For most players graduating from college hockey to the NHL, part of the adjustment process 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 actually 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 possessed elite size, skill and hockey IQ back when the Hawks drafted him 25th overall in 2022, but once he started “thinking less on the ice” and instead “trusting his instincts” this season, Davidson watched his development take off.
Initially considered a reach at No. 25 by some experts, Rinzel now looks like a steal. He has played very well in three of his first four NHL games while averaging 21:54 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 looks very likely he will get to that point.
Sam Rinzel shows off his speed on a solo rush last week against Colorado:
— Ben Pope (@benpopecst.bsky.social) 2025-04-07T18:59:05.331Z
The Avalanche did give 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 Colorado ended up outshooting the Hawks 12-2 during Rinzel’s five-on-five ice time.
Other than that, though, 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 each of his other three games. They also cumulatively outscored those teams 4-2 during Rinzel’s ice time.
Rinzel is, if anything, slightly unlucky that he didn’t record his first point until Sunday — he picked up a secondary assist on Ilya Mikheyev’s first of two goals against the Penguins — and hasn’t yet tallied his first goal. He already has 21 shot attempts and 11 shots on goal, trailing only Frank Nazar and Connor Bedard in both 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 Arty [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 Vlasic turnover, jumped up on a three-on-three counterattack and then executed a beautiful solo neutral-zone regroup to set up a Philipp Kurashev chance in the slot.
Impressive shift by Sam Rinzel against Pittsburgh:
— Ben Pope (@benpopecst.bsky.social) 2025-04-07T18:57:22.789Z
Since Rinzel moves so well and can mentally and physically 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 compared to Levshunov, Rinzel is significantly more reliable defensively at this point in time.
He did get lost on the play where Alex Ovechkin scored his first of two goals Friday, but he seems to be in position a higher percentage of the time than Levshunov. He knows how to use his long reach to cover for himself when slightly out of position.