From childhood to the minors to the NHL, new Chicago Blackhawks Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk have a special bond

Who knows what Taylor Raddysh eventually will become as an NHL player, but at least two Chicago Blackhawks think he’s already a legend in another sport.

“He’s a better lacrosse player than he is a hockey player,” said Dylan Strome, whose family is friends with the Raddyshes. “He was probably one of the best players in Canada for his age for lacrosse. It’s funny because he’s from Georgetown (Ontario), and he played for the Halton Hills Bulldogs, and they always beat the crap out of us in lacrosse every time.”

Boris Katchouk, Raddysh’s Hawks teammate, longtime best friend and golf buddy, chuckled when the subject of Raddysh’s lacrosse days came up.

“Raddy was a good lacrosse player. He’s a great hockey player as well,” Katchouk said.

Katchouk and Raddysh are the rare teammates whose lives have been intertwined from childhood to the minors to the pros.

“Ten years old when we meet each other,” Raddysh said. “It’s been nice to have him around.”

Added Katchouk: “I don’t really remember the exact day or year, but we were little kids playing against each other in hockey and then grew up playing lacrosse together. It’s pretty rare to grow up with him and experience pro hockey. It’s been a great experience for the both of us, and we’re really cherishing it right now.”

They played on different junior teams, Katchouk for the Ontario Hockey League’s Soo Greyhounds and Raddysh for the OHL’s Erie Otters with Strome and Alex DeBrincat.

The Tampa Bay Lightning selected Katchouk (44th overall) and Raddysh (58th) 14 picks apart in the second round of the 2016 draft. And they played the previous three seasons together with the AHL Syracuse Crunch.

They each made their NHL debut in October — though not in the same game — and they were traded to the Hawks together last month as part of the deal that shipped Brandon Hagel to the the Lightning.

On Friday night at Amalie Arena, they took the opening puck drop with center Tyler Johnson — an all-ex-Lightning line. The rookies were facing their former team for the first time since the trade two weeks ago, but all three were visitors to their old haunts for the first time.

“Kind of a weird to go in the building that you’ve walked in all year and don a different jersey,” Katchouk said before the game. “But it’ll be a cool experience.”

If Raddysh had any hard feelings for the Lightning, he wasn’t telling. His quick adjustment and more ice time — by five minutes on average — certainly has helped.

“It’s been pretty smoothly so far,” he told the Tribune on Thursday. “First couple of weeks have been great with the opportunity I’m getting. It’s obviously been a little different coming over from Tampa, but I guess just you’ve got to take it day by day and just get adapted to the way they play here.”

In his first seven games with the Hawks, Raddysh put up two goals and three assists.

Katchouk has averaged two more minutes and has had a more limited impact, displaying some physicality.

“It’s very much in line with what we expected, what we saw from a scouting and personnel standpoint,” Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson said. “Boris is that hardworking, more abrasive, robust style and Raddysh is a hardworking player but can play up the lineup in a pinch. I’m really pleased with what they’ve done so far.

“I think everyone sees Raddysh playing on the power play, and he’s fit in pretty well and put some points on the board. So yeah, they’re coming as advertised.”

Raddysh and Katchouk said they went through a metamorphosis over the 2019 pandemic pause, an abbreviated last season with the Crunch and the offseason and camp leading up to this NHL season.

Raddysh lost 15 pounds and worked on his speed and skating.

“It was more the year COVID was here, the first shutdown, we had so much time,” Raddysh said. “So I think that was good for both our development, just to dial it in. I know we were coming off our entry-level contract, it was our last year (of those deals), so just put everything into it and it was good turnaround. ... “(It’s) really why we got a chance this year in Tampa.”

Added Katchouk: “It was just building confidence throughout the years in Syracuse, and we just tried to do the best we could with a positive attitude. We transitioned to the NHL as players to be counted on, and our time in Syracuse really helped us under (coach) Benoit Groulx and then going into our first NHL season this year showing what we’re capable off.”

There’s still work to be done for the 24-year-old Raddysh and 23-year-old Katchouk.

Despite early signs of success, King had a critique for Raddysh: “Just his pace of play. I’d like to see him almost play north-south game and not go east-west as much.”

Katchouk said he’s “working on my 200-foot game, making sure I’m reliable in the defensive zone and even chip in offensively.”

Raddysh said he wants to “just continue to keep producing, keep helping this team.”

And they’ll continue to bond on and off the ice.

“We hang out quite a bit,” Raddysh said. “We both like to golf and something we connect on a lot. It’s kind of hard in the winters.”

They also play a lot of “Call of Duty” and other video games.

“Raddy’s good at golf, he’s definitely better than me. He’s played longer,” Katchouk said. “(But) we’re pretty similar video games-wise.”

One thing won’t be on the activities list: lacrosse.

“Actually I was pretty good at lacrosse,” Raddysh said. “Kind of gave up on that when I was 14. Just hated running.”