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Kevin Korchinski

Central Notes: Wild, Avalanche, Korchinski

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The Minnesota Wild have shared that  Jared Spurgeon (lower-body) and Joel Eriksson Ek (broken nose) will both miss the team’s Tuesday night matchup against St. Louis. Forward Marcus Johansson is also questionable with an undisclosed injury, shares Michael Russo of The Athletic. Johansson was absent from the team’s Tuesday morning practice, while both Spurgeon and Eriksson Ek also missed the team’s Sunday game.

Injury news hasn’t favored Minnesota through the early going. The absentees – Spurgeon and Eriksson Ek – stand as two of the most-utilized Wild skaters, each playing over 19 minutes of ice time in the team’s season debut. Eriksson Ek recorded an assist and three shots in the outing, while Spurgeon’s only recorded stat was a pair of shots. The duo are both pillars of Minnesota’s lineup, and they left big shoes to fill when they went down with injuries. The Wild responded by moving Zach Bogosian and Marco Rossi into bigger roles on Sunday, though that outing resulted in an overtime loss to Winnipeg.

Minnesota now not only has to find fill-ins for a pair of top-liners, but could also need a replacement for Johansson’s spot on line-three. Johansson has recorded two points in three games through the early going – one of just five Wild with multiple points so far. It’ll be extra forward Travis Boyd who steps in, should Johansson be downgraded to out.

Other notes from the Midwest:

  • The Colorado Avalanche also have a pair of injury updates, announcing that defender Devon Toews (lower-body) is hopeful for the team’s Wednesday game, while forward Jonathan Drouin (upper-body) has been ruled out, per Corey Masisak of The Denver Post. Drouin seemed to suffer an injury in Colorado’s season opener last Wednesday, and has missed both games Colorado has played since. No specifics of his injury have been revealed. Toews also missed Colorado’s most recent game. The specifics of his injury are also unclear, especially with no clear indication of when the injury occurred. Oliver Kylington filled Toews’ role on the top-pair in his’ absence, and stands to continue garnering more minutes should the star sit out once again.
  • Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Kevin Korchinski scored a flashy, coast-to-coast goal in the AHL Rockford IceHogs’ season debut, leading to conversations about when Korchinski may be ready to return to the NHL. He played in 76 games on a deprived Blackhawks blue-line last season, but posted a less-than-inspiring 15 points and -39. That prompted Chicago to assign him to the minors to start this season, with Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson telling Scott Powers of The Athletic that the team hopes it’ll boost Korchinski’s confidence. Davidson acknowledged that the team may have asked too much of the rookie last season, and that building up his confidence will be top priority in the AHL. He told Powers, “You just want him to get that confidence back that he had in junior, and that’s going to take time, especially at the pro level.” IceHogs head coach Anders Sorensen agreed with Davidson, adding that he’s encouraging Korchinski to drive the puck downhill and challenge opposing forwards more. The 20-year-old defender certainly showed that ability with his inaugural AHL goal, and could be on a quick route back to the NHL roster once he gains the confidence to do that routinely.

Blackhawks Recall Nine Players, Sign Austin Strand To PTO

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While some teams will be dressing close to their full lineups to end the preseason, the Blackhawks will not be one of them.  Instead, the team announced that they’ve recalled nine players from AHL Rockford while also signing defenseman Austin Strand to a PTO agreement.

The forwards getting the brief promotion are Colton Dach, Cole Guttman, Frank Nazar, Zach Sanford, Samuel Savoie, and Landon Slaggert.  Meanwhile, the blueliners receiving the extra preseason game are Louis Crevier, Ethan Del Mastro, and Kevin Korchinski.

Nazar and Korchinski are the headliners of the group.  Both are projected to be key players long-term for the Blackhawks and should see regular NHL action at some point this season.  Korchinski spent last season in Chicago as he was ineligible to play in the minors, notching 15 points in 76 games while Nazar was a late-season signing after leaving the University of Michigan.  He scored in his NHL debut, his lone point in three contests.

Among the others, five of the seven recalls saw NHL action last season with only Dach and Savoie waiting for their first regular season opportunity at the top level.  Of that group, Guttman saw the most action with 27 games (notching eight points) while Crevier had three helpers in 24 contests.  Slaggert had four points in 16 appearances, Sanford had four helpers in 18 games after being claimed off waivers, while Del Mastro was held off the scoresheet in two outings.

