The time has come for Blackhawks to move Lukas Reichel off the fourth line
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Blackhawks have a Lukas Reichel problem again.
It was always obvious Reichel didn’t make sense as a fourth-line forward long-term, but his surprising success in that role earlier this season — centering veteran grinders Pat Maroon and Craig Smith — was tangible enough to provide a short-term solution.
Now that success has quietly faded, making it worth revisiting the original logic general manager Kyle Davidson used when declaring during training camp that he specifically didn’t want to see Reichel on the fourth line this season.
He’s a fast, elusive, offense-oriented, 22-year-old former first-round pick — of course he shouldn’t be a fourth-line grinder. His improved versatility and defensive reliability are positives, but if he never becomes more than this, he will be a failure as a developmental project. And he can only become more if given the opportunity to do so.
He’s being a good sport about it — he has been thoroughly humbled by the last two seasons — but even he knows.
“We don’t get as much opportunity as we had earlier in the season, but whatever the team needs me to do to help win, I do it,” Reichel said Sunday. “It’s mentally pretty tough because ice time is really inconsistent, but I just try to stick in there.”
Reichel has just three points in his last 21 games, including zero points in Anders Sorensen’s first eight games as interim coach. He has slipped back to a 25-point full-season pace, barely above his 20-point pace last season.
His ice time hasn’t changed under Sorensen (12:26 per game) compared to under Luke Richardson (12:20). Sorensen, to his credit, has also given him occasional shifts with Connor Bedard, especially in third periods. But there’s simply nothing happening when Reichel is on the ice, and that applies both ways.
In all of Reichel’s five-on-five shifts under Sorensen, the Hawks have scored zero goals and allowed two. They have actually generated a solid 37-36 advantage in scoring chances, but Reichel hasn’t contributed much individually. He has been credited with only five of those chances (and only three shots on goal).
“We play simple,” Reichel said. “We don’t create a lot, but we don’t get scored on. It’s more just 50/50 shifts a lot. If we have the opportunity to play [in the offensive] zone, we’ve got to be a little bit better hanging onto pucks and changing sides.”
Said Sorensen: “[Reichel needs to] attack a little bit more, try to take pucks to the net a little bit more. I feel like he’s been landing a little bit outside of dots and a little bit off his rush, which is his strength.”
Smith’s back injury, which will cost him a sixth consecutive game Monday against the Wild, hasn’t helped. Reichel’s analytics this season are much prettier with Smith than without him. Joey Anderson has replaced Smith, and while Anderson is an underappreciated player, he adds nothing offensively.
Just because this fourth-line experiment has run its course doesn’t mean it was pointless. It at least got Reichel into the lineup back in October, and it has helped him become “way more comfortable” with the responsibilities involved with playing center (rather than wing) in the NHL. He’s better at supporting teammates in coverage, puck battles and other areas that previously were weaknesses.
But it needs to end soon. When Sorensen was pressed Sunday about potentially reevaluating Reichel’s role, he eventually admitted he’ll “think about it.” The NHL’s Tuesday-through-Thursday holiday break could be the perfect time.
The challenge will be finding the right spot higher up in the lineup. The Hawks’ teamwide offensive improvements under Sorensen mean there’s no obvious forward candidate for demotion. If Frank Nazar eventually returns to Rockford, that would open up a spot, but the Hawks need to prioritize his development, too.