What we learned about the Rockford IceHogs from Chicago Blackhawks camp

CHICAGO — With the entire organization kicking off a sweeping rebuild, this was a very important prospect camp for the Chicago Blackhawks.

The camp, which started last Monday and ended with Friday's intra-squad scrimmage, was important for the future of the Hawks — and for the future of their AHL affiliate the Rockford IceHogs.

"This kind of kicks things off. ... It's here," Hogs coach Anders Sorensen said of last week's prospect camp, and of the new era. "We want to be able to develop the players, and their habits, that's going to carry them when they play in the NHL. And we want to win as well, there's got to be a balance there.

"We're excited to be a part of this."

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When anyone in the Hawks or Hogs organization says "this" these days, they're usually talking about the lengthy reconstruction that basically started with the recent hirings of general manager Kyle Davidson and head coach Luke Richardson.

And both have already expressed that they know the importance of keeping the pipeline from Rockford to Chicago strong.

"The road between Rockford and Chicago is much shorter now, and the connection between the two teams is vital to our plan," Davidson said recently. He also added, about this week's camp: "It's been filled with lots of self-motivated, enthusiastic people."

Here are three things that we learned about the Hogs from Hawks camp:

The Hogs-to-Hawks pipeline will flow

The Hawks unloaded a lot of veteran talent and a ton of salary of late and are all of the sudden one of the youngest teams, other than Patrick Kane (33) and Jonathan Toews (34).

The Hawks traded winger Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators on draft day for a first- and a second-round pick. Then they dealt Kirby Dach in a draft night swap, hauling in the No. 13 pick and the 66th overall pick. They wound up with 11 draft picks in all, with every one of them making an appearance at prospect camp.

Not all of them will suit up in Rockford, but many of them will take that route, which will be used a lot in the near future.

"We had a lot of good, young players to look at this week, and a lot to think about," Richardson said as camp closed. "And we were watching closely."

With the roster of both the NHL and AHL teams expected to be young, inexperienced, and in constant flux, the Hogs-to-Hawks' pipeline is sure to be a busy one next season.

There are new goalies in the mix

The two Hogs' stars in net from the past five years are gone as Collin Delia signed a one-year deal with Vancouver right as NHL free agency opened up last week, and Kevin Lankinen signed a one-year deal with Nashville two days later.

Newly acquired Petr Mrazek and just-signed Alex Stalock are expected to battle for the Hawks' starting nod, which means a pair of rookie goalies that were at last week's prospect camp will most likely be in net for the Hogs next season, battling Arvid Soderblom for time. That race is led by Jaxson Stauber, who looked strong at camp this past week. Mitchell Weeks, also at camp, could push for time between the pipes for the Hogs, as could newly signed Dylan Wells, who appeared in three games with the Chicago Wolves last season.

"It's a development league, and we all know that," said Hogs assistant coach and former team captain Jared Nightingale. He's one of the coaches on staff at the prospect camp.

"Each year, the priority is building the Blackhawks. We're all on the same team," he said. "It's an exciting time, and with the success last year in Rockford, we expect more this year in the upcoming season."

And Rockford has always been a breeding ground for Chicago goalies. Delia and Lankinen are the two latest examples of Hog goalies to either make it, or give it a good run, in Chicago. Others include Corey Crawford, Antti Niemi and Jean-Francois Berube.

Familiar names could be in fold

While the vast majority of the Hogs and the Hawks rosters will be new next season, there will be at least two last names that will be familiar to Hogs fans.

Colton Dach, the brother of Kirby Dach who was just traded, battled hard at prospect camp last week. Though it will take some time, he's expected to see some time for the Hogs in the near future. And forward Dylan Sikura, a one-time Hogs fan favorite, and brother of another former Hogs' star Tyler Sikura, just returned to the organization.

Colton Dach, the 6 foot, 3 inch, 205-pound forward selected by the Hawks in the second round of the 2021 draft is the younger brother of Kirby Dach, who was taken by Chicago third overall in the 2019 NHL draft, and was then dealt last week. He was one of the standouts all week at prospect camp.

"You slowly start to realize that all this is a business," Colton Dach said last week in Chicago. "But I'm still playing it for the love the of the game ... And I just want to play for a winner."

Colton and Kirby played in one preseason game together with the Hawks last season, and then Colton went on to post 79 points for the Western Hockey League's Kelowna Rockets. He'll be part of this rebuild, and soon.

Forward Dylan Sikura was just signed to a one-year, two-way contract, returning to the organization after being drafted by Chicago in the sixth round of the 2014 draft and playing for the Hawks and Hog from 2018-20. Sikura played in five games with the Colorado Avalanche last season and recorded an assist. He also spent time with the Colorado Eagles, AHL affiliate of the Avalanche, and was sixth in the league with 73 points.

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, for more than 20 years at the Register Star, and for nearly 30 years all together. He was a four-sport athlete himself, and is the father of five that went on to be jocks of some kind as well.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford IceHogs: Chicago Blackhawks camp shows team pipeline strong