As the 2023–24 NHL season is about to start, everyone is (rightfully) focusing on Connor Bedard, but another young Blackhawks forward will have a tremendous season that starts in October. This year marks the start of Lukas Reichel’s first full NHL season, which also happens to be the last year of his entry-level contract.
Reichel was selected with the 17th overall choice in the 2020 NHL Draft and will play the full season as a 21-year-old. His growth has been given deliberate consideration by the Blackhawks, who have allowed him to spend the most of his first two professional seasons in Rockford. In 111 regular-season games with the IceHogs, Reichel has tallied 41 goals and 67 assists.
At the beginning of March of last year, Reichel was called to Chicago for a prolonged look, and he displayed some of the offensive flair we had been begging to see from him. He can compete at the NHL level because to his speed and skill. And the production followed suit. In 19 games during his longest stint in the NHL, he had six goals and six assists.
Given that Bedard is receiving so much attention from the public, the media, and other teams this season, Reichel is in an excellent position to shine. He won’t have to deal with the pressure that generally comes with being a team’s top forward prospect who makes it to the NHL on a full-time basis.
I would want to see more work from Reichel. This season, he needs to be more egotistical. And if he is, Reichel might have an offensive season that is shockingly productive.
Why do I think Reichel should be more self-centered? There is a lot more Reichel could do on the ice, based on his shot totals. Unquestionably, more shots will result in more productivity, and Reichel will skate with better teammates this year than he did following the trade deadline last year.
Reichel only registered 99 shots on goal with Rockford in 55 regular-season games last year. Reichel was only given credit for 34 shots over the course of his 19 games of continuous regular ice time with Chicago. Less than two shots on goal are taken per night on average by all of them.
He should exert his offensive game more often.
In his 19 games last season, Reichel only attempted more than two shots on goal four times. In two NHL games last season, a 4-3 overtime victory against Calgary on January 8 and a 4-2 loss to Vancouver on March 26, he was credited with five shots on goal. Reichel recorded two goals and two assists in those two games.
Four of his 15 points from the two games where he played more aggressively make up that total.
According to head coach Luke Richardson, the coaches really loved the synergy they observed between Andreas Athanasiou and Reichel last season, so it sounds like Reichel might get a lot of playing time at center this year. In 81 games last season, Athanasiou scored 20 goals on 175 shots on goal.
Who will be the third forward with Reichel and Athanasiou if we presume they are on the same line? Ryan Donato, who scored 14 goals on 122 shots on goal in just 11:15 a game last season, could be there. He played in 71 games for the Kraken, and the Blackhawks signed him this summer for a fairly nice price.
Last year, Athanasiou, Reichel, and Donato scored on a combined 12 percent of their shots on goal. And in the NHL, they each averaged slightly under two shots on goal per game.
The Athanasiou-Reichel-Donato line should skate together and take more than six shots on goal on average each night. If they can accomplish that and keep (or even increase) their shooting percentages from the previous season, there’s a potential the line will score 55–60 goals collectively. I’m here for scary offensive hockey like that.