Jan. 03--In the NHL, an injury to one player opens the door for another. In the case of the Chicago Blackhawks, that means that top prospect Teuvo Teravainen is finally getting his chance.
The Hawks recalled Teravainen from Rockford of the AHL on Friday, a day after third-leading scorer Kris Versteeg suffered a left hand injury.
The 20-year-old Teravainen. who was the Hawks' top pick (18th overall) in the 2012 NHL Draft, ranked second on the IceHogs in scoring with 23 points off four goals and 17 assist in 33 games. The Helsinki, Finland, native made a bid to make the Hawks' roster out of training camp but the organization decided he needed more seasoning and instead was sent to Rockford.
"We're trying to make sure we don't rush him because he has such incredible talent and ability to have a high-end player," Hawks general manager Stan Bowman said on Nov. 19. "So we want to be patient. Let's just let it unfold the way it unfolds."
After a slow start while still adjusting to the AHL's style of play that isn't as wide open as in Europe and the NHL, Teravainen has been hot of late with three goals and seven assists in his last 13 games. With Versteeg possibly sidelined for an extended period after being hit in the left hand with a shot during the Hawks' 3-2 loss to the Capitals in the 2015 Winter Classic on Thursday at Nationals Park, Teravainen is getting his shot.
"He's playing a lot, he's getting a lot of exposure in offensive situations (and) he's always learning the two-way game," Bowman said. "That's the one good thing about Teuvo relative to other young offensive players: he's got a real good instinct defensively. He doesn't cheat the game. He understands how to play without the puck; the Finns are typically good at that. So he learned the right way, where other high-end scorers at that age struggle defensively. It'll serve him well when he eventually comes to the NHL."
Teravainen did appear in three regular-season games with the Hawks last season and had four shots on goal.
In other Hawks news, Patrick Kane was named the NHL's Second Star for the month of December after scoring eight goals and adding nine assists in 13 games.
