Blackhawks preseason storylines revisited: Projected defensive pairings headed into the 2026-27 season

Training camp is in the books for the Chicago Blackhawks, and they start games for real on Sept. 29 versus the Vegas Golden Knights. We found out on Sunday that the team put forward Landon Slaggert on waivers, meaning they intend to carry eight defensemen to start the 2026-27 campaign. As we continue to follow up on storylines to watch in training camp, let’s take a look at the projected defensive pairings for the start of the season.

Blackhawks top defensive pairing, Vlasic-Byram

All through training camp, the Blackhawks have run with the same defensive pairings, at least in practices. I have to admit, the top pairing of Alex Vlasic and Bowen Byram was a bit of a surprise to me. I thought the team would play Byram on his natural left side, in the interest of giving him the biggest advantage going into the season. But head coach Jeff Blashill said he talked with Byram about it, and Byram indicated he was comfortable playing on the right. Said Blashill,

“I had a couple different conversations with Bo … I think he's comfortable on the right. I think most players would rather play their normal side if everything was equal, but you don't always fall into that spot. And so, obviously, he's played at different times in his career on the off side, so at least he's comfortable with it. It's not something he's never done. I would never do that to him if that was the case. So he's played enough on the right.”

Byram reiterated this when I spoke with him at training camp. “I've played it (the right side) quite a bit in my career.” On their being some disadvantages, he said, “There's times where getting pucks is a little awkward and stuff, but yeah, just trying to work at it and improve at it.”

Byram and Vlasic have actually looked quite good together in the small sample size of the preseason. Byram scored a hat trick against the Minnesota Wild on Sept. 21, and Vlasic was extremely complimentary of him after the game.

“He's obviously pretty dynamic as a player, and he makes it easy for me out there. I feel like he's able to break some pucks out with his feet and with his quick moves, so it allows me to kind of jump up in the play. But yeah, he's been here training for a solid month, month and a half, maybe before camp, and we've gotten to know each other pretty well. That always helps kind of build that chemistry with each other. And we're the same age. I feel like we have a lot in common. So yeah, it's been a lot of fun playing with him, learning from him. He's obviously got a lot of experience being on winning teams, so it's cool to be partners with him right now.”

Blashill added his sentiments on the pairing. “I think they have complementary skill sets. Both have ability. Vlas doesn't lack ability with the puck. He's good with the puck. He can make plays. He can skate. But Vlas can skate himself out of trouble. He also is obviously a real good defender. I think they can be a pair that ultimately, hopefully, doesn't have to defend much because they're both good with the puck. In our internal statistics, Vlas is really high on what we deem defensive puck play. Really high in the league last year. So he, in his own right, can make a lot of good decisions with the puck, and so is Byram, and hopefully we can have the puck a lot when they're out there.”

With Byram’s offensive ability and Vlasic’s defensive ability, they have the potential to be a really solid duo.

Blackhawks 2nd defensive pairing, Kaiser-Levshunov

Wyatt Kaiser and Artyom Levshunov played a lot together last season, but they didn’t exactly put up the best underlying stats as a pairing. Nevertheless, Blashill seems to be comfortable with them together. Here’s his reasoning on them as a pairing.

“I see some good, I see some not good. I don't think it's a chemistry or a skill set that doesn't fit. I think they both fit. I think the biggest thing for all of our D is, all those numbers go up when you have the puck more and you play more offensively. I've coached players that weren't great defensive players when we weren't a good enough team. Once we became a better team, they become really good defensive players, because they don't have to do it quite as much. So I think Kai's always done a really good job being vocal, and I think that can be a good complement to Arty. Both guys can kind of move a puck. Arty’s got that physicality that should make him a great defender, which I believe he can be. Like I see, even when you just boil it down to pure defensive plays, like who makes good defensive plays when they're put in those situations. He makes tons of them. So we'll see where it goes. Again, I think the D's a little bit of a work in progress to see what the best pairings are."

It sounds like Blashill is banking on both Kaiser and Levshunov to be better players and execute better, and then they will find more success together. Plus, Kaiser has been very good with taking Levshunov under his wing and explaining things to him. Even though this might not seem like the best explanation for keeping them together, it might also be an situation where the other pairings work well, so Kaiser and Levshunov are then together by default.

This will be something to monitor as the season progresses.

