Kevin Korchinski didn’t make the Chicago Blackhawks out of training camp this season and was sent to the AHL to develop a bit more.
Korchinski wasn’t able to play in the AHL for the Rockford IceHogs last season due to his age, so the Blackhawks opted to keep him in the NHL all season instead of returning him to junior. While this wasn’t the path the team had hoped to have him on for his development, he got some NHL experience and now gets to play with players his own age and log top minutes.
The debut of the 20-year-old was very impressive as he went end-to-end for a goal, weaving through the opposition and showing off his offensive flare.
Korchinski played in 75 games for the Blackhawks last season, scoring five goals and recording 15 points. After scoring 11 goals and 73 points in 54 games for the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL, there was nothing to prove or learn from by heading back for one final year.
There wasn’t very much competition last season for Korchinski to make the Blackhawks out of training camp, but general manager Kyle Davidson wasn’t going the same route this season.
As Chicago finished 31st in the league in 2023-24, there was a goal of getting better and the team did so. The Blackhawks signed Alec Martinez and TJ Brodie for the back-end while youngsters Wyatt Kaiser and Nolan Allan showed enough to make the team. Both of those young d-men have developed in the AHL already and are ready for the next step.
Given it is valuable to provide Korchinski with all the development tools and time to shine as a top d-man in a professional league, the AHL wasn’t a bad choice. The defensive pairings are all mixed up from last season anyways with Martinez playing with Seth Jones, Alex Vlasic down a line playing with Brodie, and Connor Murphy helping along one of Kaiser or Allan on the third pairing.
There is lots of time for Korchinski to shine in the AHL, and if things continue to go like his AHL debut, he will be back with the Blackhawks well before the end of the season.
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