All of these players had already been cut from training camp and barring any injuries of note in the coming days, are all expected to be returned to the IceHogs, potentially as soon as after tonight’s contest against St. Louis.

Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar Won’t Make Blackhawks’ Roster

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Recent first-round picks Kevin Korchinski and Frank Nazar won’t make the Blackhawks’ opening night roster. They were both part of roster cuts the team announced Wednesday and will begin the 2024-25 season on assignment to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs.

The 20-year-old Korchinski is coming off his first professional season, all of which he spent on the NHL roster. The 2022 seventh-overall pick made the Hawks out of camp last year and logged top-four minutes on a paper-thin Chicago defense. However, it wasn’t the best move for the puck-moving defender’s development. He logged 15 points and a -39 rating in 76 games, posting the worst possession quality metrics of any Blackhawks skater. He’s looked overmatched at times in preseason play this year, too, posting a -3 rating in Tuesday’s 7-2 loss to the Wild.

Korchinski starting the season in Rockford is far from unexpected, even after logging so much NHL ice last season. The Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope reported in August that the organization envisioned Korchinski getting a breather in the minors, and line rushes early on in training camp indicated he was likely on the outside looking in. He’s only a year removed from a prolific junior career with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, where he totaled 133 assists and 148 points in 145 games across four seasons.

Nazar, 20, was taken six spots after Korchinski in 2022 and made his pro debut just a few months back at the tail end of the 2023-24 season. He signed his entry-level contract following an electric sophomore season at the University of Michigan, rebounding for 41 points in 41 games after missing most of his freshman year due to injury. He scored once but had a -4 rating in three NHL contests to end the season with the Hawks.

When both players suit up for the IceHogs later this month, it’ll be their respective AHL debuts. They’ll likely get a longer runway in the minors to get re-acclimated (or straight-up acclimated, in Nazar’s case) to the pro game before being considered for a recall.

With Wyatt Kaiser’s availability for the start of the regular season uncertain after only recently returning to on-ice activities, Nolan Allan and Isaak Phillips have likely won out the two defense spots up for grabs with Korchinski headed to the minors, Pope points out. They’re among the seven healthy defensemen left on the Hawks’ training camp roster. Opening night against Utah on Oct. 8 could mark an NHL debut for Allan, who had 17 points and a +2 rating in 60 games for Rockford last year after going 32nd overall in the 2021 draft.

Central Notes: Ferguson, Korchinski, Buchnevich

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The AHL’s Iowa Wild have inked goaltender Dylan Ferguson to a one-year deal, relays The Hockey News’ Dylan Loucks.

The 26-year-old joins the Wild organization after the Canucks released him from a professional tryout agreement on Sunday. He briefly provided his services in Vancouver’s camp as starter Thatcher Demko remains out with a lingering knee injury, but he became redundant after the Canucks landed free agent Kevin Lankinen on a one-year, $875K deal over the weekend.

Ferguson, a seventh-round pick of the Stars back in 2017, last saw NHL ice with the Senators in the 2022-23 season. He stopped 78 of 83 shots faced in two late-season starts for a .940 SV%, 2.52 GAA, and a 1-1-0 record.

The British Columbia native spent last season with Belarus’ Dinamo Minsk in the Kontinental Hockey League, recording a .904 SV% and 2.51 GAA in 23 games with a 9-9-0 record. The 2021 ECHL Kelly Cup champion with the Fort Wayne Komets now heads to Iowa, where he’ll compete with Minnesota prospect Samuel Hlavaj and Kyle McClellan to serve as veteran Troy Grosenick’s backup. All indications point toward the Wild carrying three goalies on their NHL roster to begin the season, meaning top prospect Jesper Wallstedt won’t be back in Iowa.

