Sam Rinzel gets a lot of love after making his Chicago Blackhawks debut

The Chicago Blackhawks did not officially win on Sunday, but Sam Rinzel's stellar debut made it feel like a victory.

Getting a chance to see the future defensive unit was also better for the team's future than winning a meaningless game in a lost season.

Connor Murphy was the only Hawks blueliner born in the 1990s who suited up. Otherwise, it was Rinzel along with Alex Vlasic, Artyom Levshunov, Wyatt Kaiser, and Kevin Korchinski playing in front of goalie Arvid Soderblom.

Despite giving up five goals on 31 shots, this was the perfect game to play the kids with the Blackhawks' season going nowhere.

Even though Rinzel did not score or register an assist, he was impressive in his NHL debut.

He was active in supporting the offense with four shots and laid out some hits. More importantly, he was not on the ice for any of the Utah Hockey Club's goals.

He pulled a beautiful spin move that set off a barrage of shots on goal in the second period. While it did not lead to a goal, it was an impressive display of his immense talent.

"This is a guy who's a dynamic player, who can skate like the wind, and beyond that, the biggest strength that he has is that he never seems to be rattled."

-@frank_seravalli gets us HYPED for Sam Rinzel's future with the Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/n1pVdAGXAG
— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) March 31, 2025

Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli is so impressed with Rinzel's game that he does not think the young defender will spend any time in Rockford next season.

Although Rinzel is going to need to continue to impress the rest of the season and have an amazing training camp to make next year's opening roster.

The Hawks' front office prefers to have all their young blueliners spend time in the AHL. That method work in Vlasic's case.

Even Korchinski, who was in the NHL for the entire 2023-24 season because of the AHL's age restrictions, has spent time with the IceHogs during this campaign.

The key will be if Rinzel is capable of pushing the organization to make his AHL stay a short one, like what happened with Levshunov. He just reached the 10-game mark, which pushes up his restricted free agency timeline.

Also, the front office might want to add another veteran defenseman to help Murphy tutor the young lads. That could squeeze Rinzel out of the Hawks' opening night roster.

They could do that by keeping T.J. Brodie around as the seventh defenseman.

However, if they want an in-game mentor, a free agent signing might shrink how many spots on the blue line are available to the younger players.

Even though Rinzel did not score or register an assist, he was impressive in his NHL debut.

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