Chicago Blackhawks set to finalize contreversial move with prospect defenseman Kevin Korchinski
Ben Pope of the Chicago sun times tweeted out today that Blackhawks defenseman Kevin Korchinski may start his season in the AHL.
Korchinski was chosen as the 7th overall pick in 2022 and was decided by head coach Luke Richardson to remain with the Blackhawks for the entire season in a way for him to gain experience in the NHL.
But the Blackhawks have made significant changes to their roster and have added new depth pieces along with NHL free agents who have given the Blackhawks significant depth especially on their blue line.
With the defense core of Seth Jones, Alex Vlasic, Connor Murphy, Alex Martinez and TJ Brodie It's possible the Blackhawks may cycle through a few of their defensemen especially in Rockford as the team has the option to send Korchinski down to their affiliate and trying out other defensemen to see if they're ready to play in the NHL.
One player is their second overall pick in this year's draft with Artyom Levshunov. Some feel that he may be ready to try the NHL right off the start but that remains to be seen. It's also likely that Wyatt Kaiser and Ethan De Mastro and Nolan Alan will try to secure a spot which will put pressure on Korchinski.
With the Blackhawks preparing to move out of the basement in the standings and begin their mission to challenge a Stanley Cup playoffs spot, the Blackhawks coaching staff will need to make these decisions while protecting their assets in case it hinders their development.
Training camp is set to begin in mid-September.
| POLL | ||
Should the Blackhawks have Kevin Korchinski have a gap year this coming season ? | ||
| Yes | 34 | 49.3 % |
| No | 35 | 50.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
