On August 29, the Chicago Blackhawks signed defenseman Kevin Korchinski to a two year extension with a $1.325 million cap hit. While it seems like the former 2022 No. 7 overall draft pick has fallen in the depth chart, I think there’s still a lot to like about Korchinski and his potential value to the Hawks—even with a turbulent development path.
Korchinski’s impressive 2022-23 season with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds (which saw the Thunderbirds fall to the Quebec Remparts in the Memorial Cup Final) led the Hawks organization to believe that there was nothing else for Korchinski to gain from time spent in the WHL. He scored 73 points in 54 games. General Manager Kyle Davidson opted to start the 19-year-old Kevin Korchinski in the NHL.
However, at the time, Korchinski wasn’t eligible to play in the AHL should he need development (which he did). Korchinski’ CHL contract agreement (which the WHL is a member of) prevented CHL players from playing in the AHL. To make the decision a bit more complicated, after nine games, Korchinski’s first year of his entry-level contract would be burned. Davidson had nine games to make a decision on whether Korchinski should return to the WHL, or burn a year of his ELC and play the rest of the season in the NHL. Davidson decided to keep Korchinski for the season and the 19-year-old (which needs emphasis) scored 15 points in 76 games in his first season pro. A season where Korchinski lost his father.
Should Korchinski have stayed at the WHL that season? Probably. Even though I was against it at the time. This was around the time when Davidson stressed patience with development, so it would have made sense to keep Korchinski there.
Since that 2023 season, Korchinski has spent most of his time in Rockford with a few less-than-spectacular stints at the NHL. Sam Rinzel seems to have passed Korchinski on the depth chart. The Blackhawks selected Artyom Levshunov at No. 2 overall in 2025 with the hopes of him being the future No. 1 defenseman (then acquired Bowen Byram for that purpose in 2026). Xavier Villeneuve was selected in the second round with a very high upside.
Now it seems like the blue line is a little more crowded.
Let’s focus on this season.
Pending training camp, Byram will be the No. 1 defenseman (where he will audition for a role he’s already being payed for… but enough of that). Alex Vlasic is likely taking the left side on the second pair. Wyatt Kaiser will probably take the left side on the bottom pair. All left-handed defensemen—Vlasic being the only one I trust in his own end.
On the right side, it’s a little more fluid. Rinzel could play top minutes with Byram. Ian Cole will get a spot just because of his status as a veteran. Levshunov will probably bounce up and down the pairs this season. All right-handed. Both Levshunov and Rinzel being offensive minded.
That leaves Korchinski with limited minutes to play at the NHL. Since he’s waiver eligible this season, it’s unlikely the Blackhawks send him down to Rockford. He’ll get swooped up in a heartbeat.
Korchinski’s tools are there and at 22-years-old, there’s still so much room for growth. He’s an excellent skater with sharp offensive zone instincts. Even in the defensive zone Korchinski makes a solid first pass. Where Korchinski struggled was his physicality (or lack thereof). But we should care more about Korchinski’s offensive instincts than on defense. Also, his defensive partners haven’t helped him much.
FYI, Jared Tinordi was at No. 11.
Nothing says that Blashill can’t play his defensemen on their off-hand. This would allow Korchinski to play with either Kaiser or Vlasic. Maybe even Byram, but that could be an adventure (fun or bad, or both).
And if Korchinski doesn’t have a future on the Blackhawks blueline, they might have to trade him. There are plenty of teams out there who would love to take on Korchinski. Which makes placing him on waivers all the more risky. If Korchinski goes, there’s no way Davidson can just let him go for nothing.
Whatever becomes of Korchinski in the future, I’m still a believer that he will be a solid defenseman.