While most Chicago Blackhawks fans were following the “will he/won’t he” of Dylan Sikura last season, older brother Tyler Sikura was making waves with the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL. In his first full professional season in the AHL, Sikura was one of the leading figures for the IceHogs on their way to the Western Conference Finals in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Tyler Sikura Makes Good On First Full AHL Season
Stepping into the Rockford IceHogs lineup this season, Sikura had only a handful of AHL experience over the last three seasons. Primarily cutting his teeth in the ECHL, Sikura joined the IceHogs and got off to a slow start. With only three points on the season after 19 games entering December, it looked as if Sikura would fade into the background for Rockford, but a resurgence in December rolled into a solid winter portion of the schedule for Sikura and propelled him into the forefront of the IceHogs attack.
Tyler Sikura takes a shot against the Manitoba Moose. (Courtesy: Rockford IceHogs)
Capping off a 39-point season, Sikura enjoyed a seven-game point streak in March where he tallied nine points over that span. Sikura played the most games for the IceHogs during the 2017-18 season with 74 games, finished the season ranking second on the team in goals with 23, one behind team-leader Matthew Highmore, and led the team in plus-minus with a +24.
Final Season Grade: B+
Sikura scored the IceHogs first goal of the Calder Cup Playoffs in Game One against the Chicago Wolves and in-total tallied six points over the 13-game playoff run. The highlight of Sikura’s postseason came in Game Two against the Manitoba Moose with a two-point effort.
Future Outlook
Sikura earned himself an NHL deal with the Chicago Blackhawks late last year and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2018-19 season. This season offers a large opportunity to Sikura to not only be a top option for the Rockford IceHogs, but also gives him an opportunity to play with his younger brother at the NHL level with Chicago.
Sikura is a bigger-bodied player who has a scoring touch around the net, and with a strong showing at Fall training camp, he could position himself to be a bottom-six forward option for the Blackhawks this season if they are thin with injuries.