The Blackhawks hit the practice ice on Saturday with a pair of their newest roster additions joining them for the first time.
First-round picks Sam Rinzel and Oliver Moore skated with the Blackhawks just hours after signing with the team and a few days removed from Minnesota’s exit from the NCAA tournament. After practice, interim coach Anders Sorensen confirmed that duo will skate on Sunday at the United Center against the Utah Hockey Club:
Rinzel and Moore will play tomorrow vs Utah, Sorensen confirmed.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 29, 2025
As for the practice itself, we’ll start with a few glimpses of the rookies during their first days as professional athletes:
You can see some of Oliver Moore’s speed here. pic.twitter.com/QgUhQE8XOF
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) March 29, 2025
Rinzel in more game-like situations pic.twitter.com/4e3lJckJQH
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) March 29, 2025
The former Gophers were included in lineups that seem to be the expected construction of Chicago’s roster when it faces Utah on Sunday. Oliver Moore appears to be replacing Phillip Kurashev on the third line — which probably says all you need to know about Kurashev’s long-term future here — while Rinzel was skating opposite Wyatt Kaiser on defense.
If Levshunov plays tomorrow against Utah, that will be his 10th game and will burn his first ELC year — which is presumably what the Hawks want to do.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 29, 2025
It's possible one of these young D could be replaced by Murphy tomorrow, since he's just out for maintenance.
Rinzel was also seeing time with the second power-play unit, joining fellow first-rounders like Frank Nazar, Lukas Reichel and Kevin Korchinski.
#Blackhawks power-play units:
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 29, 2025
PP1: Bedard, Teravainen, Donato (bumper), Bertuzzi (net front), Levshunov
PP2: Nazar, Reichel, Maroon, Korchinski, Rinzel pic.twitter.com/90nj0Wbv0j
That second power-play unit, by the way, had a bit of a different look because of the two defensemen on it:
Interesting set-up on the 2nd power-play unit for Chicago. It's not a traditional 1-3-1, it looks like a 2-1-2 spread structure. They experimented with a few different options.
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 29, 2025
Kevin Korchinski and Sam Rinzel were both hovering near the point. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/vxzlMPnkyy
After practice, Moore and Rinzel discussed the difficulties they had in making the decision to leave college behind and join the Blackhawks:
Sam Rinzel on turning pro: "One of the hardest decisions I've ever made, for sure. It came down to talking to my parents a lot, not getting a whole bunch of sleep after the game, but trying to put emotions aside."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 29, 2025
Oliver Moore said it was similarly difficult for him. They had…
Moore and Rinzel said they both ultimately felt like they were ready for the next step in their careers.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) March 29, 2025
That next step arrives on Sunday with their first NHL game.