Twenty-eight seconds was all it took Monday for the two most promising Blackhawks to give fans and coaches a glimpse into the future.
Hawks defenseman Kevin Korchinski set up fellow rookie Connor Bedard 28 seconds into the first period of Monday’s otherwise disastrous 8-1 loss to the Coyotes for Bedard’s third goal in a four-game span. It marked Bedard and Korchinski’s first time teaming up together on a scoring play during the regular season.
The game was also notable because it was Korchinski’s ninth NHL game. It’s expected he will play in his 10th game Saturday against the Panthers, which means his three-year entry-level contract will start this season.
Neither Korchinski nor coach Luke Richardson have formally talked with general manager Kyle Davidson about Korchinski’s status for the rest of the season, but all indications suggest he will stick around for a while.
“We haven’t talked about it much,” Richardson said Wednesday. “[Kevin has] played great, so probably no conversation means he’s probably not going anywhere.”
Richardson said he was yelling for Korchinski to shoot the puck from the bench Monday; after his beautiful assist, the players turned around and laughed. He has continued seeing all-around growth from the young defenseman.
“Defensively, he’s working with [assistant coach] Kevin Dean a lot, and he’s growing,” Richardson said. “He’s getting better defensively. It’s a tough league to play defense in.”
Korchinski ranks fourth on the team — behind forward MacKenzie Entwistle, veteran defenseman Seth Jones and Bedard — in shot-attempt ratio, which means the Hawks have recorded 49.5% of the shot attempts during his five-on-five ice time.
It’s hard to imagine Korchinski being sent back to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds because of his solid play and the Hawks’ defensive situation, since Alex Vlasic remains sidelined due to a concussion. He’s ineligible to play in the AHL because of his age.
“Obviously, nothing’s given in this league,” Korchinski said. “For me, I’m just trying to earn my place every day. I just take nothing for granted at all; it’s a privilege being here.”
The defenseman said he’s started to feel more comfortable by practicing and playing with the veteran players.
It’s important for him to experience the trial-and-error of an NHL season, particularly on the defensive side. Experiences like stepping in for Vlasic on a late third-period penalty kill last week against the Golden Knights will only aid his development.
“[I’m] getting used to learning that every player is a good player, whether you’re going against the top guys, guys that put up points, or guys that are just kind of on the depth chart,” Korchinski said.
Highly touted for his offensive prowess — he tallied 73 points last season with the Seattle Thunderbirds — Korchinski hasn’t yet had the type of production that you would expect from an offensive-leaning defenseman. He has three points (all assists) in his nine games.
But he’s going through the tribulations of an NHL season as a top-pairing defenseman at just 19 years old.
“Offensively, he’s got the natural characteristics of the young players nowadays,” Richardson said. “He skates well; he sees the ice well. We’d like to see him shoot the puck a little bit more, and we’ve told that to him every day, especially on the power play. I think he’s starting to get that a little bit.”
The long-term view is for Davidson to worry about. In the meantime, Korchinski’s play justifies a spot on the roster past his 10-game window.
“I try to take it game-by-game, day-by-day,” Korchinski said. “I guess you can say the past is the past. Whether I had a good game or bad game, you’re learning from it.”
