When the Blackhawks take the ice on Wednesday night against the St. Louis Blues, two of the centers in their lineup will be 22 and 20 years old. Ryan Greene (22) is skating on Chicago’s top line in place of injured star Connor Bedard — who’s 20, by the way — and Oliver Moore (20) is skating on a line with Nick Lardis and Teuvo Teräväinen. Moore is getting some run at center because Frank Nazar — who turns 22 on Jan. 14, by the way — is also out hurt.
So, in review, four skaters who are currently on the Blackhawks roster who are “centers” are (with their ages):
That’s a nice situation for a team that’s working to emerge from the depths of a scorched-earth rebuild project.
Corinne Votaw-Imagn ImagesGreene has spent time both on the wing and at center at the NHL level this season, and he’s been effective in both roles.
Because of that, the question was asked if Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill saw him sticking down the middle when Bedard and Nazar return from their respective injuries. The coach wouldn’t make a firm commitment, saying “we’ll see when Connor gets back what the lines look like, so that’s probably still undetermined.”
Here’s what Blashill said about Greene’s skillset at any spot up front:
“[Greene’s] a very capable center, a good center, definitely a good face-off guy,” Blashill said Wednesday morning. “The one thing with him is his versatility. He doesn’t look any better or worse at center than at wing, so that’s a positive thing to be able to then move him to different lines. Some guys play exponentially better when they play center. Ryan kind of plays the same regardless of playing center or wing”
The last two sentences of that answer were interesting. When I asked Blashill the next question, my thoughts on the center depth in the organization were stirred more.
Talia Sprague-Imagn ImagesI asked Blashill how he thinks Moore has done moving to center from the wing, where he spent the majority of his time since turning pro. His answer was fascinating. Here’s what he said:
“Ollie, without question, knows how to utilize his speed better in the middle than as a winger,” Blashill said. “He’s more natural as a center that way. And it doesn’t mean he can’t learn how to utilize it as a wing, but he just hits holes better as a center. As a center you have to slow yourself down a little bit and then hit the hole with speed, where, as a winger, he was kind of skating so fast all the time that he wasn’t able to hit those holes. So, I’ve liked him at center.
“I think he’s highly competitive, he’s strong down low. Obviously he’s fast and quick enough to play against any other center. We’ll see again. Hopefully you have too many centers. That’s a good problem. But he definitely looks like someone who, so far for me, has been exponentially better at center than at wing.”
Moore has been very good as a center. The sample size still isn’t huge, but it’s growing. And clearly his head coach likes what he’s been seeing. It’s worth noting that, entering Wednesday’s game, Moore has taken 51 faceoffs (25 of which came in the neutral zone) and he has won 51 percent of his draws.
But compare the definitive statement Blashill made about Moore’s game being “exponentially better” better at center than on the wing; he used the phrase “exponentially better” when speaking about both of his (currently healthy) young centers.
Interesting. Very interesting.
IIHFBlackhawks Future Centers
Since I already threw out the names and young ages of the four skaters on the Blackhawks’ current NHL roster who are “centers” right now, let’s take this conversation a step forward.
When I shared an interview with top Blackhawks prospect Roman Kantserov earlier this week, he talked about how much his game has exploded since his KHL club moved him to… center. Kantserov doesn’t turn 22 until September.
If you watched the World Junior Championship, you saw the United States using AJ Spellacy primarily as a center. He’s played some wing with Windsor in the OHL this season, but his best hockey has come in the middle. Spellacy will turn 20 at the end of February.
The big news this week in the college ranks is that the top true center prospect in the 2026 NHL Draft, Tynan Lawrence, has joined Boston University for the rest of his pre-draft season. The Terriers’ top line center this season (when he’s been healthy) has been Blackhawks prospect Sacha Boisvert. Boisvert will turn 20 in the middle of March.
By my count, that’s seven capable centers in the Blackhawks organization, the oldest of whom will turn 23 in October (Greene).
But… the Blackhawks’ lines only require four “centers”….
Corinne Votaw-Imagn ImagesWho moves to the wing?
Having multiple players on a line who can take and win faceoffs is advantageous for the Blackhawks. Luke RIchardson loved having guys on a line who can come in and win a draw so the guy who starts at the dot can “cheat” a little.
Blashill has also distributed faceoffs to a wide range of skaters this season. Injuries have played a role, but Nick Foligno needs to take one faceoff on Wednesday night to be the sixth Blackhawks skater to take 200 draws this season.
I’ll start this part of our discussion with Anton Frondell, who has also played both center and wing. He was used exclusively as a wing by Sweden at the World Junior Championship. I would imagine the Blackhawks are comfortable with him sticking at the position at which he earned the honor of being named the best forward in a tournament in which he helped his country win gold.
Boisvert has also played the wing some at times in his development thus far. However, it’s easy to like his size down the middle (6-3, 185). The same is true for Spellacy’s size (6-3, 205).
Based on Blashill’s comments on Wednesday morning, Greene may become a Swiss Army knife of sorts for the Blackhawks because of his ability to take draws well and also play effectively on the wing. And, as Blashill has said, Greene can move up and down the lineup with ease as well.
But the Blackhawks probably need another forward to eventually move to the wing, especially assuming Kantserov signs to come to the NHL at the end of his KHL season and the Blackhawks like how he’s played down the middle against older competition in the top league in Russia.
Which brings me to an intriguing possibility for Nazar.
Nazar really made a name for himself on a larger stage when he led the USA in scoring en route to a gold medal at the World Championship following last season. His offense really took off when he was moved to the wing at that tournament.
One of the assistant coaches of that team who watched Nazar’s performance on the wing: Mike Vellucci — who is now on Blashill’s staff in Chicago.
It’s possible that, in a couple years, the Blackhawks’ four centers are Bedard, Kantserov, Moore and Spellacy. If they somehow get a chance to add Lawrence to that mix at the 2026 NHL Draft, that could very, very easily change the calculus with the Hawks’ roster construction as well.
At the end of the day, as Blashill said on Wednesday morning, “Hopefully you have too many centers. That’s a good problem.” And that could be the reality for the Blackhawks soon.
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