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Colton Dach, Chicago Blackhawks (Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images)

Blackhawks News & Rumors: Dickinson, Dach & Looking For Redemption

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Brooke LoFurno | Last updated Oct 19, 2025 7:07 PM ET

The Chicago Blackhawks are six games into the season, and as they approach their seventh game against the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 19, there have been plenty of roster updates.

Between line changes, injury updates, and quotes, there is plenty to catch up on on a rainy Sunday in Chicago.

Dickinson’s Injury Status

To start things off, Jason Dickinson. He has had a somewhat frustrating start to the season due to an injury. He missed the home opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 11 and was considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury, but returned two days later for their game against the Utah Mammoth.

Head coach Jeff Blashill said at practice on Oct. 18 that Dickinson is considered day-to-day again. He mentioned today that he does not foresee Dickinson playing against Anaheim.

Dickinson is such an integral part of the Blackhawks, so him missing any time is felt. The veteran leads the team in faceoff percentage (FO%) with a 58.8 FO%, and is a plus-3.

As André Burakovsky said about Dickinson’s impact on the lineup postgame on Oct. 13, “I mean, huge. He does such a good job on the PK (penalty kill). He plays hard. He’s reliable; two-way center. I think he does so many good things. Maybe that doesn’t stick out every night, but for us, he has a massive impact on the team for sure.”

So, the Blackhawks hope to see him healthy and back again soon.

Dach’s Lineup Switch

Blashill has been pretty consistent with line combinations. Colton Dach has been playing on the top line with Connor Bedard and Burakovsky for the last five games. Blashill has commended Dach for his power forward skillset all throughout training camp and for earning more opportunities with his play.

However, during the Blackhawks game against the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 17, he played only 8:41 minutes, the lowest among the forward group, and was taken off the top line for Tyler Bertuzzi.

When asking Blashill what he saw, “I think Colton had some stretches where he played really good. I think he’s still a really young player, and it’s a lot. It’s a huge ask to consistently be a top-line player in this league, and so I didn’t think he’s been quite as good the last couple of games. And I think trying to help that line out, we just felt like the right move was kind of in-game, going to Bert [Bertuzzi] a little bit, and so it kind of seemed to work. So we’ll stay with it,”

Blashill continued, “And Colton will play. You know, I think Colton and I have talked lots about his ability to have an impact up and down the lineup is an important piece. And so I think wherever he plays, he still has to just focus on having that big impact on the game.”

Dach was put on the fourth line during practice. His game has the versatility that Blashill mentioned, so the 22-year-old will be one to watch. Furthermore, Bertuzzi remaining on the lip line breaks up the consistently effective second line of him, Frank Nazar, and Teuvo Teräväinen (for now).

Anderson’s Return to Rockford

Blashill said during training camp that forward Joey Anderson underwent a procedure for a “chronic issue” that kept him out of the preseason games. At the time, he was unsure what his return timeline looked like.

The good news is, Anderson is back and healthy. He practiced with the team, and the Blackhawks put him on waivers on Oct. 18. It was then announced that Anderson would report to the Rockford IceHogs. The IceHogs have been rolling with a perfect record of 4-0-0-0. So, getting him back (who was tied for fifth-best in team scoring last season) should be another boost for them.

Blackhawks Look To Rebound

It’s no secret the Blackhawks had a disappointing 3-2 shootout loss to the Canucks, which included a controversial goalie interference call on Bertuzzi’s goal, and a blown 2-0 lead. But, as the players and coach have been reiterating, it’s going to be a process.

I spoke with defenseman Matt Grzelcyk at practice on Oct. 18 and asked him to assess how the first few games had gone: “It’s been good. I think we’ve been in every single game, and we probably would have liked a few more points. Especially last night [against Vancouver], I think we had an opportunity to close that game out. But no, it’s been good. Obviously, there are a lot of learning moments as a young team, but the only way you learn is through experience on the ice, and I think it’s been good so far. I think we’re still sorting through our systems a little bit. I think as that becomes second nature, we’ll be able to play a little bit faster and use our speed to our advantage.”

The Vancouver game stung for the Blackhawks, so their response against the Ducks will be telling.

In other roster news, captain Nick Foligno remains out, as he took a leave of absence to be with his daughter, Milana, who underwent follow-up heart surgery. We continue to send well wishes to Milana and the Foligno family.

Be sure to check back in, as we will update the ‘Blackhawks News & Rumors’ throughout the season.