Lukas Reichel recalled from Rockford

Dec 7, 2022 - 12:16 AM

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The bad news is that Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews will miss Tuesday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils with a non-COVID illness.

The good news is that the Blackhawks announced that Lukas Reichel — arguably their top forward prospect — had been recalled from the Rockford IceHogs and would replace the captain in the line-up in Newark.

Reichel has been on an absolute tear for the IceHogs recently with nine points (4 G, 5 A) in his last five games. The 2020 first-rounder is currently second in points in Rockford with 23 (10 G, 13 A) in 19 AHL games this season, trailing only 26-year old verten Brett Seney. Additionally, Reichel’s 1.20 points-per-game is an improvement on 1.01 rate from last season and is third among Blackhawks prospects behind only defenseman Kevin Korchinski (1.40) and forward Colton Dach (1.21), both playing in the WHL currently.

Suffice it to say, Reichel has earned this call-up even if it took an illness to make it happen and it’s unknown how exactly how long the assignment will last.

Although Reichel has played predominantly center in the AHL, NHL, and DEL the last few years, he was drafted originally as a winger and that appears to be how Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson plans to use him tonight:

Reichel joins defensemen Ian Mitchell and goalies Arvid Söderblom and Jaxson Stauber as Rockford regulars that will be in the line-up in New Jersey.

Also to note, the Blackhawks placed goaltender Petr Mrazek (groin) on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 3 in a corresponding move to make room on the roster for Reichel.