Nick Foligno has wasted no time introducing himself to his new Blackhawks teammates.
Foligno had wunderkind teammate Connor Bedard over his house for dinner and took defenseman Alex Vlasic and forwards Lukas Reichel and Cole Guttman out for lunch two weeks prior to the start of training camp.
“You get to know somebody over dinner and what they like to eat and don’t like,” Foligno said Friday. “The conversation is more organic in that way.”
As the Hawks embrace their arduous journey back to contention and integrate prospects into the lineup, their handful of veterans like Foligno will be important in restoring the winning habits needed to return to relevance.
With that youth particularly plentiful on defense — Vlasic, age 21; Wyatt Kaiser, 21; Kevin Korchinski, 19; Isaak Phillips, 21; and Filip Roos, 24, are all battling for roster spots — coach Luke Richardson has leaned on his veteran defensemen to provide guidance. So far in camp, Kaiser has been paired with Seth Jones, Korchinski with Connor Murphy and Vlasic with Nikita Zaitsev.
“[I] can’t spend the whole time with one player,” Richardson said. “You’ve got 20 players to watch and get information to, and then watch the game or practice. But that’s why we rely on the veterans.”
Said Murphy: “With the absence of some of the guys that created such a culture and character around this team, it gives an opportunity for us to create something here. [We can] build almost from the ground up.”
For Vlasic, that dynamic — and the fact his locker is located right next to Jones’ — has eased the stress and pressure he sometimes puts on himself.
“I’m looking up to [Jones] and seeing what he’s doing and trying to emulate what he’s bringing into the league every year,” Vlasic said. “It’s a good vibe around the locker room. It’s a lot of young guys, so I can be myself a bit more. [I’m] not too nervous hanging around the older guys.”
“I wanted to make the team last year and got sent down pretty early right after camp, and I was worried about it back then. Now I’m just kind of having fun and enjoying the process because it goes by pretty quickly.”
Foligno brings levity to the locker room, which comes into play during the doldrums of the 82-game season. He also tries to incorporate every player — young and old — into the culture. After all, for as much as he learned earlier in his career from Hall of Famers like Senators legend Daniel Alfredsson, he has also learned a lot more recently from younger teammates such as Bruins star David Pastrnak.
“It’s amazing what you can also learn from the youth,” Foligno said. “It’s not just older guys. It’s [about asking], ‘Why are those guys so special? What makes them enjoy hockey so much? What do they take off the ice?’ That’s what I love about this game.
“You get so many different personalities and walks of life coming into a room to try to accomplish one goal.”
During practice Thursday, Richardson noticed one young player making a mistake. By the time he skated over to discuss it with him, though, Foligno was already there, pointing out the same thing.
“I asked Nick, I said ‘Are you talking to him about the play?’ He’s like, ‘Yes,’” Richardson said. “That [what you get with] veterans that have 15 to 18 years in the league. They see it. They see it sometimes before the coaches see it. So that’s going to be huge for us.”
