Blackhawks signs Sam Rinzel after the minnesota exit from the NCAA tournament: source

There were some eyebrows when the Chicago Blackhawk selected the defender Sam Rinzel 25 ° in the NHL draft of 2022.

Rinzel was not a stranger, but the Blackhawks He jumped later to take him how much most of the teams would have. He helped the fact that the Blackhawk had already made two selections in the first round and were in a position in which they could be extra patient. The director of Blackhawks of amateur scouting Mike Doneghey described Rinzel as on the “longest path” of development to the project.

And now, after allowing Rinzel that longest path, the Blackhawk are ready to take that next step. Rinzel has decided to give up his last two years at the University of Minnesota and sign with the Blackhawks, according to a source of the championship. It is expected that he will make his debut in the NHL this season. The Blackhawk are also signing his minnesota teammate e 2023 Choose Oliver Moore in the first roundHe said a source of the championship.

The Blackhawks enrolled Rinzel in the first round because they thought that his skating and size had the potential to make him an elite defender. His game was raw, but they thought that another year in the Ushl and college under the minnesota Bob Motzko coach would bring him where he was supposed to be. He also needed weight and muscle. It took more time, but in the end he started arriving last season. He added about 10 pounds and is about 190 pounds to go with his 6 -foot frame and 4.

“The big step for him was the one he did in Offseason,” Motzko said at the beginning of this season. “The players with whom we face, are all different forms and dimensions, but they are guys. They are not yet men. This is the biggest thing we have done. We are working with these young talented players who are going as a boy to man strength. The surface.

Rinzel’s trust has taken off this season with that added weight. The disc was not eliminated with the same ease. He was more aggressive to make Puck battles. His offense also raised. He played with the record as if he tried to be able to control the game.

Rinzel’s numbers also supported him. His offense decreased at the end of the season, but was close to the top of the university hockey in goal of defender and points for most of the season. At the time of the elimination of Minnesota from Thursday’s NCAA tournament, he sat down for eighth among the defenders with 10 goals and sixth with 32 points.

The general manager of Blackhawks Kyle Davidson said at the beginning of this season that Rinzel was turning into what he imagined in 2022.

“Sam was the target player for us,” said Davidson. “And it was someone who had a lot of interest for that draft. And so, we had great expectations, high beliefs for what could become based on his set of skill and on his tools. I was really excited to bring him at that moment, and I knew it would be a little a longer perspective. And we see it really to take some great steps here this year.

“He had a really strong year last year, but this year he seems to be a completely different player again, and I think this derives growing in his set of skill, growing in his body and then only a ton of trust. He did an excellent job by preparing to continue to take those steps.”

In Atletico‘S 2025 Top 100 Rodatti ranking of the NHL perspectivesReleased in February, Rinzel ranked 54th. It is the prospect of the fourth classification of the Blackhawks.

Scouting relationship

Rinzel’s appeal is all focused on potential because he has always felt as if he were only scratching the surface, but part of this is starting to be scratched now. He found another level after returning from the World Juniors of 2024 to Gothenburg and did not look back, becoming one of the best defenders in university hockey as a second year.

It is a long defender on the right that thrives in transition, has space to fill his frame, has already played quickly to recover time with his peers and has time (thanks to a birthday of late June) to do even more. It is a fluid skater with an active stick and an approach eager to play offense and defense that keeps it involved in all three areas (which is supplied with a little good and bad, but better than bad). His game was a bit in tilt, his selection of games needed to sketch and occasionally burned, but all those things started to put themselves in place when he got more repetitions and his ability and talent took control.

You can see the tools and you are starting to understand how to distribute them and use them more cohesively. You can see his trust building in real time while he starts to seem more than his simple length and skating. He can have an impact on the game when he is reading the game well.

While it was an ongoing job when he was enrolled and still has a lot of development in front of him, he is already much less raw. Projects as an interesting Top-Sei defender with a real rise.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)