3 Reasons To Watch for the Rest of the Season for the Chicago Blackhawks

Alex Vlasic and Kevin Korchinski developing as the blue-line core of the next great Blackhawks team.

Seth Jones' contract is going to make him a part of the next good Hawks team whether we like it or not. The hope coming into this season was some of the team's young defensemen prospects showing they will join him.

Vlasic and Korchinski keep showing night after night that they will be blue-line anchors for years to come. Korchinski was only supposed to get a nine-game taste of the NHL before being sent back to the junior level. He played so well that he is in the NHL to stay.

Vlasic keeps showing that he can be a shutdown defenseman. He has immense size that you like to offset Korchinski and Jones being more slighted towards being better on offense.

Wyatt Kaiser also got a shot at the start of the season to prove he could be part of the future. The first go-around did not go so well. He is getting time in Rockford to refine his game. Isaak Phillips has played hard when he has gotten a chance to see the ice. He has also made his fair of mistakes. Now he is getting a healthy scratch in the last two games.

Vlasic is set to be a restricted free agent after the season, so it will be interesting to see how much he gets paid by the Chicago Blackhawks. One thing is for sure, Korchinski and him are proving they should be with the team for a long time.