Detroit — Moritz Seider isn’t surprised by the early season success of the Chicago Blackhawks under coach Jeff Blashill.
Blashill was Seider’s first NHL coach, when Blashill coached the Wings, and Seider valued the time together.
“He’s shown he has a real good touch with young players,” Seider said. “Ray (Lucas Raymond) and I learned a lot with him. He was always honest and very direct and he wasn’t afraid to be in the moment and demand that and I really liked that.
“Guys really appreciated him as a human and that’s something I really take away. We always had really honest conversations with him. He was never a guy who was holding that over your head or against you.
“He made it very clear what he wants from you.”
Blashill, who won a Calder Cup in 2013 with minor league affiliate Grand Rapids, spent seven seasons coaching the Wings (2015-22), going 204-261-72 as the Wings were in the crux of their rebuild. Blashill spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach in Tampa, before being named head coach in Chicago last summer.
The Blackhawks are off to a good start, 7-5-3, with one of the more talented young rosters in the league.
“Their overall confidence level is much higher because they’ve earned the right to be confident,” coach Todd McLellan said. “It starts with (Connor) Bedard, but they have structure right now. It allows them to predict where things are going to go, and their goaltenders have played quite well and given them an opportunity and their special teams has performed at a higher level than the past.
“The whole coaching staff has done a good job of molding that team. They have some real good, young players, they’ve stockpiled them for a while, and they’re starting to mature too. But that’s been done with Blash’s guidance.”
Kasper on wing
McLellan flipped J.T. Compher and Marco Kasper, moving Compher to the middle between Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane, while Kasper moves to a wing with Andrew Copp and Mason Appleton.
Kasper has three points (all goals) through 15 games, with a minus-five rating.
“It’s always the same, wherever I play, center, left wing, right wing, I’ll do my best and compete real hard,” Kasper said. “I’ll skate and try to help the team win. That’s what it’s all about.
“I don’t think I’ve played the best how I want to play. Sometimes you go through phases where you just don’t play the way you want to play and it’s frustrating.
“I have more to my game than I’ve shown and I have to hold myself accountable.”
McLellan feels Kasper hasn’t met expectations this season.
“He’d probably say the same thing, he’s an honest individual,” McLellan said. “We’ll put him back on the wing and let him play there for a bit and see how that works. We’ll try to get him back to where he needs to be.”
Blackhawks at Red Wings
▶ Faceoff: 1 p.m. Sunday, Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.
▶ TV/radio: FDSN/97.1
▶ Notable: The Wings (9-6-0) host Chicago (7-5-3) to cap their Centennial Celebration weekend. … The Blackhawks have won two consecutive games, Friday shutting out Calgary, 4-0. … LW Tyler Bertuzzi, a former Wing, is off to a great start with eight goals … C Connor Bedard leads the Blackhawks with 22 points.
tkulfan@detroitnews.com
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