ST. LOUIS — Ian Mitchell laughed.
There was no joy in the laugh, none of the usual body language that accompanies a moment of merriment. It was a laugh of recognition, of resignation, of what do you want me to say. Perhaps “scoff” would be a better word for it. He laughed because the question, and its answer, were so obvious.
Has it been tough for him, I asked, to get into any kind of rhythm and show the Blackhawks just what he’s capable of when he keeps getting yanked from the lineup?
Ha.
“Yeah,” he said after being the last one off the ice at Wednesday’s practice at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. “Very much so. Especially when you think that you’re playing well and doing everything that you can.”
Mitchell was a scratch Tuesday in Carolina, forced to watch another Blackhawks loss from the far end of the mostly empty PNC Arena press box. Mitchell will be a scratch again Thursday in St. Louis. Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said Wednesday that he wanted “heavier bodies” and “good skaters” against the speedy, hyper-aggressive Hurricanes. He then said that he’ll stick with the same lineup that surrendered 49 shots on goal in a shutout loss to Carolina because the Blues are a “big, heavy team” and the Blackhawks won’t have last change.
Which, at least, is more of an explanation than Mitchell got.
“I didn’t get an explanation, no,” he said. “I can just control what I can control when I’m in the lineup, and continue to play the way I have, because I really do feel I’ve played well. That’s all I can do, I guess. It’s definitely frustrating. Everyone wants to play.”
None of this really makes sense, unless you read the tea leaves and come to the conclusion that the Blackhawks simply made up their minds on Mitchell, weighing and measuring him and finding him wanting. That they’re content to sit back and wait for Kevin Korchinski, Nolan Allan, and Ethan del Mastro to join the likes of Alex Vlasic and Isaak Phillips on the Blackhawks’ blue line in a year or two or three. That they see little to no benefit from anything that can happen on the ice this season.
But it doesn’t make sense because Mitchell has been playing better since his most recent call-up on Dec. 1, at least relative to the defensive mess the Blackhawks have been all season. He’s more patient with the puck than he was as a jittery rookie, and he’s calmer defensively, no longer running wildly around his own zone and instead letting the play come to him. Yes, his metrics are bad, but everyone’s metrics are bad on this team. The Blackhawks are bad But he’s visibly improved.
Conor Sheary and Ian Mitchell. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
It doesn’t make sense because even if you’ve lost faith in him as a part of the future, what’s the harm in giving him one last extended audition to prove you wrong? Jack Johnson is providing good value to the Blackhawks, but there’s no reason he can’t be rotated in and out of the lineup. He won’t be here beyond April, maybe not even beyond February.
It doesn’t make sense because it’s not as if playing Mitchell is going to suddenly upend the precious tank. Cale Makar couldn’t save this team from last place this season. The Blackhawks are clearly not one player away from success.
It doesn’t make sense because Richardson’s reasoning is that “It’s still the NHL and every day, you have to put your best foot forward to win.” Richardson — understandably given his competitive nature but unreasonably considering the reality of the team’s situation — is still trying to win every game. But when you’ve lost 17 of 19 games, as the Blackhawks have, how can you justify trotting the same guys out there every night and claiming it’s in the interest of winning?
Most of all, it doesn’t make sense because moving on from Mitchell would be foolish. Hasty. Unnecessary. For one thing, the odds of every one of those other young defensemen panning out are slim. For another, Mitchell will be a restricted free agent this summer and will cost a little more than the league minimum. Why punt now?
Defensemen take time to develop. And Mitchell, like so many other tweener prospects of his age, has had a very strange start to his career thanks to the pandemic. He was supposed to join the Blackhawks and burn a year of his entry-level contract in the spring of 2020, but never got the chance. Then he played his rookie season with no fans, against the same seven teams over and over. Then he spent all of last season in the AHL, doing everything the Blackhawks asked of him — logging big minutes, playing in all situations and embracing the process.
