DALLAS — Defenseman Kevin Korchinski’s two weeks away from the Blackhawks in December were not only difficult emotionally as he grieved his father’s death, but they also were slightly disruptive to his on-ice rhythm in his rookie season.
After appearing in 25 consecutive games to start the NHL season, thoroughly convincing Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson not to send him back to juniors, he missed six games while at home in Saskatoon.
‘‘Obviously, [I had] a bit of rust [coming back], but I had a couple of practice days to work it off,’’ Korchinski said Sunday. ‘‘I’ve felt good in the games, and I’m looking forward to continuing that.’’
The Hawks’ rematch Sunday against the Stars was Korchinski’s fifth game back in the lineup, and his ice time has been even greater during that time. He logged more than 24 minutes — his two heaviest workloads of the season to date — Wednesday and Friday.
The fact Korchinski is quarterbacking the Hawks’ top power-play unit (in injured Seth Jones’ absence) is contributing to those big minutes. With Taylor Raddysh now on injured reserve because of a groin injury, Nick Foligno filled the power-play bumper role Sunday, with Tyler Johnson in front of the net, Connor Bedard and Philipp Kurashev on the wings and Korchinski up top.
‘‘[I’m] trying to be more of a shooter at times,’’ Korchinski said. ‘‘[We’re] just working [the puck] around, getting our looks in and funneling pucks to the net so we get our chances.’’
At five-on-five, however, it’s strange that Korchinski entered the game Sunday with only four points (along with four more on the power play). He ranked last among Hawks defensemen in points per minute at five-on-five, despite attempting the second-most shots per minute.
Among the four defensemen drafted in the top 10 in 2022 — the Devils’ Simon Nemec (No. 2 overall), the Blue Jackets’ David Jiricek (No. 6), Korchinski (No. 7) and the Ducks’ Pavel Mintyukov (No. 10) — Korchinski has been the least productive to date this season, but that’s hardly his fault.
It’s partly because of the small sample size, partly because of the weakness of his teammates — he served up Kurashev with a beautiful seam pass Dec. 22, but Kurashev fired wide, for example — and partly because he’s focusing so much on the defensive side of his game.
Coach Luke Richardson and assistant Kevin Dean have continued working with Korchinski on using his stick more effectively in the defensive zone and on positioning his body to support his stick.
‘‘Sometimes in this league, a guy will blow through the stick,’’ Richardson said. ‘‘You need to make sure you get the stick and the body in the way, especially down low, and push [the opponent] away from the net. He’s got such great skating ability that if you’re pushing him away from the net, he can always catch up and kill a play or steal a puck.’’
Said Korchinski: ‘‘If you just push it outside, it makes your and your partner’s job a little bit easier.’’
But that’s all part of the learning process, and the speed at which Korchinski learns — accelerated by his eagerness to get and implement feedback — has impressed the Hawks perhaps more than anything else.
Looking back on his progress since his NHL debut in October, Korchinski thinks he now has a better sense of ‘‘what works and what doesn’t’’ at this level. The Hawks are optimistic that will continue during the second half of the season.
‘‘Hopefully he can continue [to gain] some swagger with the puck and do a little bit more than he was doing in the first half,’’ Davidson said. ‘‘We’re going to give him opportunities to both find success offensively and have some learning opportunities with and without the puck.’’
