Kevin Korchinski encourages with his home stretch play

We didn’t see much of Kevin Korchinski in the National Hockey League this year. He spent most of his third professional season in the American Hockey League. Of course, this led many to doubt whether he is still part of the Chicago Blackhawks’ future.

Korchinski was drafted very high, seventh overall in 2022. He was the first draft pick general manager Kyle Davidson made, using the pick he acquired from the Ottawa Senators for Alex DeBrincat. Three years later, there have been minimal results at the NHL level, but it’s still very early in his career.

“Look, Kevin’s a 21-year-old defenseman,” Davidson said after the trade deadline. “If you ask me if he’s going to benefit more from popping into the lineup here or playing big minutes in Rockford, it’d be playing big minutes in Rockford. And so, that’s where we see his development best served right now. That’s why we did it. I think it’s just that we need to get Kevin minutes and keep getting him minutes because we have seen some really nice strides, and we want to keep that positive momentum going into the offseason. But we’re big fans of Kevin. He’s got a ton of upside, a ton of ability. He’s still raw. He’s still getting into the pro game and learning through that development process.”

Season Review

Heading into training camp, there was a lot of hope for Korchinski. With a new coaching staff in place, the young blueliner was getting a fresh start with a new set of eyeballs looking at him. However, with the late addition of Matt Grzelcyk, Korchinski started the season with the Rockford IceHogs. In 53 AHL games, he had two goals and 24 points and was an All-Star for the second straight season.

Korchinski got a surprise call-up in January when a stomach bug ran rampant through the Blackhawks’ locker room. His season debut against the Washington Capitals on Jan. 9 was a disaster. He was on the ice for three goals against and looked lost. However, you had to give him the benefit of the doubt as he took morning skate with the IceHogs that day and was thrown into a patchwork lineup. He looked much better the following night, picking up an assist in a victory over the Nashville Predators.

Korchinski returned to Chicago to practice during the Olympic break and played in two games before being sent back down to Rockford. He was up for good for the last nine games of the season after Artyom Levshunov and Grzelcyk went down to injury. Outside of the one game where he had to be paired with Sam Lafferty, this was the best stretch of Korchinski’s NHL career.

Analysis & Final Grade

Season Stats

Games played: 13
Goals: 0
Assists: 2
Power-play points: 0
Plus/minus: -4
Shots on goal: 7
Shot attempts: 17
Shooting percentage: 0.0
Average time on ice: 13:38
Penalty minutes: 4
Penalties drawn: 9
Blocked shots: 13
Individual scoring chances: 4
Individual high-danger chances: 1
Corsi for percentage (CF%): 47.01
Scoring chance percentage (SCF%): 45.08
High-danger chance percentage (HDCF%): 44.44

Korchinski was drafted to be an offensive-minded blueliner, but he’s struggled mightily with the defensive part of his duties at the NHL level. However, we saw a different player over the last three weeks of the season. He looked as confident as ever without the puck, using his body to make plays, and not shying away from the physicality.

"He's not over-complicating it,” head coach Jeff Blashill said. “He's using his feet to beat pressure, then he's moving the puck to the open people. When he does that and defends with his feet, he's been a good player."

It’s still unknown if Korchinski will ever become the dynamic two-way defenseman he was envisioned to be. But the strides he took defensively this season were very encouraging. If he stabilizes his game in his own zone, the offense can be reintroduced because he’ll spend more time at the other end of the ice.

It will be interesting to see if Korchinski will be in training camp this season, as he could be part of a package used to get a top-six winger this summer. If he is, next year could be a make-or-break season for him, at least with the Blackhawks. Writing off a 21-year-old defenseman is silly. Some guys need more time to figure it out, like Gustav Forsling and Darren Raddysh.

Once again, my final grades are based on my expectations heading into the season compared to the player’s results. With that in mind, Korchinski gets a C+.

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