Moving forward, roster spots won't be cleared for prospects coming up from Rockford until they've "convincingly" proved they can handle the responsibilities in a sustainable way, Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson said Friday.
chicago.suntimes.com
Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson made the message clear to Kevin Korchinski.
“He’s a guy who has to come in and earn a spot,” Davidson said Friday.
That’s essentially the message to all the Hawks’ young players. They’ll have to definitively prove they’re NHL-ready rather than simply seem NHL-ready. With so much more quantity and quality on the roster next season, spots won’t be cleared for them preemptively.
“Young guys will have to be convincing in doing so,” Davidson said. “What we don’t want is to give them a spot and then, after a month or so, it’s just not working out and we had to clear someone out to clear a spot for them and then we can’t get that player back. We want to be sure they’re going to come in, elevate the whole group through their play and be able to sustain that.”
That was the biggest takeaway from the GM’s news conference after a busy week. He hopes the influx of talent created by signing seven veteran free agents will help the Hawks be able to “play with the puck more and control the game more” next season than they have during the past two loss-laden seasons.