Blackhawks’ Kevin Korchinski Deserves More Praise Than He’s Getting

Kevin Korchinski has had some up-and-down moments in his short stint in the NHL. He made his NHL debut the same night as Connor Bedard, and throughout his first season, he displayed a lack of consistency on the ice.

It takes defensemen more time to adjust to the NHL compared to forwards. For Korchinski, he proved in the preseason that he was ready for more ice time compared to previous years.

Why He’s Getting a Lack of Praise

In Sunday’s loss to the Florida Panthers, Korchinski had an assist, with a plus-2 rating and around 12 minutes time on ice.

Head coach Jeff Blashill said postgame how Korchinski “did a lot of good things”, but targeted the line change that eventually led to the Panthers scoring the go-ahead goal with less than three minutes left in the third period.

“I thought he played solid in that pair with [Sam Rinzel]. Both of them did a lot of good things. It’s unfortunate that he had the tough change,” (from ‘Blackhawks’ frustrations mount as breakdown leads to third straight loss’, Chicago Sun Times, Oct. 25, 2026).

Korchinski has only played two games this season, but in both games he looked to be the best defenseman on the ice.

He’s Proven Himself Coming Into the Season

Korchinski was drafted seventh overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. He’s good at stick handling and can transition the puck well, some of the reasons Chicago drafted him in the top 10 of that year’s draft.

He couldn’t join the Blackhawks’ American Hockey League affiliate (AHL) the Rockford IceHogs because of the AHL and Canadian Hockey League agreement that player’s couldn’t play in the AHL if they were under 20 years old.

Right away, there was an added pressure. He debuted the same night as Bedard on Oct. 10, 2023. Both players also helped Team Canada win World Junior gold back in 2023, so they were comfortable playing on a big stage at a young age.

I’ve mentioned that he deserved another shot after the loss to the Montreal Canadiens. He wasn’t drafted seventh overall for no reason. General manager Kyle Davidson saw potential in him, and later on in the 2022 draft, Chicago drafted Frank Nazar and Rinzel, two more prospects who had a lot of potential.

On Aug. 29, Korchinski signed a two-year contract extension worth $2.65 million after a bit of a delay in resigning during the offseason.

“Gonna be a big offseason. Got things (we’re going to) work on,” Korchinski said in exit interviews following last season. “Just come to camp with swagger, trying to prove I belong, and just have a good summer, good camp, and get things rolling.”

With Bowen Byram still out, Blashill drew Ethan Del Mastro in the lineup in his place since his absence, ultimately leaving Korchinski as a scratch.

“Every day you have to earn it,” Korchinski said. “It starts with showing up the next day and proving myself again. The past doesn’t matter. You want to be good in the present and help the team win. You have to be good every day. It’s a hard league. That’s the approach you want to have to be a difference-maker and have a long career.”

It’s no surprise when a young player says he wants to prove himself, but Korchinski wants to show he should play more games than Blashill is letting him. Sure, the line change that led to Florida getting the win wasn’t his best play, but when a player wanting to prove himself has a good game outside of that, it shouldn’t shadow that he should see more ice time.

Chicago’s final game of the homestand is against the struggling Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 27.