How does the Connor Murphy trade shake up the Blackhawks defense?

On Monday, the Blackhawks shipped away their longest-tenured defenseman, Connor Murphy, to the Edmonton Oilers as general manager Kyle Davidson began making moves ahead of the trade deadline on March 6.

This move marks the Blackhawks down as sellers, as this trade will likely be only the beginning. Fellow veterans Jason Dickinson, Nick Foligno, and Ilya Mikeyev are a few other names to look at as guys who could be on the Chicago trade block.

Murphy's trade continues a gradual trend that has taken place since Davidson took over: a transfer of power to the youth. The impact this trade will have on the Blackhawks' defensive core in particular is one to watch for the rest of this season and beyond.

Murphy exit frees up ice time for young defenseman

Murphy is a defenseman that Chicago has relied upon heavily in a mostly second-pair defensive role, normally eating up 20 minutes a night. With him gone, there will be much more ice time to go around for this young defensive group to fight for.

There are a few important players who should benefit from this trade. One of them is Kevin Korchinski, fresh off a callup from Rockford. Korchinski has spent the majority of this campaign in the AHL as the 21-year-old Saskatoon native continues to work on his development. After this maneuver it is hard to imagine Kevin going back down to the minors, you would imagine the Chicago brass would prefer him finishing out the season with the big club to see what strides he has made from his time with the IceHogs.

Another player who should gain from this is Sam Rinzel. He has not quite enjoyed the breakout campaign many pundits expected out of him this year, as many had him pegged as a dark-horse Calder candidate prior to the season. On the contrary, Rinzel has been up and down between Chicago and Rockford this year. But like Korchinski, one would think the preference would be for Rinzel to complete the season in the NHL. His game has improved since he was recalled, though that momentum has stalled due to an illness that has kept him out of the lineup.

Prior to the Murphy trade, it was likely that one of Korchinski-Rinzel would have had to be sent back down to the AHL once injured defenseman Wyatt Kaiser returns from injury, as that would have given the squad 8 defenseman on the roster. Now, when Kaiser comes back, there will be only seven, so they could theoretically both stay up. However, it is possible that one of them is sent down to avoid the inevitable healthy scratches that could stall development. In that case, perhaps Ethan Del Mastro gets called up as the seventh defenseman. The 23-year-old has only played two games with Chicago this season.

Beyond the 2022 draft picks of Korchinski and Rinzel, the Murphy exit will affect the rest of the core, as we will likely see some new look defensive pairs moving forward. Alex Vlasic and Louis Crevier may be the only pair unaffected, as they have been by far the most consistent grouping all season. Does the Kaiser-Artyom Levshunov pair remain, though? This group, on the other hand, has had a roller coaster season with its fair share of heart-in-mouth moments. There is the argument that Levshunov should be sent down to work on his kinks, but Blackhawks management seems insistent on him figuring out his game in the show.

That leaves Korchinski, Rinzel, and Matt Grzelcyk to fight for the ensuing spots. While Korchinski-Rinzel could be a fun pairing, it's doubtful both would play most nights. With Murphy on the move, Grzelcyk is the only defenseman over the age of 25 who remains. Jeff Blashill will probably want him back there every game just to have a veteran presence on the blueline to steady the youngsters.

Overall, the Murphy trade will clearly shake up the Blackhawks' defense. It will be interesting to see who takes advantage of this shifting blueline as Chicago continues to gear away from the past and towards the future.