Minnesota Golden Gophers' loss could be the Chicago Blackhawks' gain

The Minnesota Golden Gophers season ended in heartbreaking fashion.

If you care about the future of the Chicago Blackhawks, then UMass ripping out the heart of Minnesota with an overtime game-winning goal in the NCAA Tournament does not matter.

Sorry, Golden Gophers fans, but the Blackhawks could use defenseman Sam Rinzel and forward Oliver Moore on the ice to end the season and then develop in Rockford.

It is nothing personal, it is just business.

Rinzel and Moore must make the business decision of signing their entry-level contracts now that their NCAA season is over.

With there still some regular season games left to be played, it would be great for Rinzel and Moore to get a taste of NHL action.

Rinzel is the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. He was the third of three first-round picks the Hawks made in the 2022 draft.

Kevin Korchinski, the first player the Hawks took with those three first-round choices, was just recalled from Rockford, so it would be nice to get even more of a glimpse of the team's future defensive unit with Rinzel in the mix.

Alex Vlasic has already established himself as a centerpiece blueliner. Last year's No. 2 overall pick, Artyom Levshunov, has been getting NHL experience recently. Ethan Del Mastro and Wyatt Kaiser are also up continuing to grow their game.

Nolan Allan also showed some promise when he was up with the Blackhawks. Louis Crevier might be a good extra-defender option too.

Getting Rinzel officially in the fold would provide Hawks fans an opportunity to see the early stages of what is hopefully a great defensive unit of Vlasic, Levshunov, Korchinski, Rinzel, Del Mastro, and Kaiser.

Although, Del Mastro or Kaiser would likely be one of the healthy scratches as veteran Connor Murphy is still around. He is not sitting in the press box despite it being better for the team's future for all six of the youngsters to get ice time.

Rinzel is the Hawks' fourth-ranked prospect according to the Athletic's Scott Wheeler (a subscription is required to access content linked).

Moore is considered the Hawks' sixth-best prospect in Wheeler's rankings. A great skater, Moore was the Hawks' other first-round pick in 2023. That was the same draft where the Hawks took Connor Bedard.

Minnesota coach Bob Motzko would like to see Moore and Rinzel return for their junior season (a subscription is required to access content linked). He has a point with Rinzel as Brock Faber played three NCAA seasons, then signed with the Wild, and gave Bedard a run for his money in the Calder Trophy race.

However, Motzko is losing a ton of talent, so that might also be his reason for wanting them to return.

Jimmy Snuggerud just signed with the St. Louis Blues and is joining the team on Monday. So, that could be a good sign for the Hawks that Rinzel and Moore follow their teammate's lead by heading to the NHL.