to train and we need him to get his get his strength work in," Colliton said, adding that Dach likely won't be in the lineup every game. "During the year, it's difficult when you play so many games so we'll probably manage his rest and I would be shocked if he played them all this year."

Dach said his biggest area in need of improvement is his strength.

"The biggest thing I've learned from playing against bigger and stronger guys is it's not against boys anymore," he said. "You're playing against men every night and they aren't taking a shift off. They want to make sure an 18-year-old isn't beating them to the net or scoring on them. They're trying to make it difficult for me to score so I have to make it difficult for them to defend."

Since Dach doesn't have a car in Chicago, he has been riding to and from practices and games with Seabrook. When in the car and at home, the two talk plenty about life and hockey.

"(Seabrook) has been in the league for so long and knows how to handle himself and he's a pro every day," Dach said.

Added Colliton: "Everyone knows 'Seabs' is a tremendous leader and great teammate. He takes care of everyone so it's pretty good for Kirby to be around that. (Seabrook) has won some Cups and played at a high level and has an Olympic gold. It's a big benefit for (Dach) and his development."

Another benefit is Seabrook gets a break from one of the perils of being the fatherhood of young children.

"Kirby has turned into the new jungle gym for my kids," Seabrook said. "It relieves me of a little of that."