Sources: Chicago Sun-Times, Daily Herald, NBC Sports Chicago, The Athletic Chicago
Here's a summary of newsworthy notes from Day 7 of Blackhawks training camp:
* Jalen Luypen and Ethan Del Mastro were cut from camp and will return to their junior teams with the Edmonton Oil Kings and Mississauga Steelheads, respectively.
* The camp roster is now reduced from 63 to 61 total players which leaves the Hawks still needing to shed quite a bit more pounds (or kilos for the majority of humanity on the metric system) in order to get down to fighting weight.
* Colton Dach returned to practice yesterday after sustaining a shoulder injury earlier in camp.
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Projected Lineup
The lineup rolled out in yesterday's practice was announced in advance to be the exact lineup that will be playing this evening versus the Blues. In contrast, it's been quite rare during head coach Jeremy Colliton's tenure that he state the lineup well ahead of game time.
Regardless, a few thoughts on the starting lineup:
* The 1st line of Tyler Johnson centering Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane is likely what the top line will be to start the regular season.
* The 2nd line is almost for certain to feature Jonathan Toews as the center -- barring health setbacks -- with possible winger candidates in Brandon Hagel, Lukas Reichel, Philipp Kurashev, and Dominik Kubalik.
* The 3rd line of Alex Nylander and Dylan Strome flanking Ryan Carpenter is scary and not in a good way with the center playing a line too high and the wingers having subpar compete levels that don't match what Colliton expects.
* The 4th line of Reese Johnson surrounded by Mike Hardman and Jakub Pour may be surprisingly effective if they keep it simple with a heavy, industrious style dotted with physicality and timely hits.
* Dmitri Osipov really has no business being in a preseason game for the varsity club and should be amongst the next round of cuts.
* Like the 1st line, the top D pair of Seth Jones and Jack McCabe could very well be what you see on opening night of the regular season.
* Assuming good health, Calvin de Haan is bound to play on the 2nd D pair with Connor Murphy or possibly swapping spots with McCabe.
* Caleb Jones, Riley Stillman, and Jakub Galvas are essentially competing for the 5/6/7 spots along with Wyatt Kalynuk.
* Ian Mitchell could be in the mix for one of the last spots on the blueline but as much marination time in Rockford may do him a world of good in the long term.
* Even if Nolan Allan flexes his defensive muscles with a steady performance, he's best off returning to juniors to log big minutes back with the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL.
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Lesson of the Day
In the first preseason game on Wednesday against the Red Wings, Kevin Lankinen played the entire game while Arvid Soderblom was the backup who rode pine all evening. For today's game hosting the Blues, Marc-Andre Fleury likely gets the nod as starter over Collin Delia.
Will Delia have the same treatment as Soderblom before him, i.e. not get a lick of playing time? It's natural for each goalie to desire being in the game and prove themselves worthy of the starting role. But is it necessarily a bad thing that the backup may not get to play?
Part of being a backup is having the mental fortitude to know that you are exactly that -- a backup -- which means being a team player and staying mentally prepared because being called upon at any point in the game due to an injury to the starter is bound to happen.
On being a team player, that's not being silent on the bench but rather being a cheerleader, an extra pair of eyes to bark out heads-up comments during game play, and even opening the bench door for teammates coming off their shifts especially if they're gassed.
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