Blackhawks 3rd defensive pairing, Cole-Rinzel

Of all the left-handed defensemen who are also proficient on the right, Ian Cole has the most experience. Which is why it was a little surprising when Byram was placed on the right and Cole on his natural left side alongside Sam Rinzel. But this third pairing has been consistent throughout training camp.

The 37-year-old veteran has taken it in stride. “Whatever the coaches want to do, I'm happy to oblige,” said a smiling Cole. “I'm sure the bingo balls will go in, and we'll see what they are tomorrow, or the next day, or next week, or next month.”

It’s certainly nice to know there’s that flexibility there when it come to Cole, and he’s right that things will very likely change throughout the season. Regarding lining up alongside 22-year-old Rinzel, who’s only played in 63 NHL games, Cole had good things to say. After the final preseason game against the St. Louis Blues on Sept. 26 he stated,  

"I think it's been really good … Since day one of training camp, we've had a really good flow of communication between the two of us, and I think we're really getting on the same page. He's where I think he should be at any given time, and I try to be where he thinks I should be, and it tends to flow pretty well. So I think it's been good so far. Still room for improvement, like  everything out there. It's still preseason. But he's a heck of a good player, very very good player."

Obviously, Cole’s experience and veteran presence will be helpful to Rinzel as he tries to improve on what was an up and down campaign last season.

Blackhawks "4th" defensive pairing, Korchinski-Del Mastro

This is where the uncertainty comes in. With Slaggert being placed on waivers (he’s since cleared and will report to the Rockford IceHogs), the Blackhawks have committed to carrying eight defensemen on their opening night roster. This means both Kevin Korchinski and Ethan Del Mastro are on the team, for now. But this doesn’t necessarily guarantee them ice time, as they’re outside of the first six defensemen.  

It’s not the ideal situation for two young blueliners (22 and 23 years old, respectively), but I’m sure they’d rather be up with the big club than in Rockford. Both would have to clear waivers to be sent down, which is likely why the decision was made to carry eight defensemen.

I asked Korchinski what it was like to be on the outside looking in. “I think just go out there every day, prove myself, prove I belong, prove that I want it, and that's all you can do.” He also indicated that even if he’s not playing, he can still learn from watching instead of playing. “Yeah, you can learn things, learn how guys generate chances, how they think the game, and you can try and implement that into your own game.”

Del Mastro had similar sentiments, "I think any preseason game, getting ready for the season, and it's still camp. You still want to show well. So, I think it's just go out there and do what you can, show the best you can, and leave a good taste in management and (the) coach's mouth that they can think that you're an everyday NHL'er, and hopefully, they can see that when you're playing."

That’s all Korchinski and Del Mastro can do, is try to prove themselves when they do get to play, and try to learn as much as they can when they’re not playing.   

As Coach Blashill indicated about these two “bubble” defensemen, “Every time you step on the ice, you have a chance to kind of say to me, whether you should be above somebody or not, and we'll just keep judging.”

Implications of the defensive pairings

I would suspect there will be a rotation of sorts so that both Korchinski and Del Mastro can get playing time. What that looks like is yet to be determined. Rinzel hasn’t exactly stood out in training camp; will he end up sitting out at some point? Levshunov could also struggle. There’s always the possibility of injuries as well, in which Korchinski or Del Mastro would be the next man up.  

Blashill could even go with a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen at some point, like he did at the beginning of last season. That allowed more defensemen to play and sheltering of some of the youngsters. But it also obviously hindered the forward group. It sounds like the coach is leaning towards focusing on having four solid forward lines instead. When asked about it on Monday ahead of opening night, he said,

“I don’t foresee us going 11 and 7 to start the season. Probably not. Doesn't really fit the way that I think we want to do things. So I'd say no to start. That doesn't mean I'm not open to it, or we won't do it at some point. But as our lineup currently sits, I see us as a 12 and 6 to start the year.”

It will be interesting to see how this is managed moving forward, as the Blackhawks officially released their 23-man roster on Monday afternoon, and it’s comprised of 13 forwards (instead of the customary 14) and eight defensemen (instead of the customary seven).

Related: Blackhawks preseason storylines revisited: Goaltending battles that weren't

It all starts for real on Tuesday (Sept. 29) against the Vegas Golden Knights. Let the games begin!  

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