Elsewhere in the Central Division:

  • Training camp line rushes indicate that Blackhawks defender Kevin Korchinski continues to trend toward starting the season in the AHL, The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus points out. He’s been paired with depth defender Louis Crevier in recent scrimmages and “will have to do something spectacular over the next two weeks to earn an NHL job out of camp,” Lazerus said. It’s far from a new development – reports last month indicated this was the likely scenario for the 2022 seventh-overall pick. He managed just 15 points in 76 games with Chicago last season with a -36 rating, and a lengthy stint with the Rockford IceHogs to begin the season would allow him to once again dominate offensively.
  • Blues star Pavel Buchnevich is back on the ice at practice Tuesday, relays Lou Korac of The Hockey News and NHL.com. He’d sat out the past couple days after blocking a shot from Stars defenseman Mathew Dumba in Saturday’s 2-1 exhibition game loss. It’s an important training camp for the natural winger, who projects to start the season at center after signing a six-year, $48MM extension over the summer.

Blackhawks Likely To Start Kevin Korchinski In AHL

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The Blackhawks are leaning toward assigning sophomore defenseman Kevin Korchinski to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs to begin the 2024-25 season, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reports Monday. Korchinski, the seventh overall pick of the 2022 draft, played 76 games for Chicago last season in a top-four role.

Chicago has reportedly been mulling whether to demote the defenseman for weeks now. The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus mentioned the possibility late last month. It would provide more solid reasoning for signing veterans T.J. Brodie and Alec Martinez during the July 1 free-agent frenzy.

At the time, some criticized signing both as compared to just one as taking away a roster spot from the rebuilding organization’s glut of young defenders, namely Wyatt Kaiser and Isaak Phillips. With Korchinski starting in the AHL, it’s likely both Kaiser and Phillips will make the opening night roster, Pope opines, although Louis Crevier and Ethan Del Mastro will also be in the mix for spots.

Last season was a struggle for Korchinski, a two-time Western Hockey League All-Star with the Seattle Thunderbirds. He made the jump to the NHL directly out of juniors, a decision that overtaxed the 20-year-old without much of a supporting cast on the Blackhawks’ back end.

Korchinski showed flashes offensively, posting five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 76 games, but his -39 rating was the worst among Chicago defenders, and his possession quality numbers at even strength were in the tank. With injuries persisting all last season on defense, the Hawks could never comfortably send Korchinski down to the minors for a breather. It’s clear their signings of Brodie and Martinez, both of whom can still shoulder top-four minutes on a bottom-feeder, were made with flexibility regarding Korchinski’s development in mind.

Korchinski was an electric offensive presence with the Thunderbirds in his post-draft season. The Saskatchewan native was among the top five WHL defenders in scoring with 11 goals and 73 points in just 54 games, logging a +50 rating to boot. He added 14 points in 19 playoff games as Seattle took home the WHL championship, and he also recorded four points in seven games for Canada in his first taste of international hockey at the 2023 World Juniors.

It’s likely too early in pre-camp preparations to strike Korchinski from opening-night roster consideration entirely. But starting Kaiser and Phillips in third-pairing roles with fringe top-four usage, likely their ceiling on a contending team anyway, is more advantageous to the club’s long-term plan while allowing Korchinski to gain more confidence at the professional level.

Blackhawks Recall Isaak Phillips, Place Kevin Korchinski On Non-Roster List

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The Blackhawks have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their game tonight against St. Louis.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled blueliner Isaak Phillips from AHL Rockford.  To make room for him on the roster, Chicago has moved defenseman Kevin Korchinski to the non-roster list.

Phillips has been up a couple of times with the Blackhawks already this season, getting into nine games where he had three assists while logging just under 16 minutes per contest.  He has put up similar numbers with the IceHogs, collecting a goal and two helpers in ten appearances with them.  Chicago had just sent the 22-year-old down last Saturday but it turned out to be a short-lived stint.

As for Korchinski, the 19-year-old has done a nice job locking down a regular spot in Chicago’s lineup so far.  He has played in all 25 games, picking up two goals and five assists along with 30 blocked shots while averaging 19:31 per night.  That puts him fifth among all NHL rookies; his teammate Connor Bedard is sixth in NHL rookie ATOI.

After Saturday’s morning skate, head coach Luke Richardson clarified to reporters including Mark Lazerus of The Athletic (Twitter link) that Korchinski’s designation is for a family reason, not a loan for the upcoming World Juniors of which he’s eligible to play in.  Accordingly, Phillips’ recall is likely to only be a short-term on.

