Blackhawks advise their top prospect to hit the gym instead of train

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Joshua Deeds
September 23, 2023 (3:56 PM)

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During the summer, Lukas Reichel worked on his face-offs and was assigned to the Center position.

The Center position requires more responsibility on the ice, accounting for two-way play, being defensively responsible, and winning face-offs. The Blackhawks' top prospect last season and over the course of the past 3 years has been Lukas Reichel, and he is still ranked as #2 in the organization.

The Blackhawks advised Lukas Reichel to spend more time in the gym this summer, rather than getting on the ice right at the start of summer, so that's what he did back home in Germany. He's around 188 pounds now.

In preparation for the shift to Center, it sounds like the Blackhawks urged Reichel to hit the gym so he could add body mass, so he wasn't pushed off the puck as easily as in the past.

The German-born center was previously listed as weighing 170 lbs on HockeyDB.com. As a result of his hard work and dedication, he has gained 18 pounds of muscle mass.

His team and he hope he can continue achieving the level of play he was drafted to be after a short breakout season last year.

In addition to developing Reichel as a skilled forward, they now want him to become a two-way weapon.

Selke season here we go!