Digging into Sam Rinzel’s disappointing season

While some folks who cover the Blackhawks may have gotten a bit carried away with their projections for Sam Rinzel last fall, it was hard to not be impressed by him after his initial taste of NHL action during the conclusion of the 2024-25 season. In case you need a reminder of what that player looked like, here\'s a breakdown from Elite Prospects David St-Louis , who is one of the best prospect analysts in the business.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-1h2XNambU

While many of the tools that St-Louis lauds Rinzel for -- his skating and offensive vision being primary among them -- were on display at various points throughout last season, Rinzel never put it all together in a way to consistently make a difference on either side of the ice. He finished the year with just 14 points (4 G, 10 A) in 54 games, which includes a single assist on the power play, despite the fact he was given the opportunity to quarterback the top unit to start the season and played the second most minutes on the power play (110:14) of any defender on the Blackhawks (Artyom Levshunov finished first at 186:04, while putting up 1 PPG and 10 PPA in the process). Rinzel\'s scoring rate of 0.26 points-per-game put him 19th on the Blackhawks overall (yikes), and tied him with Alex Vlasic for third among the Hawks\' young defensive core -- which very much feels like a feature and not a bug at this point.

His metrics tell a similar story -- a player in the midst of trying to figure out how to play in the highest/hardest level of hockey while being significantly overwhelmed defensively for a majority of the time. While he was the Blackhawks second-worst defensemen at generating possession (45.05 CF%), and scoring chances (42.38 SCF%), he was middle of the pack in high-danger chances (39.17 HDCF%), goals against per 60 (3.1), and expected goals against (44.09 xGA%). It also bears repeating that the Blackhawks were (yet again) one of the worst defensive teams, if not the worst, in the entire league.

Rinzel was given an open runway to start the season -- and the chance to quarterback the top power-play unit -- but both his TOI and his role were being reduced by early November. He was eventually removed from the lineup altogether and banished to Rockford on Dec. 8 -- when Coach Jeff Blashill remarked that he hoped Rinzel would \"get his swagger back.\" Rinzel spent the next 23 games in the AHL before being recalled (for good) in late January.

In his first game back against Columbus, Rinzel was immediately thrown into the fire, logging 22 minutes while quarterbacking the top power-play unit again. Blashill praised his game afterward, saying, “ I thought Sam had an impact skating and moving the puck with less kind of big errors than when he left. And that’s something we talked about, making sure that you judge the positives versus the minuses. And it’s really hard if you have a whole bunch of minuses. \"

Rinzel had a lot to say about what he focused on during his time in Rockford, but this is the quote that stood out to me the most: “ The big part is the defensive aspect of the game, and realizing that 90 percent of the game is just 50/50 shifts. And it’s just about winning those 50/50 shifts. So, yeah, nothing has to be flashy or crazy. It’s just learning to play with my brain and to kind of use my brain to beat guys. ”

So while Rinzel seemed to say all the right things after his demotion, did the results back it up?

If you look at Rinzel\'s rolling game score averages in the image above (bottom right graph) you can see he played his best hockey in the beginning of the season, but was more slightly more dependable -- so far as not having such extreme peaks and valleys from game to game -- toward the end of the year. What that says to me is that he tried to simplify his game, just like he said, in an attempt to smooth out some of the rough edges. If you look at his game scores on an individual basis (which you can see right here ), you\'ll see that he also didn\'t come close to generating nearly the same amount of consistent offense after his time in Rockford. While a part of me is worried that taking an overly conservative approach with a young offensively minded defender might essentially coach what\'s special right out of him, it\'s hard to argue against making Rinzel focus on a simplified approach first in order to establish a defensive baseline so that his offense can flourish later.

While there is certainly a lot for Rinzel to improve upon, there are two specific skills I\'d love to see him focus on this summer that could make an immediate difference next season -- with the first thing being his skating. If you look back at initial scouting reports on Rinzel, his skating and transition game are consistently mentioned as plus traits, and yet his player card from All Three Zones tells a much different story:

While his offensive zone entries were fine, this was a player who was completely unable to retrieve the puck and/or carry it out of his own defensive zone. If Rinzel can utilize his skating more to beat opposing forecheckers with his feet and carry the puck out of the zone, that would not only help to alleviate the pressure in the Hawks\' end, but it should open up a lot more opportunities through the middle of the ice, and we\'ve already seen glimpses of the kind of chances Rinzel can create when he finds the time and space to skate.

From earlier: Sam Rinzel created a breakaway by weaving through the neutral zone without the puck and receiving a return pass from Matt Grzelcyk to spring loose pic.twitter.com/ujFUFfhG5z

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) November 21, 2025

Ryan Donato scores his 30th of the season after Sam Rinzel creates the play pic.twitter.com/8UxwU2clPT

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 11, 2025

Sam Rinzel with this shifty move to orchestrate a 3-on-2 rush, but Bedard fans on the shot and they can't get a quality look pic.twitter.com/YVW5vuIoA4

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) October 10, 2025

He also desperately needs to work on his body positioning -- especially if he wants to physically survive playing in the NHL. It\'s something he\'s not only aware of, but has already talked about very specifically at length:

One NHL defenseman Sam Rinzel has tried to model his game after: Zach Werenski.

"You don’t see him going around toe-dragging people. But he’s so effective with his skating and his stick and how he’s able to effortlessly break the puck out."

Story: https://t.co/ZksdEa44r6

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 4, 2026

Rinzel has great size at 6-foot-4, but he\'s only 195 pounds, and it\'ll probably take him quite some time to build up his frame and get to full strength (although Dave will gladly tell you all about Sam\'s brother Jack, who\'s now the Chicago Wolves\' strength and conditioning coach) ( Editor\'s note: Yes, I will! ) . In the meantime, Rinzel needs to utilize much better body positioning (and foot speed) along the wall, partially just to protect himself, as watching him get obliterated along the boards became an all-too-common sight last season.

Sam Rinzel to the box for cross-checking after taking a big hit from Ridly Greig pic.twitter.com/vqFMzAIV8i

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) October 29, 2025

Sam Rinzel just went to the locker room after taking this hit in the corner pic.twitter.com/wmtXAL2loB

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) October 23, 2025

Holloway follows up his goal with a massive hit on Sam Rinzel pic.twitter.com/2JmrzX0huS

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) October 16, 2025

The good news/bad news for us all is that everything Rinzel did in those first nine games to make us so excited about the player he could be in the future hasn\'t left. Those instincts and talent are still there, but now it\'s entirely up to the Blackhawks\' coaching staff to develop it. A lot of his bad habits are identifiable and fixable -- and continued growing pains are absolutely to be expected from a 21-year-old player that\'s still getting used to the speed of the NHL -- but the only way out is through, so he\'s going to have to play through those problems and learn from experience. His offensive upside remains enormous, it just may take him longer than we all initially thought in order to get there.

Talking Points