Ryan Greene is set to hit a clean little benchmark Thursday night, and it says plenty about how quickly he has carved out a place with the Blackhawks.
Chicago’s season has started rough at 4-11-1 through 16 games, but this is also a roster built around youth. Six players could reach the 100-game mark this season, and defenseman Artyom Levshunov got there first on Oct. 31 against the Boston Bruins. Greene will follow Nov. 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, when he skates in his 100th NHL game.
That’s a sharp turn for a player who, by his own admission, expected a very different opening to the season. Greene was assigned to the Rockford IceHogs out of training camp before Landon Slaggert’s injury changed the plan a couple of hours later. Greene was “recalled” and made the team right away, then took the job and held onto it.
The Blackhawks selected Greene in the second round, 57th overall, in the 2022 NHL Draft, and he began this season on the fourth line. But his two-way game and work on faceoffs caught Jeff Blashill’s attention, and he also developed chemistry with Connor Bedard, who was often double-shifted on Greene’s line.
That opened the door to a bigger role, and before long Greene was on the top line with Bedard and Andre Burakovsky. When Bedard was out with a shoulder injury, Greene even centered that line himself.
From a camp cut to a top-line center, Greene turned a temporary opening into a real NHL foothold. He finished last season with 12 goals and 29 points in 81 games.
This year, the role is different. With skill players such as Roman Kantserov and Anton Frondell pushing him down the depth chart, Greene has mostly centered the fourth line between Cole Smith and Jordan Greenway.
That line is supposed to be difficult to play against and help swing the ice back in Chicago’s favor for the more offensive groups. “I told him as we start the year it's a different role,” sais Coach Blashill.
“But I think for the longevity of his career this is going to be an important role for him that he's able to play this kind of role and be good at it.”
So far, that unit has done its job. According to Natural Stat Trick, the trio has allowed only two goals against in 104:55 of ice time together. Greene has two goals and four points this season, modest numbers on the surface, but ones that fit the assignment he’s been given.
For Greene, reaching 100 games still feels a little surreal. “Yeah, it's crazy.
Like honestly, it's hard to believe. I still remember leaving college and there being just like a lot of unknown, and obviously I'm happy that I've been able to kind of cement myself here.”
His path included three seasons at Boston University, and he believes that route helped him settle into the pro game. “I would say so.
Yeah, I think I chose to go to college kind of to give myself a little more time to grow into my body, grow into the player that I wanted to be. I think going that college route does give you those extra few years to kind of figure that stuff out.
Versus the USHL (where Greene played for three years previously), I feel like it's a little more, things happen a little more fast I guess you could say. So I think it definitely helped me.
So yeah, I'm happy I decided to go that way.”
Blashill sees the progress, but he also made clear Greene is still in the middle of the process. “When you're in that range (of 100 NHL games), you're still kind of figuring out what you are as a player at this level.
Meaning, how am I going to make myself special at this level? How am I going to find my niche?
… I think he's made progress. He's a better player today than he was when he started last year, and I think there's still a continued maturation process to figure out how he can be special in the league.
Is it being elite defensively? Is it being a guy who is a complementary player on a line?
Is it being a great penalty killer? Is it being whatever that is?
I think he's still trying to both figure it out and make a statement.”
For now, though, Greene gets a milestone night and a chance to take it in. “It's crazy that I almost played 100 games already. So just try to soak it in, enjoy this one a little extra.”
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