Blackhawks News: A huge change is coming to development camp

The Chicago Blackhawks have the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. That is going to cause a lot of excitement around the team in the coming months as Connor Bedard is coming to town.

Any public team activities from now until the start of the season are going to get lots of attention because of the fact that they will feature Bedard. However, we won’t be seeing him (or any of the other drafted players this year) on the ice during the development camp that takes place over the summer.

Blackhawks Assistant General Manager of Player Development Mark Eaton went on NBC Sports Chicago’s Blackhawks Talk Podcast and had some very interesting things to say.

They believe that there are better ways to spend the little time they have with these guys than having them on the ice the whole time. He mentioned their strength and muscle as something that can be developed better off the ice which makes a lot of sense.

The Chicago Blackhawks have made a change to their development camp.

This decision was apparently made long before the Hawks won the Bedard sweepstakes which is notable. With him there, the attention from all over the world is going to be magnified.

It has been a while since the Chicago Blackhawks developed good prospect after good prospect so making some changes to the way that they do things is probably smart. If they don’t think they are getting much out of the on-ice events over the summer, there is no reason to do them.

Yes, it could be fun to see Bedard skating in some Blackhawks gear during the summer when the regular season feels so far away but it would be better to make sure he is better equipped in other areas. We already know he is a very good hockey player. In order to succeed in the NHL, there are other things that need to be addressed.

You also have to remember that the other prospects are not Bedard. Some of the players at this development camp will be headed back to junior or the NCAA. It is more important for the organization to get those guys prepared for other areas of their development.