Blackhawks assign former second-round pick to AHL

Colton Dach’s first NHL season came to an early end when he suffered an elbow injury last month. However, it appears that injury has healed as the Blackhawks announced that the forward has been assigned to AHL Rockford. The assignment couldn’t have been made until he received a clean bill of health.

The 22-year-old was a second-round pick by Chicago back in 2021, going 62nd overall. After injuries took out most of his final WHL season, Dach was limited to just 48 games in his first professional season, spent entirely with the IceHogs. Nonetheless, he put up a respectable 11 goals and 16 assists in those outings.

This season, Dach got off to a strong start with Rockford, earning himself a recall in early January. Aside from a pair of brief stints in the minors after that, he spent the bulk of the second half with the Blackhawks, getting into 25 games where he had two goals and five assists while logging a little over 12 minutes a night. Meanwhile, with the IceHogs, Dach had a strong half-season, tallying 12 goals and 14 helpers in 33 outings.

Dach was papered down at the trade deadline, keeping him eligible to play in the minors for this very reason. Rockford took the opener of its best-of-three series on Wednesday and will look to punch their ticket to the next round with a win on Friday.