Nolan Allan carving out role in Blackhawks' defense

There are always going to be comparisons between the last Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup-winning players and the next ones.

Youve probably already heard it plenty over recent years.

Who will be the next Jonathan Toews? Patrick Kane ? Duncan Keith? Marian Hossa? Brent Seabrook? The one name you dont hear as much is Niklas Hjalmarsson.

As respected as his game was amongst the Blackhawks core, he took a backseat to those others.

Only so much love is usually given to a defensive defenseman.

Advertisement But you can count Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen among those who havent forgotten the contributions Hjalmarsson made to those teams.

Sorensen, a fellow Swede, voiced Hjalmarssons name, including the proper Swedish pronunciation, within a United Center corridor Thursday.

Sorensen hopes to find his own Hjalmarsson for the Blackhawks and went as far as making the lofty comparison to what hes seen in the early stages of 21-year-old rookie defenseman Nolan Allan s career.

He kind of knows what he is, Sorensen said of Allan on Thursday.

Hes got some I hate to make a comparison but hes got Hjalmarsson-type qualities in his game and obviously we know how that looked for years and years.

But he has some of those traits in his game, so that should be a really good fit for some of these other guys.

Those traits include defending first and foremost, suppressing scoring chances, killing penalties, retrieving pucks cleanly in the defensive zone, making efficient and accurate breakout passes and being a reliable component of the offensive zone cycle.

The value in that player isnt scoring goals or providing a ton of offense.

Hjalmarsson had 25 goals and 147 assists in 821 regular-season games.

That type of player instead excels when theyre preventing goals and moving the puck ahead.

Allan, a 2021 first-round pick, showed some of those traits with a high-end skating ability in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs last season, but his potential trajectory was still unclear.

He wasnt a lock to make this seasons NHL roster.

But he played well in training camp and was especially consistent in his decisions with and without the puck in the defensive zone.

Luke Richardson played him in 19 games over the first few months of the season, and Allan had his share of first-year struggles.

The Blackhawks had a 38.56 expected goals percentage with Allan on the ice in five-on-five play, according to Natural Stat Trick.

It was the lowest percentage among the teams regular defensemen.

From retrievals to defensive zone exits to defending entries to denying scoring chances, Allan wasnt succeeding in Richardsons system, which asked defensemen to play more preventive than aggressive.

Advertisement But that all changed when Sorensen recently replaced Richardson as coach.

Sorensen brought in a system that sought defensemen to move forward, defend up the ice, look for opportunities to join the rush and be an option in the offensive zone.

All those requests tapped into Allans skating ability.

A number of the Blackhawks defensemen have flourished in the last few weeks with Sorensen as coach, but none as much as Allan.

He looks like a different player.

Just look at these tracking numbers by Corey Sznajder .

Allan had 0.9 retrievals per 60 minutes leading to exits under Richardson and hes at 13.6 under Sorensen.

Allan has a 90.1 successful exit percentage under Sorensen compared to 72 percent under Richardson.

His failed exit percentage has dropped from 30 percent to 19 percent.

His entry denial percentage has improved from 9.3 percent to 12 percent.

His chances allowed off entries have gone from 9.3 under Richardson to 4.8 under Sorensen.

Allans overall defense has improved, too.

Over the last seven games, the Blackhawks have had a 47.22 expected goals percentage with him on the ice.

The Blackhawks have also outscored opponents 7-3 with him out there on five-on-five.

Opponents were outscoring the Blackhawks 14-7 with Allan on the ice under Richardson.

So, what exactly does Allan feel is different? He thought his experience with Sorensen in the past has helped him in the present.

I guess theres a little bit of familiarity just having him last year, said Allan, who is 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds.

I guess its a little bit easier having him come in than another new face.

I like playing under Anders.

Most of the guys have enjoyed him here.

Hes been great.

...

With my skating, I can use that to get up the ice, join the rush late, kind of push the pace up the ice, keep plays alive, still be able to get back on the defensive end.

I think it fits a lot of us.

I think were a great skating defense corps.

I think it helps us all a ton.

Advertisement Theres plenty of things (I learned from him in Rockford).

Just obviously being more aggressive on the defensive end, pinching a lot more, keeping pucks in, shooting far side for sticks in piles, little subtle things to help create offense if youre not an offensive guy.

I think a lot of stuff on the defensive end too and just moving pucks and moving pucks quick.

Moving pucks quickly to where they need to be moved has been noticeable in the last few weeks.

Hes often part of the breakout when hes on the ice.

He has also been trying to get more involved further up the ice.

He scored his first NHL goal and hit a post during Thursdays game by skating into the play.

Nolan Allan with the celly after his first NHL goal pic.twitter.com/sx1t9xUN5n Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 20, 2024 Its also helped Allan and defense partner Connor Murphy have found chemistry together.

They both understand their roles and where their strengths are.

Murphy, who is in his 12th season, can recall playing in the NHL at Allans age.

It can be an unforgiving league especially when put in a defensive role like Sorensen has put the pairing in.

Allan and Murphy have two of the lowest offensive zone starting percentages among the defensemen.

Allan starts 31.58 percent of the time in the offensive zone.

I think its not easy as a young guy coming in playing big minutes, against top lines and different things like that, Murphy said.

For him to be able to do that right away and show his stuff each game and hold it together well is impressive.

His ability is definitely there.

I know its hard being a young guy and doing it every night.

It seems like hes doing it.

The Blackhawks dont have a lot of defensemen exactly like Allan in the pipeline.

Alex Vlasic does lean more on the defensive side, but hes unique because of his size.

Kevin Korchinski and Sam Rinzel, two other first-round picks, are expected to be more likely offensive defensemen in the years to come.

The Blackhawks hope Artyom Levshunov, the No.2 pick in the 2024 draft, will do a lot of everything.

That could leave Allan on his own path to be part of the Blackhawks future.

Allan has probably altered how the organization thinks of him with his recent play.

With all the defensemen the Blackhawks have drafted, he could have been left behind.

I guess with the amount of defensemen that we had, you can look at it, Oh, s, I dont know where Im going to fit in now,' Allan said.

Another thing if you can look at it like theres a lot of other players to learn from, a lot of players to compete with and kind of push your level and you kind of push theirs.

I think that just makes you better at the end of the day.

Obviously you got to find your own, I guess, niche or skill set within the organization so youre not the same as another guy.

Advertisement Of course, as close to Hjalmarsson as Allan can get would help.

Allan watched Hjalmarsson growing up and loved his game.

Just watching the Blackhawks with their dynasty there and their Cup years, just how big a part that he was, Allan said.

Even though he wasnt a Keith or a Seabrook, he was still a huge part of it, a great player and well-respected player, big part of those teams, for sure.

As for Sorensens comparison, Allan isnt ready to accept that at this stage of his career.

I think I play the same style a little bit, defense first and a little hard-nosed, but in no way am I Niklas Hjalmarsson, Allan said.

(Photo: David Banks / USA Today).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6010056/2024/12/21/blackhawks-nolan-allan-defense/