In at least 80% of the Blackhawks’ games this season, head coach Jeff Blashill has rolled out a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen. It’s a bit unconventional compared to the normal 12/6 split, but it makes sense—Chicago has a number of young forwards who can go all day and several young blueliners that need to find pairings.
On Wednesday night, when the Blackhawks host the Rangers, that looks like it’ll finally change. And that’s not all that’s getting jumbled after a pair of beatdowns out west this weekend. On Monday afternoon, Chicago sent both Sam Rinzel and Landon Slaggert to Rockford without a corresponding move.
Slaggert heading to the IceHogs seemed like a foregone conclusion this week. He hasn’t appeared in a game in two weeks, collecting dust as a healthy scratch. That’s not a place the Blackhawks want their 23-year-old to be, and it makes way more sense to be getting ice time than sitting in the press box. He’ll be back and become a regular NHLer soon; there just isn’t room for him on the roster right now.
The move to send Rinzel down is a bit more surprising, but certainly won’t be controversial. The 21-year-old blueliner faced massive expectations coming into the season and projected to be a top-pair defenseman. That hasn’t worked out, as he’s picked up eight points in 28 games and has looked a bit lost at times in the defensive zone. He was a healthy scratch last month in order to reset, but hasn’t quite put it together yet. Still, there’s lots of hope that he’ll eventually become a top-pair defenseman for years to come. The Blackhawks seem to trust their staff in Rockford, and players like Wyatt Kaiser and Louis Crevier have done well after spending some time there.
At this point, it doesn’t seem like the Blackhawks will announce a corresponding move. Sam Lafferty should fill in for Slaggert, and Chicago now has six defensemen on the roster. If they don’t announce a move soon, they’ll go back to the 12/6 rotation.
It’s possible that this move is in preparation for captain Nick Foligno to come back a bit earlier than initially expected, but the timing makes it seem like it’s more about sending a message for Rinzel. The more time he gets down in the AHL, the better, and he should be able to come back stronger before the end of the season.
