PRAGUE — Calvin de Haan’s eyebrows jumped slightly when the Blackhawks reporter group informed him Wednesday that he was included on the Hawks’ finalized active roster.
“I guess you guys know more than I do,” he said, perplexed. “I don’t think that’s the plan as of right now.”
Coach Jeremy Colliton, speaking a bit later, smirked when asked about de Haan’s confusion.
“The plan for him doesn’t change: Just try to get ready, and then we’ll tell him if he’s playing or not,” Colliton said.
The coach said he believed he was close to readiness, shortly after de Haan said he had to “grind” just to get through the first team practice in Prague, two days ahead of the regular-season opener against the Flyers.
Colliton did admit that the Hawks don’t want to rush de Haan before he’s fully healthy, and de Haan likewise admitted he thinks he could “survive a hockey game” if needed.
Nevertheless, it was an odd — if not entirely surprising — moment of inner disconnect in the middle of a logistically complicated European journey.
The team practiced Monday in Berlin then flew to Prague and had all of Tuesday off. In that period, the front office finalized the roster — as was required by NHL rules — technically sending down prospect defenseman Dennis Gilbert to the AHL, leaving de Haan as one of six active defensemen.
But Gilbert remained in Europe and practiced with the team Wednesday. With Carl Dahlstrom claimed on waivers by Winnipeg (forcing him to catch a commercial flight back to North America) and Connor Murphy placed on injured reserve, the former Notre Dame blueliner is the Hawks’ insurance plan for Friday.
“I don’t really try to think about the numbers, just try to control what I can control,” Gilbert had said in Berlin.
Before his on-paper demotion, Gilbert had drawn tremendous praise for his September surge up the depth chart, relying on his physicality and much-improved skating to cement his role in the organization.
Duncan Keith, unprompted, raved about Gilbert on Monday, calling him a “big, strong guy that gives you another element out there.”
Whether that role begins this week or sometime in the future, however, depends on de Haan, who was brought in from the Hurricanes in June to add a reliable, conservative defensive presence.
At the time, de Haan was still recovering from end-of-season shoulder surgery and expected to recover sometime in October. Yet his shoulder has been fully healed for weeks, he said, and it’s a minor but hard-to-shake groin injury suffered during summer rehab that continues to cloud his status.
“I’d rather be healthy in March, April, May, June, versus trying to grind out for the first five months of the year and just have a nagging injury,” he said. “[I’m] trying to do everything right. Just sometimes you need a bit of a miracle here and there to help you get through these things.”
Slater Koekkoek, an unexpectedly consistent factor within a tumultuous training camp of injuries and cuts for the Hawks’ defense, is practically certain to be either de Haan or Gilbert’s partner on the third pair against the Flyers.
Koekkoek skated with de Haan during 4-on-2 drills in practice Wednesday and the two meshed well.
“I’d like to be with him,” Koekkoek said. “Anytime you can get a veteran guy like that in here and help each other out, I think our games would complement each other pretty well.”