Sam Rinzel’s rookie year gave the Blackhawks plenty to work with, even with the usual bumps that come for a young defenseman trying to stick in the NHL. He split time between Chicago and Rockford, and by the end of it, the former 25th overall pick had shown he was trending the right way.
Now the real question is what comes next in 2026-27.
Rinzel arrived with some real pedigree. The Blackhawks drafted him in the first round because of the kind of impact they believed he could bring, and he backed that up as a Minnesota Gopher by winning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in March 2025. When he joined Chicago that same month, he made a strong impression in nine games, flashing a steady defensive base with smart offensive instincts.
The season didn’t stay smooth for long. He began with the Blackhawks, then was sent to Rockford in December. Head coach Jeff Blashill framed the move as part of the learning curve, saying, "(The) message was one: this is a really hard league if you start to struggle to kind of gain traction, and so go down, get your swagger with the puck back, get put in situations... hopefully, get time on the power play more than he was getting here, and get that swagger with the puck and then continue to improve defensively..."
That reset worked. Rinzel put up 14 points in 23 games with the IceHogs, and when he returned to Chicago, Blashill said the change was obvious.
In March, he said, "He's done a good job. I think he went down, got his swagger and confidence back.
I think that's probably one of the biggest pieces of it, and with that, he's kind of carried that forward through the majority of these games here.”
He finished with 14 points in 54 games overall, starting the year on the top pair with Alex Vlasic and ending it on the second pair with Wyatt Kaiser. At 6'4", 190 pounds, and with his skating ability, Rinzel has the kind of frame and mobility that can matter as he keeps developing at age 22.
Vlasic made it clear back in November what stands out when Rinzel is on the ice. "Playing with Rinz is great.
He's such a good skater and manages to kind of skate himself out of trouble quite a bit. I think that's the best part of his game- he's got a lot of confidence and swagger with the puck, so it allows him to be free and kind of take pucks up the ice by himself.
Break it out by just using his feet and skating. So, he's come a long way so far.
And I think his ceiling is extremely high, and he has so much potential still that hasn't been reached yet. So he's got an exciting future."
That word keeps coming up with Rinzel: swagger. It’s become part of the way people around the Blackhawks talk about him, and it fits the way he plays with the puck. Chicago also has other defensemen with similar strengths, including Bowen Byram, so Rinzel fits into a group that can lean into that identity.
At the same time, the Blackhawks want more than just confidence and smooth puck movement. Blashill pointed to the details Rinzel still had to sharpen, saying, "...
The other side of it was just learning how to just defend better, and those kind of defending principles. We talked about a couple of specific things, and how he goes into making sure no pucks go through him.
That's a big part of being a good defenseman. And then just his kind of stick on puck, and stuff like that; body position.
So, I think he got better at all that stuff. I think it was a positive thing.
And as I said, I thought he came back (and) played real good just before the break. I mean, he's looked good in practice.
So, hopefully he can continue that.”
There’s also a path for him to help on special teams, which matters in a league that values blue-line production and in a Blackhawks system that wants the same thing.
Rinzel heads into training camp trying to lock down his place in the defense corps. The comparison that makes sense is Wyatt Kaiser, who went through a similar mix of Rockford and Chicago in 2024-25 before turning that experience into one of the defense’s biggest revelations last season.
For young defensemen, progress rarely comes in a straight line. If Rinzel carries his momentum into 2026-27 and keeps that swagger intact, he has a chance to make the season count.
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