EDMONTON, Alberta — Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill is almost like an MLB manager in terms of how he thinks about balancing player workloads.
He favors unconventional lineups composed of 11 forwards and seven defensemen — compared to the usual 12 and six — largely for that reason. It’s about spreading out minutes in the smartest way.
“A one-game thing is no big deal, but over the course of the season, you have to watch how much stress you’re putting on players,” Blashill said recently. “Every guy’s body is different, but I just want to make sure I’m managing that.
“It’s going to be important with those young defensemen that we don’t stress their physicality too much, where all of a sudden — come a month from now — they don’t have any energy.”
The Hawks have dressed seven defensemen in nine of 11 their games this season, including the last eight in a row. That’s rare around the NHL; most teams deploy such lineups only a couple times per season, most often because of unexpected late scratches.
With five defensemen aged 24 or younger and the other two in their 30s, however, Blashill feels like it’s well-suited for the Hawks. Among the right-side defensemen specifically, it allows Sam Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov to focus on the power play without worrying about killing penalties, and it allows Connor Murphy and Louis Crevier to focus on the opposite.
It’s not dissimilar to the way Craig Counsell managed the Cubs’ bullpen this past season, balancing out the innings diligently during the first half in order to keep the team’s best arms fresh into September and October.
In the season opener — when the Hawks dressed only six defensemen — Rinzel played on both special teams, and his ice time spiraled up to 25:18. That workload wouldn’t be sustainable for a guy playing his first pro season. Blashill and assistant coach Anders Sorensen (who oversees the defensemen) quickly addressed that, giving Rinzel just 19:23 of ice time per game since.
This setup also reduces the stress on Alex Vlasic, who dealt with fatigue and energy issues late last season after being ridden hard following the Seth Jones trade. Vlasic’s ice time is down from 23:16 to 21:27 this season.
The same is true for Murphy — with good reason, since he has dealt with on-and-off issues related to his groin condition and is now the Hawks’ second-oldest player at age 32. His ice time has decreased substantially from 20:37 last season to 15:39.
Wyatt Kaiser’s ice time has increased since last spring because he’s playing so well; he ranks third among defensemen at 19:37 per game. Matt Grzelcyk, Levshunov and Crevier are at 15:11, 14:54 and 12:34, respectively.
Blashill also likes these seven-defenseman lineups because the lack of a full fourth forward line allows him to double-shift Connor Bedard in different spots. That makes it harder for opponents to consistently match their best defensive players against Bedard, which is especially relevant when the Hawks are on the road.
But Blashill does need to be careful about all of that double-shifting. Bedard’s average ice time has jumped up from 20:17 last season to 21:26 this season. Frank Nazar’s minutes have also unsurprisingly increased.
“Sorensen has done an excellent job. The ice time averages are fitting for our [defensive] group,” Blashill said Friday. “The challenge from my aspect is, I’ve got to make sure I manage the forwards’ ice time. I think I’ve done a decent job; there were a few games where it got away from me.
“Connor [Bedard] played 24 [minutes in] a couple games in a row. That’s too many minutes for any player. It’s going to hurt you over the long haul. You want those top guys around 20, maybe 21; some nights 19. Just so the workload is proper.”