3:10 p.m: Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio reports the Blackhawks have also reassigned defenseman Wyatt Kaiser to AHL Rockford in a corresponding roster move. The transaction brings Chicago back to seven defensemen on the active roster and 22 players in total.
1:19 p.m: The Blackhawks announced Thursday they’ve recalled defenseman Ethan Del Mastro from AHL Rockford. They placed winger Craig Smith, who hasn’t played since Jan. 8 due to a back injury, on injured reserve to open up a roster spot.
Del Mastro, 22, has eight assists, 38 PIMs and a plus-four rating in 38 AHL showings this year. It’s not a ton of offense, although still third on the team behind Kevin Korchinski and Artyom Levshunov in assists and points among defenders, but that’s not the stay-at-home lefty’s calling card.
The 6’4″, 209-lb Del Mastro projects as a defensively responsible complementary piece on an NHL pairing long-term, and he’s had a strong development track since Chicago selected him in the fourth round in 2021. He unexpectedly popped for 37 points and a +14 rating in 67 games in his rookie AHL season last year, leading to a late-season recall and his NHL debut in a pair of games against the Predators and Hurricanes in April.
Del Mastro now has the chance to add a third NHL game to his tally, although it’s unclear if he will. The Hawks are now carrying eight defensemen on the active roster, and interim head coach Anders Sorensen only told reporters that the organization “wanted to reward Del Mastro for his recent play in Rockford,” per Scott Powers of The Athletic.
Smith, 35, has now missed 14 of the last 18 games with back problems. He sat out for most of the second half of December before returning to the lineup for a four-game stretch starting on New Year’s Eve.
In addition to a few healthy scratches, Smith has been limited to 30 of Chicago’s 47 games after signing a one-year, $1MM contract last summer as a free agent. The five-time 20-goal scorer has six tallies and five assists for 11 points with a minus-seven rating, averaging 11:41 per game.
The Blackhawks remain without veteran fourth-liner Pat Maroon due to back problems, but he’s carrying a day-to-day designation and hasn’t landed on IR after missing Monday’s game against the Hurricanes. Defenseman Connor Murphy also remains sidelined with the groin issues that have kept him out of the lineup since the calendar flipped to 2025.