At the start of camp, it felt as if the fate of Blackhawks defenseman Kevin Korchinski was entirely up to him. On one hand, the seventh-overall pick in 2022 already has a full season of NHL experience, and while his defensive wherewithal was lacking at times, he was far from the problem with Chicago’s defensive unit last season. On the other hand, he could certainly benefit from a bit more time against a lower level of competition, polishing his all-around game before being brought back up to the NHL. The decision was ultimately based on what Korchinski would do with his plethora of opportunities in the preseason – he skated a ton of minutes as part of a few different pairings and had to show well to keep his spot.
Then, Korchinski had a disastrous preseason game. And another. Then another. He finally hit rock bottom in his fourth preseason outing Tuesday night, and his first real look against NHL competition this season. Minnesota’s first two goals were set up by ugly turnovers from Korchinski, and he didn’t improve much from there.
After his preseason performance, the Blackhawks finally did the right thing, cutting one of their most prized young players. Sending Korchinski to Rockford was certainly a difficult decision because of his popularity as one of Chicago’s top picks and the lack of depth on the blue line for the Blackhawks.
However, sending Korchinski down gives the seventh-overall pick a great chance to continue his development. He’s in a great spot now, having spent a full year in the NHL. Now that he knows what he needs to improve about his game to excel at the next level, he’ll be able to try to put it into practice in a lower-stakes environment in Rockford. Korchinski will get a heavy workload and continue to train under the tutelage of a coaching staff that the Blackhawks trust. He could even skate next to Artyom Levshunov at some point this season, which would certainly be fun to watch for a Chicago franchise with its eyes set on the future.
With Korchinski now out of the picture, that leaves a somewhat jumbled mess at the bottom of Chicago’s defensive depth chart. Alec Martinez and Seth Jones will likely make up the top pairing, while Alex Vlasic and TJ Brodie could get plenty of run on the second line. That leaves veteran Connor Murphy without a clear linemate.
Isaak Phillips, Wyatt Kaiser and Nolan Allan are the three names remaining with the Blackhawks that don’t quite have a home in the lineup. Phillips has shown well in his opportunities through training camp and the preseason, and has certainly earned a longer look with the team. Kaiser is still working his way back onto the ice, and it’s unclear if he’ll be back in time for the start of the regular season in six days. That leaves Allan, who has a ton of upside as an eventual foundational piece of this defensive group but doesn’t have experience at the NHL level. Now would be a pretty good opportunity for him to get a chance with the Blackhawks. Reminder – Chicago will need to carry a seventh defenseman as well. With Korchinski gone, that effectively leaves three talented, young skaters vying for two roster spots.
