Blackhawks Prospect Colton Dach Makes Major Announcement: He's NHL Ready

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Joshua Deeds
September 12, 2024 (7:14 PM)

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Colton Dach was selected in the 2021 NHL Draft and is now 3-years out from his draft day. He was drafted in the 2nd round of the draft and is arguably closer to moving up the ladder to the NHL.

Dach himself feels that he'd have made the NHL last season if he'd been healthy.

He was playing some of his best hockey in Rockford last December, but a concussion put him out of action.

"Last year I came in, I thought I had a really good camp," Dach said. "I proved to them I can play in the NHL. I came to camp with the mindset of making the team last year and it did sting a little bit getting that phone call. ... I wanted to do that first and foremost and obviously the injuries, they sucked, but they build adversity and come back this year ready to play."

"It's always frustrating, especially when you miss a long period of time over things you can't really control, but in the end, there's a path that's going to be for me and I just gotta take that one step at at time. And with those injuries, it allows me to work on little areas of my game that need to improve, so I took that time to try and improve my game."

Dach worked on improving his game this off-season, by using his feet more.

"Keeping my feet moving, cross overs, trying to get more speed and more jump in my game," Dach said. "Work on the defensive side of the puck a little bit more, stick on puck type of things, and that's something Kirby's really good at, so it's nice to have him out there on the ice."

IceHogs coach Anders Sorenson believes that Dach could be an NHL power-forward, but needs to define himself as the player he'd be in the NHL.

"His biggest thing is figuring out what he's going to be in the NHL," Sorensen said when asked how Dach can take the next step. "In juniors and even sometimes last year, he may have gotten away with some stuff that may not translate to the NHL for him. I think he's aware of it. It's just a matter of doing it consistently on the ice - consistent being the key word. If he does that, he has the attributes to be a really effective player at that level as well."

He said he needs to focus his game on the back end, fighting for pucks, and getting to the net.

"Being good on the end wall, back well, win a lot of pucks, get to the net," Sorensen said. "He plays his best when he plays with emotion, but not emotional. He needs to bring that emotion every day and find a way to get going every game and shift and period but don't teeter over to where you get emotional and that leaks into his game."

His confidence is unfazed by the Blackhawk's recent signings and feels he has a path to the NHL despite their presence.

"I know the player I can be, I know the player I can be in the NHL," Dach said. "I showed glimpses of it in the NHL last year and that's just the game I need to play 100 percent of the time to stay up here."

"I grew up with Kirby and he was always an older guy and I always challenged myself to beat him every time we would do something, so I just kind of look at it that way," Dach said. "I'm going in here and trying to earn a spot and take a job and that's what I'm going to do."

Source: NBC Sports Chicago
Blackhawks prospect Colton Dach motivated to prove he's NHL ready