Ryan Carpenter’s Blackhawks role increasing due to offensive growth, not vice versa

During the second half of the 2017-18 season, forward Ryan Carpenter was a bona fide scoring threat with the Golden Knights.

Two years later, Carpenter, now with the Blackhawks, is starting to trend back toward that level of versatility.

During the 34-game stint after the Golden Knights claimed him off waivers from the Sharks in December 2017, Carpenter tallied nine goals and 14 points, an average of 1.77 points per 60 minutes. But the Bowling Green product regressed offensively in his second season with the Knights, didn’t receive a contract offer from them this past spring and began his tenure in Chicago as an exclusively defensive forward.

Through his first 22 appearances with the Hawks this season, he won fans’ hearts with his contributions on the penalty kill and in his own zone but contributed virtually nothing to the box score.

Then, starting Nov. 26 in Dallas, something started to change.

“I’m trying to stay around in the scoring areas more, and when you get chances to shoot it, those are [important],” Carpenter said last week. “Maybe before, I was just waiting on the perfect opportunity to shoot, or maybe looking to pass too much, and [I’m] just trying to simplify more of late.”

In the last 14 games, he has scored his first two goals with the Hawks and has been generally far more involved in the attacking zone. He has two points in his last three games after scoring the Hawks’ lone goal Wednesday against the Avalanche and assisting on Kirby Dach’s crucial game-tying goal in a rematch with the Avalanche on Saturday.

Carpenter is clearly one of the players for whom coach Jeremy Colliton’s message of getting the puck to the net more often has resonated. He’s attempting 2.5 shots per game, up from a paltry 1.0 before; he’s getting 1.5 on goal per game, up from 0.6 before; and he’s also generating 1.3 scoring chances per game, up from 0.9 before.

“A big thing, too, is just getting guys in front of the goalie and keeping him in the back of his crease and taking away his eyes, and that’s sometimes how you start getting confidence back again,” Carpenter said.

On the surface, his growth seems like a product of Colliton elevating his role and placing him with more talented linemates. Carpenter spent much of October and November on the fourth line with Zack Smith; lately, he’s been bumped up alongside Dach and Alex DeBrincat.

But Colliton says he elevated Carpenter’s role because of Carpenter’s offensive growth, not the other way around.

“He makes simple plays, he helps us to get out of D-zone, he advances the puck, he goes to the net,” Colliton said. “I don’t know if I’m looking to utilize him in an offensive role as much as he’s helping the offensive guys be in better situations, and he’s willing to do the dirty work — defensively as well as going to the net.”

Before Saturday, Carpenter had gone 16 straight games with at least one shot attempt, including a career-high five on goal on Dec. 12 at Arizona. He has three scoring chances in his last seven games, something he hadn’t previously done since last March.

And yes, his linemates are talented, and they’re contributing to that surge. But so is Carpenter.

“I just try to work hard for those guys, try to play the same way, try to finish my hits and be hard to play against, be reliable,” he said. “I still think I bring offense and make plays, whether it’s good passes or quick shots to the net. So it was nice just to get rewarded.”