The Chicago Blackhawks have a good reason to have Kevin Korchinski and Frank Nazar start the season in Rockford

The biggest storyline for the Chicago Blackhawks this preseason was if Kevin Korchinski and Frank Nazar would start the season in Rockford or Chicago.

Both of the promising youngsters got their answers as they will start the season in the AHL.

Head coach Luke Richardson explained the valid reasons why both are heading to Rockford.

Nazar is going down because the team envisions him as a top-six player. Richardson does not want him sitting around not skating much on the fourth line or being a healthy-scratch.

Nazar had a high bar to clear if he was going to make the opening night roster. He did not clear it with a shaky preseason.

With the IceHogs, Nazar will get plenty of ice time to work on his game to be worthy of the team's long-term second-line center. Last year, the Hawks rushed Lukas Reichel into that role, and it failed spectacularly.

Since the team has more depth this year at center, they can afford to be patient with Nazar to not fall into the same trap.

Korchinski is going to Rockford despite playing in 76 games last season as a 19-year-old rookie. The only reason he was with the Hawks was because he shined during his free nine-game audition window. With Rockford off the table because of his age last year, he could not go down to get valuable development time with the IceHogs.

Now that he is eligible to skate in the AHL, the Hawks want to give him time to hone his game there, especially after he struggled this preseason.

He had plenty of rookie mistakes last season that would have earned him a demotion. However, sending him to the juniors would not have helped his development.

His reluctance to shoot the puck and rookie struggles proved he still has a lot to work on. That is why getting ice time at Rockford will be so valuable to his development.

Once again, the Hawks have depth on the blue line, something they did not have much of last season, that affords them to be patient with Korchinski. Plus, plenty of ice time in Rockford has worked wonders in developing Alex Vlasic. The hope is it does the same for Wyatt Kaiser.

So it makes sense to follow the same development plan with Korchinski when he showed last season he still has plenty to work on to become a full-fledged flourishing player.