“Has improved offensively in the NCAA, and has the size and physicality to be a bottom 6 forward down the road.… —Dobber’s Prospects
“Owns outstanding size (6-3, 223 pounds) for a forward at the National Hockey League level. Can play both center and wing, owns a good shot and is also a physical presence up front. Needs to work on his passing skills in order to maximize ice time at the center position at the highest level. Otherwise, he will probably settle into a wing position in the NHL.… —The Hockey News
In a lot of ways, John Hayden appears to be exactly what the Hawks were missing when they were humiliated in a first round playoff loss to Nashville last Spring: big, mobile, aggressive, skilled enough.
Hayden, himself, was bounced from that series early on with a concussion. Like Tyler Motte earlier in the season, Hayden got the rude welcome to the NHL awaiting most college players: “keep your head up, sweetie pie.…
Hayden has come back strong, with no hesitation or tentativeness.
One of the things I’ve noticed about Hayden so far this preseason is he seems to understand and embrace his likely role in the NHL. Not a fighter in the Jordin Tootoo mode, not a top 6 power forward (yet anyway) in the Richard Panik mode. But a tough to play against, high effort bottom six winger with some ability to pitch in offensively here and there.
The big dilemma today in Blackhawk Nation is which players will compose the NHL bottom 6—and which will be heading up the Northwest Tollway to play for the Rockford Ice Hogs. Hayden, Hinostroza, and Dauphin, or Wingels, Bouma or Tootoo? Or more likely, some combination thereof, including also Tanner Kero, Artem Anisimov, etc.
The thing to remember is that preseason superstars have a way of receding into anonymity when the games matter, and opposing defenses and goalies become truly NHL caliber top to bottom.
And that effective bottom 6 hockey involves more than flashing speed up the ice or a nifty setup play. It’s blocking shots, killing penalties, and just having the maturity and experience of playing a grinder role in the NHL that has meaning through the colder months of the schedule— a point aptly made on my message board in the last couple of days.
I have a feeling, among the rookies or less experienced candidates, Hayden is a more likely candidate to stick, because he has more of the earmarks of an effective NHL bottom 6 player right now.
For a player like Alex DeBrincat, who really must be a top 6 player stylistcally—at whatever level he is assigned to (AHL or NHL)—there is an argument that, say, Patrick Sharp has a more well-rounded game at this point, and would be better for the time being opposite Patrick Kane on the second line..
Hayden may be more ready right now to step in as a bottom 6 winger in the NHL.
All for now,
JJ