2023 Blackhawks Top 25 Under 25: Kevin Korchinski leaps to No. 2

The 2023 version of Second City Hockey’s Top 25 Under 25 rankings continues with our Top 10, which will contain a lengthier breakdown of each individual who made it into that group. The voters for this year’s installment consisted of each of the four SCH writers, who submitted individual ballots.

No. 2 — Kevin Korchinski

Position: Defense

Birth date: June 21, 2004 (19)

Acquired via: First-round pick (No. 7) in 2022 NHL Draft

2022-23 team: Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)

2022-23 WHL regular season stats: 73 points (11 G, 62 A), 54 PIM, 139 SOG in 54 games

2023 Postseason Stats: 14 points (3 G, 11 A), 10 PIM, 44 SOG, in 19 games played

2023 Memorial Cup Stats: 3 points (3 A), 0 PIM, 11 SOG in 9 games played

Size: 6-foot-1, 185 pounds

Contract: 3 years, $918,333 AAV (entry-level contract)

Rankings: 2 (Unanimous)

Last T25U25 ranking: No. 3

Few people on the planet played as much hockey as Kevin Korchinski did during the 2022-23 hockey season.

https://twitter.com/ByScottPowers/status/1665546132942909440 Only NHLers who enjoyed deep postseason runs eclipsed Korchinski\'s 88-game total from last season, which didn\'t end until early June. And Korchinski shined in just about every situation, too. The only mild complaint is that his ice time with Team Canada at the World Juniors was limited, although the fact that the then-18-year-old Korchinski was on the team at all is a sign of just highly regarded his skills are by those even beyond the Blackhawks organization.

Because of that lengthy hockey season, Korchinski did not have the longest offseason schedule, but he talked about the things he worked on during prospect camp last week:

\"Definitely strength and working on the little things. It\'s definitely the little things that make a lot of difference whether it\'s deception defensively, skating ... all of that. Just trying to win the day. The offseason was really short, so I really grinded with the time that I had. It was good.\"

Here\'s a sample of what Korchinski did on the ice last season:

https://twitter.com/TalkinHawkey/status/1659029328833773569

https://twitter.com/Derek_N_NHL/status/1649580254393171974

https://twitter.com/AceTheKiddd/status/1616672201008201728

https://twitter.com/TheWHL/status/1614465801729511425

For a very recent example of what Korchinski can do in the offensive zone, here\'s a neat little sequence between Korchinski and Bedard from last weekend\'s prospect showcase:

https://twitter.com/jjmid04/status/1703190604908236974

Korchinski is excellent in virtually every aspect of the game on the offensive side of the ice. He can skate. He can shoot. He can pass. He can read the play to find open ice. He can run the point on the power play. All of the videos portray each of those skills in varying combinations, indicative of the overall package that makes Korchinski such an enticing prospect.

Oh, and remember what Korchinski did last preseason?

https://twitter.com/NHLBlackhawks/status/1575273713490186242

Yes, all the preseason caveats apply here, but when was the last time a Blackhawks prospect did something like that ? And, of course, there are going to be flaws in Korchinski\'s defensive game which will almost certainly be exploited by NHL-level forwards. That\'s an ongoing process. But to spend too much time focusing on Korchinski\'s defensive flaws when he can do so much on the other side of the ice is akin to walking away from the test drive of a Lamborghini while complaining about the cupholders.

Korchinski has seemingly done just about everything he can on a non-professional hockey level, save for a more starring role at the World Juniors — an interesting decision that awaits the Blackhawks as the holiday season approaches. But the more pressing question regarding Korchinski involves a looming decision to be made in the next few weeks.

What\'s Next?

Korchinski will be with the Blackhawks when training camp opens on Thursday. Because of the CHL-AHL transfer agreement , he is not eligible to play in the AHL, so Korchinski\'s destinations for the upcoming season are either Chicago or back to the WHL with Seattle. Based on everything above, it sure seems like Korchinski will, at a minimum, start the 2023-24 hockey season in Chicago, and he can play as many as nine games without burning the first year of his entry-level deal.

The Blackhawks ninth game of the season is on Monday, Oct. 30 at the Arizona Coyotes and the next game after that isn\'t until the following Saturday. Should Korchinski play in those first nine games, there will be plenty of time for the front office to mull over the options in front of them. It should make for one of the more intriguing storylines around this team all season.

2023 Blackhawks Top 25 Under 25 list (so far):

No. 2: Kevin Korchinski No. 3: Lukas Reichel No. 4: Frank Nazar No. 5: Oliver Moore No. 6: Wyatt Kaiser No. 7: Arvid Soderblom No. 8: Phillipp Kurashev No. 9: Drew Commesso No. 10: Isaak Phillips Nos. 11-15: Vlasic, del Mastro, Rinzel, Allan, Green Nos. 16-20: Guttman, Kantserov, Hayes, Dach, Ludwinski Nos. 21-25: Safonov, Luypen, Lardis, Savoie, Gajan Honorable Mentions: Misiak, Roos, Stauber, Thompson

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