Oct. 5 was a wild day for Blackhawks rookie forward Ryan Greene.
After the final preseason game the night before, the Hawks assigned Greene and fellow rookie forward Oliver Moore to their AHL affiliate in Rockford. Then they realized Landon Slaggert and Alex Vlasic wouldn’t be healthy enough to play in the season opener, so they called Greene back up.
That was the official paper trail. The real-life journey was even wackier.
“I [had] just got to the hotel in Rockford,” Greene explained. “I hadn’t even unpacked my car or gotten the room key yet. I got the call in the lobby that I was going to Florida. So I had to turn around and rush all the way back to Chicago.
“I had all my luggage with me. I just packed up a bag for the trip to Florida. All my other stuff is still in Rockford. ‘Mooresy’ had to get it for me. It’s been crazy.”
Greene wasn’t sure then how long his NHL stint would last. The Hawks probably weren’t sure, either.
But his play has been consistent enough to make it an easy decision to keep him around. He has dressed in all six games so far.
“He’s made a lot of strides since the first couple games of rookie camp,” coach Jeff Blashill said recently. “I would’ve told you then that he needed to change certain things if he wanted to be a guy who could play on this team this year, and he has.”
Specifically, Blashill told Greene he needed to commit more wholeheartedly to engaging in puck battles and to using his body to win those battles.
The 21-year-old Boston University product has always been smart and positionally sound, but despite being in the right spots, he just wasn’t doing enough during rookie camp. As main training camp progressed, he started doing more.
“[Blashill] was pretty straight-up, to be honest,” Greene said. “[He] said I needed to get my body more involved and I needed to skate into battles more, versus relying on my stick to do it for me. I was doing a lot of reaching. He was pretty clear with his expectations on that from day one.
“You definitely [can] get away with it a little more in college than you do here. [I’m] trying to break those bad habits that maybe I had that I need to fix to play at this level. … It’s been an adjustment at this level with guys being bigger and stronger, but it’s something I’ve been getting a little better at.”
The Hawks’ victory Wednesday against the Blues marked Greene’s best performance yet. He logged 16:29 of ice time (after playing between eight and 12 minutes in the first four games) and scored his first NHL goal in the third period.
He also worked with defenseman Louis Crevier to win an intense 20-second-long, two-on-two board battle in the Hawks’ defensive zone during the first period, noticeably demonstrating his improvement in that regard.
Ryan Greene has worked on winning more puck battles. Here’s a great example from Wednesday:
— Ben Pope (@benpopecst.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T21:04:55.565Z
On the other hand, Greene’s impressive faceoff results in the preseason, during which he won 39 of 74 draws (52.7%), have fallen back to earth in the regular season. He has won 22 of 49 draws (44.9%) so far.
That’s still a decent percentage for a rookie, though, suggesting faceoffs will likely be a long-term strength of his.
The Hawks do have an imminent roster crunch with Slaggert nearly recovered from his injury and captain Nick Foligno’s leave of absence expected to be brief. Once they return, the Hawks will have 14 available forwards, with Greene being the only waiver-exempt one.
That will make him a candidate to finally return to Rockford, where — it’s worth noting — Moore is already off to a prolific start.
But Greene has proven he can develop effectively at the NHL whenever it makes sense.