Snapshots: Korchinski, Lehkonen, Texier

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Chicago Blackhawks rookie Kevin Korchinski won an IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal for Canada last season, but is unlikely to get another chance at glory at this year’s edition of the tournament. As relayed by NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis, Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson says his “inclination would be for [Korchinski] to stay” in Chicago, rather than go to the tournament which begins in exactly one month and is set to take place in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Korchinski has, according to Davidson, “been playing really well,” making his fair share of mistakes as well as excellent plays. The former WHL star is currently scoring at a nine-goal, 27-point 82-game pace, although there is hope that those numbers will see an uptick as Korchinski gets more game experience under his belt in the world’s top league. Currently averaging 19:32 time on ice per game, which ranks third on the entire Blackhawks team, Korchinski is believed by many to be a potential top-pairing defenseman for a future contender in Chicago.

Some other notes from across the NHL:

  • Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar issued an update on the status of injured forward Artturi Lehkonen, according to The Athletic’s Peter Baugh. Bednar said that the Avalanche are lucky that Lehkonen’s injury didn’t end up worse, and added that the player is now out of his neck brace and making progress toward a return. No timeline on Lehkonen’s return was provided, though.
  • Columbus Blue Jackets forward Alexandre Texier, who missed the team’s last two games due to an illness, will return to the lineup for tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes according to team reporter Jeff Svoboda. The 24-year-old has been solid for the Blue Jackets so far this season after a year spent in the Swiss National League, as he has four goals and seven points in 19 games.

Blackhawks To Keep Kevin Korchinski On Roster

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The Blackhawks will keep defenseman Kevin Korchinski on the active roster after his nine-game trial wrapped up Monday night against the Coyotes, head coach Luke Richardson told Mark Lazerus of The Athletic yesterday. The 19-year-old will not be returned to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, thereby putting his three-year, entry-level contract into effect starting this season.

Selected seventh overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, Korchinski has quietly seen top-four minutes thus far to start the campaign. While all the media attention is rightfully on 2023 first-overall choice Connor Bedard, Korchinski has done quite well through his first nine NHL contests. His -8 rating may make it seem like he’s struggled defensively, but that’s more a product of the team around him. In fact, his 49.4% Corsi share at even strength is much better than the team’s quite poor 44.8% average, doing so while consistently taking over 20 shifts per game and routinely crossing the 20-minute mark in terms of ice time.

Korchinski is still looking for his first NHL goal but has managed to put three assists on the board, his only primary helper coming in last night’s 8-1 loss to the Coyotes – a goal scored by Bedard and assisted secondarily by Seth Jones, a combination Blackhawks fans will certainly see a lot of in the coming seasons.

While negligible for a team in Chicago’s situation, the entry-level slide from last season confirms that Korchinski’s cap hit will be $918.3K through the 2025-26 season rather than the $950K listed when he initially signed the deal. That’s because while an entry-level deal slides, signing bonuses are paid out even in years when the contract is not in effect – lowering the cap hit on the deal when it does go into effect because less money than anticipated is being paid out in the third year of the deal.

Last season with WHL Seattle, Korchinski finished third among defensemen in the league with 1.35 points per game behind Ducks prospect Olen Zellweger (1.45) and Blue Jackets prospect Stanislav Svozil (1.39), the latter of whom was teammates with Bedard.

Prospect Notes: Wright, Korchinski, Canadiens Rookie Camp

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2022 fourth-overall pick Shane Wright played for three club teams last season, skating in eight NHL games, eight regular-season AHL contests, and 24 games in the OHL. The CHL-NHL transfer agreement stipulated that he could only play in the AHL under very specific circumstances. Wright was allowed to play in 24 games on the Coachella Valley Firebirds’ run to the Calder Cup Final, and now it appears he could get a more extensive regular-season look in the AHL next season.

On the 32 Thoughts podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said that he’s “under the impression” that Wright’s eligibility for the AHL next season “has been sorted out,” and that the CHL has agreed to allow Wright to play for Coachella Valley assuming he is unable to crack Seattle’s opening-night roster. Wright technically falls one OHL game played short of the CHL’s cut-off point for eligibility, as well as just a few days short based on his birthday. But with Wright so close to automatic eligibility for the AHL and clearly overqualified for another OHL campaign, it seems the CHL has elected to put Wright’s development first and allow him to begin his full-time pro career.

