Head Coach Luke Richardson Defends Two Major Blackhawks Lineup Changes
If there’s one thing Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson did right in his team’s first game Tuesday night, it was switching up the lines until he found a combination that seemed to work. It was somewhat strange that Chicago didn’t test its opening night lines in preseason games, but the hope is that it only took half of one game to set things straight. After switching things up on Tuesday, the Blackhawks are rolling out a few major changes to Friday’s lineup.
One of the biggest changes, moving Nick Foligno to the top line in Ilya Mikheyev’s place, stayed in place when the Blackhawks practiced yesterday. A top line of Foligno, Connor Bedard, and Teuvo Teravainen will take the ice Friday night in Winnipeg. That means Mikheyev is down to the third line where he was originally expected to spend most of his time. He’ll join Jason Dickinson and Joey Anderson.
Chicago is also making a new change ahead of Friday’s game. Craig Smith is taking a seat in the press box, with Andreas Athanasiou taking his place on the fourth line. I would love to see Athanasiou have a chance to put it together – he has as much speed as anyone in hockey but lacks a finishing touch. Athanasiou being put in is also another indictment on the status of Lukas Reichel – he’s this team’s clear 14th forward.
On Thursday, Richardson explained his rationale behind making those swaps.
The head coach touched on a few different things, from the role of Dickinson to recognition of the high-upside second line of Taylor Hall, Philipp Kurashev and Tyler Bertuzzi. He’s also apparently rotating a few guys into the fourth line to see how they fare in regular-season action. Richardson is planning ahead for the speed of Winnipeg and Edmonton over the next two nights, and Athanasiou may be able to counter a bit better than Smith.
The Blackhawks also officially activated defenseman Wyatt Kaiser from IR. Isaak Phillips was sent to Rockford in a corresponding move. Kaiser, who is back a bit earlier than expected, is already in the starting lineup Friday night. Here’s what that grouping looks like after the moves.
Nick Foligno — Connor Bedard — Teuvo Teräväinen
Taylor Hall — Philipp Kurashev — Tyler Bertuzzi
Ilya Mikheyev — Jason Dickinson — Joey Anderson
Pat Maroon — Ryan Donato — Andreas Athanasiou
Alec Martinez — Seth Jones
Alex Vlasic — TJ Brodie
Wyatt Kaiser — Connor Murphy
Arvid Söderblom