Lukas Reichel returns to Blackhawks refreshed and reunited with Andreas Athanasiou

Lukas Reichel arrived at Fifth Third Arena for practice Saturday feeling an unexpected emotion: nervousness.

Despite playing 50 games for the Blackhawks this season, a month away from the team — during a demotion to the AHL intended to help him reset — almost made him feel like the new guy again.

“You don’t want to be bad in the first practice,” Reichel said, chuckling. “Actually, my first shot was almost in the net [above the glass], so it was pretty bad. Guys were laughing. But after that, I felt it was good. It was fun seeing the guys again.”

Reichel’s season — full of twists and turns, almost none of them planned or positive — has been so mentally taxing that it probably has felt like two or three seasons. He returns to the NHL for the 15-game stretch run desperately needing things to finally go well.

Although it will be difficult to know with certainty until he takes the ice Sunday against the Sharks, he at least feels rejuvenated and prepared to get his career back on track.

“[I have] confidence making plays again,” Reichel said.

Added coach Luke Richardson: “We’re hoping that we’ll see a more confident, dominant performance from him.”

When the Hawks informed Reichel over the Feb. 17-18 weekend that he would be sent down to Rockford, he outwardly received the news well, based on what Richardson and general manager Kyle Davidson said at the time.

Internally, however, Reichel was ticked off — likely more at himself than anyone else — after squandering his biggest opportunity to become a bona fide NHL contributor.

“But then the next day, I woke up and I said: ‘I’m going to turn this around, try my best down there, help this team win and have a winning mentality,’ ” he recalled. “I think it worked out pretty good.”

He had seven points in nine games during his solid if not earth-shattering AHL stint, and Rockford went 7-2-0. That impressive record was encouraging not only because he contributed to team success but also because the mood around him was exciting and uplifting.

“He seemed like he was making progress, for sure, and hopefully that leads to some success up here,” Richardson said. “He’s had it here before. Maybe last year’s path was what he needed to do again. Some people’s paths are multiple times [up and down], and sometimes it’s once.”

Richardson shuffled the forward trios Saturday, creating a new third line with Andreas Athanasiou centering Reichel and Nick Foligno. Tyler Johnson moved up into Foligno’s spot on the first line (next to Connor Bedard and Philipp Kurashev), Taylor Raddysh moved down to the fourth line (next to Landon Slaggert and Ryan Donato) and MacKenzie Entwistle slid out of the lineup.

The Hawks hope the Reichel-Athanasiou tandem proves as effective as it did late last season, when Reichel notched seven of his 12 even-strength points (in 23 games) alongside the speedster.

They didn’t click nearly as much early this season — the Hawks were outscored 3-0 during their 60:51 of ice time together — but that was with Reichel at center and Athanasiou on the wing. Then the latter got injured, and the experiment was dead.

This time, the positions are reversed, and Richardson talked to both of them about trying to rekindle that chemistry. Athanasiou has been excellent in his first two games back in the lineup. He looked like the team’s best player Friday during an awful 5-0 loss to the Kings.

“They’re kind of like-minded in their speed, and they should be at the same pace,” Richardson said. “And Nick will be a good complement to do some work in front of the net and [in] the corners and keep them going, keep them on target.”