Even if some of it was missing, the smile on Ethan Del Mastro‘s face after the first practice for Blackhawks prospects before this weekend’s Tom Kurver’s Prospect Showcase was visible from a mile away. And it’s understandable why. He’s officially making the jump from juniors to the professional levels this year, likely heading to Rockford to help anchor a talented young blue line.
Being on the ice with his new teammates was exciting. After spending this summer’s entire development camp off the ice, skating with the group was a welcome transition.
“It’s exciting getting back into hockey season form again,” he said. “Like the first day of school but you enjoy it a lot more.”
When Connor Bedard arrives at the Fifth Third Arena on Thursday, there will be a reunion of sorts on the ice. Bedard will join Del Mastro, Kevin Korchinski, Nolan Allan and Colton Dach as the fifth member of Canada’s gold-medal winning World Juniors roster from this past winter on the Blackhawks’ ice.
As Blackhawks fans, we went into that tournament excited because the Blackhawks had four players on Canada’s roster. And we had high hopes that Bedard would eventually join them. We watched as they congratulated each other on the ice and dreamed of them being friends long-term in Chicago. Now, that’s going to begin happening.
Two of those players — Bedard and Del Mastro — were teammates on the August re-scheduled 2022 edition of the tournament that won gold as well. Bedard put up fantastic numbers in both tournaments. Del Mastro, meanwhile, went from being a depth player on the blue line during the summer tournament into a prominent role that included being named an assistant captain.
Del M🔴astro said the bond they have as gold medalists and, now, future Blackhawks is special. And their experience on a loaded Canadian roster in a very good, deep tournament should pay dividends as a number of them make the move from junior to the professional ranks this season.
“Those guys are going to be big pieces of this team moving forward,” Del Mastro said after Wednesday’s practice in Chicago. “All of them are pretty amazing players so getting to know them and play with them a little more and build the bond between us even more. We’re a young group coming up and it’s pretty special.”
“[Canada’s WJC team] was almost like an NHL camp. There were a lot of the best players coming together. Those were high-intensity practices and different games against the best in the world, which prepares you for the next level. Obviously [in the professional game] the guys are bigger – men – but how quick the play was helped prepare me.”
Del Mastro (6-4, 210) is a physical player whose size stood out onಌ the ice despite there being plenty of bigger players in camp. He and the organization know his role is going to be a strong player in his own end, which is what he showed the ability to do while averaging 21:24 per g♒ame in seven contests at the World Juniors.
If you watched those g🌊ames, you heard the Canadian broadcasters talk about him being a punishing hitter on the back end. His game might remind some of a young player almost 20 years ago whose number being retired has been a popular discussion recently (see: Seabrook, Brent). But he knows even with a couple gold medals at home he has work to do to make it to ꦡthe NHL level.
“One area I’m working on is making quicker plays,” he said. “In junior, you’re able to hold onto the puck a little longer and take more time to move the puck. But here you’ve gotta be quick and have to make plays faster and under pressure. So shooting quick from the blue line or making quick passes out of my zone are things I’ve been working on.”
Del Mastro has the big, strong build to be an imposing force for the Blackhawks in the future. His game could complement the puck-movers like Korchinski and Wyatt Kaiser very well as this young group develops together into the next generation of NHL players in Chicago. He’s been a captain in junior and worn a letter for his country. He’s a winner. Those traits and his perspective should serve him well in his first professional season.