Hasn’t he at least earned a look? A real look? What’s the harm? The future’s the only thing that matters this season. It’s the whole point. Don’t you want to see if Mitchell can be a part of that future before watching him become another Gustav Forsling, a perfectly viable top-four defenseman, for another organization? Hell, the Blackhawks haven’t developed an everyday NHL defenseman for themselves since Niklas Hjalmarsson, who broke into the league 15 years ago. Patience has never been a Blackhawks virtue.
“I’ve only been a pro for less than two years total time,” Mitchell said. “It’s definitely been a different start to my career, for sure. Through all this, though, I still know that I’m capable and I know I can be a top-four defenseman in this league. It’s just about getting that opportunity to show it every night.”
The previous administration did Mitchell no favors. Then-general manager Stan Bowman teased him as an immediate answer on the back end, just as he once touted Dylan Sikura as someone who could step right into the top six and produce and keep the Blackhawks competitive. It was unfair to put those expectations on a 21-year-old, and it’s skewed the view the organization and the fan base has of Mitchell as a player. Remember, Duncan Keith spent two full years in the minors. So did Hjalmarsson. Again, defensemen take time.
“I did feel I was ready at the time, and maybe in a different system or a different situation, maybe it would have worked out better to start,” he said. “But the path I’ve taken has made me a better player. I thought last year was great for me. I got to play lots, and I really thought I had taken a step to play the same way at this level. I think I’ve been playing well. I’m just not getting the opportunity to show it every night.”
The Blackhawks are in the first year of a long-term, tear-down rebuild, with both eyes firmly on the future. This should be the perfect scenario for a player like Mitchell, a young-ish prospect-ish player eager to prove himself at the NHL level.
Another mirthless laugh from Mitchell. Ha.
“That is how you’d think it would work,” he said.
Now, there’s logic in the Blackhawks’ caution with some players. Better to keep younger prospects such as Lukas Reichel and Alex Vlasic in Rockford this season, where they can play big minutes and experience some success, rather than risk exposing them to a losing culture with the current Blackhawks. But Mitchell’s no kid. He barely even qualifies as a prospect anymore. He turns 24 in three weeks, and has 54 NHL games under his belt over the past three seasons. It’s time to find out what he really is. And you can’t learn that by sitting him in the press box for half the games.
Asked if he’d consider sitting a veteran in favor of someone like Mitchell, Richardson demurred.
“I haven’t even thought about that too far,” he said. “I’m sure management maybe thinks about that. And that probably comes into play at the trade deadline, too. You might lose people and not have to make a decision like that. But usually, someone is going to get banged up blocking a shot or a sore groin or back or something like that. There’s going to be an opportunity for everybody here to get playing time, and maybe even from Rockford at times. Because we want to see people.
That’s all Mitchell’s asking for. A chance to be seen. But waiting until the trade deadline, after which the Blackhawks will be icing a glorified AHL team, will be too late. Every game that passes is a missed opportunity for Mitchell to prove his worth, and for the Blackhawks to make an educated decision rather than a rash one.
“I just want to get in the lineup next game and play well,” said Mitchell, who apparently hadn’t yet been told he’ll be scratched again Thursday. “That’s all I’m thinking about. One thing I’ve noticed about pro hockey is that things can change in the blink of an eye. You can be at the top of the mountain and fall down pretty quickly, and vice versa. I’m just going to put my head down and work hard and do the things the coaches ask of me.”
And when will he know he’s no longer a prospect, no longer a tweener, but an entrenched NHLer?
No laugh this time. All business.
“When I’m getting those minutes every night, and that role, where the coaches have that trust in me, or show that they believe that I can play,” Mitchell said. “I’m not sure necessarily what’s going to take, because I feel I’m a capable NHL player currently. I’m just going to continue to play hard and do what I can, because a lot of things don’t necessarily always make sense to a player. It’s all out of my control. If I could change it, I would, for sure.”
He can’t. But the Blackhawks should.
(Top photo: Jamie Sabau / USA Today)
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