Levshunov and Dach Sent Down to Rockford, Craig Smith Activated From Injured Reserve

Artyom Levshunov was only here to experience NHL practice while the AHL was on the All-Star break. Nobody should be surprised by this.

With Craig Smith activated off of IR, it seems the Blackhawks organization saw it fit to send Colton Dach down to the AHL. As it stands, the Blackhawks have 22 players on their roster and 13 forwards. Room for one more player.

When Kyle Davidson traded Taylor Hall (who was "occupying" a spot on the fourth line), one of the reasons was that he wanted to make room for young forwards. Now, he's realistically thinking about the young forwards in the NCAA, who he wants to sign near the end of the season, which is in April (we're in February, by the way).

Dach has some ugly numbers. 5-on-5, he has a 34.26 Corsi and a 31.64 expected goals share. Through 13 games, Dach has one goal and three assists. But as Anders Sorensen recently stated, he wants Dach to be more physical, right?

A quick look at the stats shows that Dach has the highest hit rate on the team, generating 16.33 hits per 60 minutes. Nick Foligno has the next-highest Blackhawk hit rate at 9.88. 

Am I missing something here? We have veterans taking dumb penalties. There's a narrative out there that the roster is "supposed" to be younger, and then Dach gets sent down.