The Blackhawks’ collection of prospects who will play two games against the Blues’ prospects next week took the ice on Friday morning for the first practice. And it was physical. IceHogs head coach Jared Nightingale really put them thru some hard work and said he noticed who was in better than than others.
If there are two guys in this showcase who could push for NHL ice time, it would be AJ Spellacy and Sacha Boisvert. They spent a lot of time on the ice together on Friday. I tweeted a few clips of them skating in drills together.
Boisvert, Spellacy and Ty Henry in black here against Marek Vanacker, Martin Misiak and Ashton Cumby #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/ltGXSvEjGI
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) September 11, 2026After the skate, Nightingale talked about noticing again that Boisvert really took his brief taste of NHL action to the gym this summer and bulked up. He also said Spellacy’s speed is his calling card and he’s a noticeably physical player.
Nightingale also noted that Boisvert was one of the guys who was never out of gas at the end of any of the drills or sprints. The coaches — which undoubtedly trickles up to the NHL level and front office (because they were all there watching) — were impressed by both Boisvert and Spellacy. Of all the skaters involved on Friday, they appeared to be the most NHL-ready.
A,J. Spellacy (79) creates speed so quickly pic.twitter.com/z0FzF6G7cJ
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) September 11, 2026I asked Spellacy how much more confident he is as a hockey player now, two years later, than he was as a recently drafted player who had played football and hockey. Remember: like Mason West, Spellacy was really just turning his full-time attention to hockey when the Blackhawks drafted him. Now, he’s a man with a plan and he has World Juniors experience on his resume. He’s hung around in NHL camp for a while the past two years, and now he’s a full-time pro hockey player. Spellacy’s response to my question felt the most comfortably confident of any answer we got from a young player on Friday.
Spellacy again said he models his game after Tom Wilson. He’s a heat-seeking missile who knows his role. You could tell Nightingale is excited at the prospect of having Spellacy and Boisvert in his lineup (even if he wouldn’t say as much because they’re still fighting for an NHL job).
A few other notes:
Marek Vanacker also spent a good amount of time in the weight room this summer. He looks bigger, and handled himself pretty well in the physical drills (see our clip I shared above). After leading the OHL in goals last year, he’s going pro with the intent of making the NHL roster soon and being an impact player. Nightingale continues to talk about the improvement from Taige Harding. I’ll be honest with you: he looked like the high school kid playing with his middle school brother’s team. Even though there are eight other guys on the ice in this camp listed as being at least 6-3, Harding’s size (6-7, 238) stood out visually. And he handled other players pretty well with that size (he bodied Boisvert a couple times). Nightingale said Harding’s skating and puck handling have come a long way from where he started coming out of college. And you can’t coach a guy to be the size of an NFL defensive end with a mean streak who doesn’t have a problem throwing hands. Ryan Roobroeck looked like “this year’s draft pick playing with older, stronger players.” I don’t say that in a bad way; he’s 6-4 and 215 pounds and uses his body well to shield the puck and get his shot off. But, in a similar way to how his seven NHL games opened Boisvert’s eyes to what he needs to do to take his game to the next level(s) and succeed, Roobroeck is not skating against other OHL teenagers here. And you could see a few times where “this moves works” didn’t go as planned. This should be a great litmus test for Roobroeck to understand what he needs to do to be a power forward in the NHL. Ty Henry told us there were some complications with him making the move to St. Thomas (NCHC) to play college hockey this year, so he’ll be back with Erie in the OHL. That could be a good thing; he missed most of last year because of injury, so playing more games means more reps — which he needs. He also noted that he’s cut his body fat almost in half since last year by working on his diet while rehabbing. He looked like he was in good shape.Hence then, the article about blackhawks prospect practice takeaways day one was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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