
One area that Chicago GM Kyle Davidson has been heavily prioritizing during the Blackhawks rebuild is building up the defense and it shows as the club has a flurry of potential options to work with in their future.
So much so is the talent the Hawks have drafted and developed on the backend, that there will not be enough room for all of them. The Hawks face a dilemma currently of figuring out which pieces on their blueline are the untouchable’s that are a must to extend and which defenseman are not needed and can be flipped for assets that can be used to address other lineup needs.
Insider Frank Seravalli recently made this point clear by stating Chicago will have to move a defenseman soon as he projects they have “9 to 10 guys” who can realistically play on their blueline.
Which defenseman could be on the move?
The next logical solution for Chicago is figuring out the pecking order for their defensive group’s hierarchy. First are the pieces any outsider can confidently say will probably be with the club for the foreseeable future. Alex Vlasic was extended to a long term deal last year that keeps him in Chicago until 2030. Artyom Levshunov is not going anywhere as their recent 2nd overall pick in 2024. Sam Rinzel is a 2026 Calder hopeful the club is bullish on.
Kevin Korchinski is the first young talent whose future is less clear. Although as Davidson’s first ever draft pick as Hawks GM, he will be less willing to part with him. Louis Crevier was tendered this past summer to a short term deal while Wyatt Kaiser still has not signed his qualifying offer. Then there’s Ethan Del Mastro and Nolan Allan, 2 defenseman who have split time between Chicago and Rockford.
That leaves veteran defenseman Connor Murphy as the one who appears most likely to be moved. The 32 year old veteran is an anomaly on the Hawks defensive core, being the only one over the age of 24. He enters the final year of his current deal with the organization, which could make him a trade deadline candidate. The only issue with moving Murphy is that would leave no clear vets on the Hawks blueline.
We’ll see how Chicago handles this situation on their backend. Perhaps, an abundance of talent to look forward to in the defense arsenal is a good problem for the team to have.
