Blackhawks Face Impossible Decision While Looking To Fill Top Line

An exhilarating night in Boston where multiple Blackhawks made their return to TD Garden and Connor Bedard notched his first goal was marred when top-line winger Taylor Hall left the game with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. After what head coach Luke Richardson called a “blindside hit” by the Bruins’ Brandon Carlo, Hall was slow to get up. After making his way to the locker room, he gave it a go on a power play shift, but came off the ice and did not return. In his postgame interview, Richardson labeled Hall’s status “week-to-week”, but was noncommittal about the details of his injury, which are still yet to be released.

The injury is a huge blow to a team that was just starting to hit its stride. With the former Hart Trophy winner out for the foreseeable future, who will take his place? For now, it seems the situation isn’t as easy as just plugging in any forward next to Bedard. With a few options, the Blackhawks find themselves with an impossible decision on their hands that must be made before the team plays in Montreal on Saturday.

Lukas Reichel

The first solution, yet perhaps the most complicated, is bringing Lukas Reichel up to the first line to play on the wing. On one hand, Reichel would move to a spot where he’s most comfortable. Though the team has only played two games, the 21-year-old hasn’t looked great so far at his new center spot. He’s 3-for-13 on faceoffs and hasn’t gotten many shots off or been productive offensively. On the wing, though, he looks much more comfortable and lethal.

On the other hand, it seems unlikely that the Blackhawks would be willing to end the Reichel-at-center experiment this early. He was moved there to solve the problem of center depth for the Blackhawks, and moving him would immediately bring those issues back. The move would set off a chain reaction of skaters switching lines, making things more awkward for everyone.

Ryan Donato

Donato found himself getting plenty of reps at center for the Kraken last year and would be an experienced option for a team that doesn’t have many. He’s taken 15 faceoffs this season for Chicago but has only won four of them. The Blackhawks could move him to Reichel’s place without shifting the rest of the lines more than what’s necessary.

However, Donato has been a perfect linemate for Bedard, as the two have worked well together and Donato has helped the rookie get acclimated to the league. Considering that the primary purpose of this season is to help Bedard develop, moving Donato seems like an unlikely scenario.

Philipp Kurashev/Colton Dach

The Blackhawks started the season without Kurashev and Dach, who both suffered injuries in the preseason. While we haven’t gotten much of an update on the return of either, they aren’t expected to be off the ice for much longer. If one or both of the young forwards can come back soon, they could earn some time on the top line, or at least help fill in the gaps while Hall is out.

While it’s still unclear how the Blackhawks will replace their best winger, they’ll certainly have plenty of depth chart shuffling to do. A number of players could serve as stopgap solutions on the top line, but the team will certainly be counting the days until they get Hall back.