Blackhawks’ Sam Rinzel already showing he can set pace at NHL level: ‘He takes control’

For most players graduating from college hockey to the NHL, part of the adjustment involves realizing how much less time they have to make plays against NHL opponents.

Blackhawks rookie defenseman Sam Rinzel, however, has had the opposite realization. His skating ability and processing speed already can keep up with NHL opponents, so he has discovered he has more time than he expected.

‘‘You don’t want to be in a rush, but I want to do things . . . with assertiveness,’’ Rinzel said Sunday. ‘‘I don’t need to throw [the puck] away; I can make a play with it. I just think it’s [about] trying to be confident out there.’’

During Rinzel’s time at the University of Minnesota, that increased assertiveness was one of the things that impressed Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson most.

Rinzel already had elite size, skill and hockey IQ when the Hawks drafted him 25th overall in 2022, but once he started ‘‘thinking less on the ice’’ and ‘‘trusting his instincts’’ this season, Davidson watched his development take off.

Initially considered a reach by some experts, Rinzel now looks like a steal. He has played well in three of his first four NHL games while averaging nearly 22 minutes of ice time on the Hawks’ top pairing with Alex Vlasic. By a contender’s standards, he might not be top-pairing quality yet, but it appears likely he will get to that point.

The Avalanche gave him some trouble last week in his second game. Nathan MacKinnon blew past him down the wing for a Grade A scoring chance early on, and the Avalanche ended up outshooting the Hawks 12-2 during Rinzel’s five-on-five ice time.

Other than that, however, the Hawks outshot Utah 11-8, outshot the Capitals 11-9 and outshot the Penguins 10-9 during Rinzel’s five-on-five ice time in his other three games. They also outscored those teams 4-2 during Rinzel’s ice time.

If anything, Rinzel is slightly unlucky he didn’t notch his first point until Sunday — he picked up a secondary assist on the first of Ilya Mikheyev’s two goals against the Penguins — and hasn’t scored his first goal. He already has 21 shots and 11 shots on goal, trailing only Frank Nazar and Connor Bedard in those categories during this four-game span.

‘‘He’s mature,’’ interim coach Anders Sorensen said. ‘‘We really like the fact that he wants to have the puck. He takes control in shifts. That’s a great attribute as a player — especially as a young player — to come in and do that. And you see it with [Artyom Levshunov], as well. They want it, and they want to get after it.’’

Many of Rinzel’s skills were on display during a shift halfway through the second period Sunday. In the span of 45 seconds, he made a sharp breakout pass to Landon Slaggert, sprawled out in the defensive zone to break up a Penguins break off a turnover by Vlasic, jumped up on a three-on-three counterattack, then executed a solo neutral-zone regroup to set up a chance by Philipp Kurashev in the slot.

Because Rinzel moves so well and mentally and physically can keep up with the NHL pace, he projects to be a significant point-producer in the future. There’s no question he’s an offensive defenseman.

His shot isn’t quite as good as Levshunov’s, but his playmaking is, both in the zone and off the rush. And Rinzel is significantly more reliable defensively at this point.

He did get lost on the play on which Capitals star Alex Ovechkin scored the first of his two goals Friday, but he seems to be in position more often than Levshunov and knows how to use his long reach to cover for himself when he’s slightly out of position.