Some other notes from across the NHL:

  • The Chicago Blackhawks are hoping Kevin Korchinski will join Connor Bedard as a foundational piece of their next competitive era, and it appears that the 2022 seventh-overall pick could be primed to break into the NHL as soon as opening night. Korchinski, 19, spent last season patrolling the blueline of the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, and he scored 73 points in 54 regular-season games. According to The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus, “it would take a pretty jarring faceplant at camp” for Korchinski to not make the Blackhawks’ opening-night roster. (subscription link) Korchinski is considered by many to be Chicago’s best prospect behind Bedard, so assuming he avoids that “jarring faceplant” he should make the team’s opening night all the more exciting for Blackhawks fans.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have announced their roster for their upcoming rookie camp, a group of names that features three invite players: QMJHL winger Isaac Dufort, 2018 Vegas Golden Knights fourth-rounder Slava Demin, and WHL goalie Jan Spunar. Another notable aspect of this announcement regards prospect Ty Smilanic, the 74th overall pick of the 2020 draft who the Canadiens acquired from the Florida Panthers in the Ben Chiarot trade. The 21-year-old was listed on the rookie camp roster, something Radio-Canada’s Marc Antoine Godin noted is a curious development seeing as Smilanic is a college prospect and NCAA players are typically excluded from rookie camp. There’s no official word yet on Smilanic’s plans for next season, but given Smilanic’s participation in rookie camp the possibility may exist that he won’t be returning to the University of Wisconsin to play a second season there.

Prospect Notes: Korchinski, Dvorsky, Reinbacher

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The Chicago Blackhawks are quickly assembling one of the more tantalizing prospect pools in the league, at least in terms of upside. While much of the discussion is around their expected generational talent in Connor Bedard, don’t gloss over last year’s seventh-overall pick – defenseman Kevin Korchinski, who NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis says the organization faces a short-term decision on in regards to his playing future.

The 19-year-old defenseman had an incredible campaign with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, tallying 73 points in 54 games during the 2022-23 season en route to a WHL championship and Memorial Cup berth. But due to the NHL-CHL transfer agreement, he’s not yet eligible for assignment to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs next year, leaving him with two options: the NHL or a return to juniors, where he has very little left to prove. Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson doesn’t have a crystal ball into what the organization may decide, telling Roumeliotis, “we’re confident he’s going to be here. When? We don’t want to put a label on that right now.”

It seems the most likely scenario is, at the very least, a nine-game trial for Korchinski out of training camp before determining whether or not to burn the first year of his entry-level contract, which could slide to 2024-25 if he plays less than 10 NHL games this season.

Some more notes on a pair of top-ten picks:

  • Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland confirms that 2023 tenth overall selection Dalibor Dvorsky will return to Sweden for 2023-24, honoring the first season of a two-year commitment he signed with SHL club IK Oskarshamn earlier this summer. Dvorsky is technically eligible for AHL play this season under the NHL’s transfer agreement with Swedish leagues, given he was a first-round pick, but he (and the Blues) believe a year of experience against the top level of Swedish competition is the right choice for his development. Dvorsky did play pro hockey in Sweden last year, but it was with second-division club AIK – part of the HockeyAllsvenskan league, not the SHL.
  • Montreal Canadiens co-director of amateur scouting Nick Bobrov sat down with The Athletic’s Arpon Basu, commenting on the organizational philosophy that led them to select defenseman David Reinbacher at fifth overall – a pick contested by some who believe the team should’ve taken a swing on Matvei Michkov, who fell to seventh overall. Emphasizing Reinbacher’s solid pro play and well-rounded analytical profile, Bobrov did have an interesting comment regarding concerns about the team’s lack of scoring: “So I would push back against the notion that we have no scoring. We have very young players who always scored, and they’re getting better every month. And then, you know, how many 40-goal scorers did Vegas have this year? You start looking at the playoffs, right? The playoffs.” Scoring by committee isn’t a new philosophy for the Habs, who haven’t had a player hit the 80-point plateau since Alex Kovalev in 2008.

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