Blackhawks prospect AJ Spellacy is tough, physical and finally close to the NHL
Two years after Blackhawks forward prospect AJ Spellacy opened eyes by surviving nearly to the end of an NHL training camp, he is finally a pro player whose actual NHL debut might not be far away.
The 20-year-old Ohio native is unlikely to make the Hawks’ initial roster, since there’s already a slight logjam ahead of him on the contract chart and this camp isn’t long enough for extended roster battles.
But if Spellacy starts the season in the AHL in Rockford, he’ll have a golden opportunity to position himself first in line for a call-up, just like Nick Lardis and Oliver Moore did last season — even though he’s a very different type of forward than Lardis and Moore.
It’s that difference that makes Spellacy, a 2024 third-round pick, such an intriguing prospect.
He didn’t put up significant point totals during his OHL junior career, so he certainly won’t in the NHL, either. But he did crunch a lot of players into boards, and he has the size, strength and personality to do that in the NHL, too.
The 6-3, 205-pound former football free safety — he received a scholarship offer from Iowa State at age 16 before committing to hockey instead — is a ruthless wrecker on the ice. And he’s not just tough; he’s also fast, so his hits are hard to avoid.
“He’s a north-south, tough-to-play-against forechecker,” Rockford coach Jared Nightingale said Friday. “At this level, he’ll be a penalty killer. [He’ll] be a thorn in the side of the opponent, especially defensemen.”
Spellacy was present for the Hawks’ first official team-organized event of the season Friday, that being a prospect camp practice. He’ll play in at least one of two exhibition games against Blues prospects Monday and Tuesday before main training camp begins.
This Hawks prospect team isn’t as star-studded as those of years past. So many of their talented young players are now in the NHL and not asked to attend this camp, or in college and not allowed to attend.
A trio of likely Rockford-bound forwards in Spellacy, Sacha Boisvert and Marek Vanacker are the headliners. All three are hard-nosed players who can create havoc in dirty areas. Vanacker probably has the highest offensive upside, but Spellacy and Boisvert (who bulked up a ton this summer) are closer to NHL-ready.
“Obviously, there’s an opportunity,” Spellacy said. “I’ll take it day-by-day, but I’ll do everything I can to show myself the best and be a good teammate and use my strengths. … I have a lot of experience from the past couple years, so I’m pretty confident going into this [camp].”
Boisvert said Spellacy stood out the most to him in practice, praising his skating and ability to get to the net. Vanacker described Spellacy as an “extremely physical” player who’s “fun to battle with.” Spellacy named Capitals power forward Tom Wilson as his NHL model.
Spellacy has demonstrated an ability to elevate his game when playing alongside (and against) higher-level players, including at the aforementioned 2024 Hawks camp as well as in the 2025-26 world junior championships. It’ll be interesting to see if that pattern continues as an every-day pro.
It’ll also be interesting to see if he develops more of an offensive touch in the coming years. When he switched from football, he loved hitting but wasn’t particularly comfortable with the puck on his stick. That was only four years ago, so perhaps he has upside in that regard that simply hasn’t revealed itself yet.
“That’s a huge thing. You need to be good with the puck,” Spellacy said. “Obviously I can skate and play physical, but [I’ve worked on] making those little plays, picking up pucks off the wall, getting to the net…and being able to finish plays.”