Kyle Davidson has spent the past few weeks reshaping the Blackhawks’ roster, and two of the names on his list might have made fans do a double take: Dillon Boucher and Connor Mylymok.
Both players signed one-year, two-way contracts with Chicago after spending last season with the Rockford IceHogs in the kind of role that doesn’t usually draw much attention until things get chippy. Boucher finished with 114 penalty minutes in 53 games, while Mylymok piled up 204 penalty minutes in 52 games. They were on AHL deals before getting upgraded to NHL contracts for this season, a move that stands out in a league that has largely moved away from enforcer-type players.
The reason, though, is pretty straightforward: Rockford is young, and it’s going to need some backbone.
Elite Prospects currently lists the IceHogs’ average age at 25.08, and that number is being dragged down by a wave of first-full-professional-season players like Sacha Boisvert, Jiri Felcman, AJ Spellacy, and Marek Vanacker. Last season, Rockford missed the playoffs while dealing with call-ups and injuries, and this year the roster is still built around a lot of inexperienced players.
That’s where Boucher and Mylymok fit. Their job is to make sure those younger players aren’t left to fend for themselves when the game gets physical.
They bring an edge that matters over the course of a long season. If one of the Blackhawks’ top prospects gets hit hard or disrespected, Boucher and Mylymok are the guys expected to answer. That kind of protection can matter when a team is trying to develop young talent and keep those players from getting pushed around.
There’s also a practical roster piece here. Boucher and Mylymok are likely to spend the full season in Rockford, which means they’ll be a steady presence rather than temporary muscle.
Rockford does have other tough forwards, including Boisvert, Spellacy, and Samuel Savoie, but Boisvert and Spellacy are top prospects who could be called up during the year, while Savoie is coming off 26 points in 62 games last season. Chicago also signed Cole Smith and traded for Jordan Greenway, who will be on the Blackhawks’ fourth line when the season starts in September.
That leaves no opening for Boucher and Mylymok at the NHL level, but it does make their role in Rockford even clearer.
The Blackhawks clearly valued what they did last season. Rockford’s year was rough, but Boucher and Mylymok stood out by embracing the job and backing up a team with very little AHL experience. With more young players set to log major minutes this season, that same toughness should matter again.
In that sense, the NHL deals are less about projecting them into Chicago’s lineup and more about rewarding what they already proved they can do. The Blackhawks don’t appear to view them as ordinary enforcers. They see two players who helped steady a young IceHogs group last year and are expected to do it again.
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