One of the somewhat surprising roster looks early in the Blackhawks’ training camp has been on the blue line, where Sam Rinzel has been skating almost exclusively with Ethan Del Mastro thus far.
Rinzel is an excellent skater and brings a lot of offensive ability into his first full professional season. After a season in the USHL and two at the University of Minnesota, one of the Blackhawks’ first-round picks in 2022 has been turning heads since he arrived in the NHL at the end of last year. Because he was playing college hockey, this is his first professional training camp. Couple that with a new coaching staff, and there’s a lot to learn.
“Sometimes I’ll get caught up in trying to do the drill right and then I’ll miss just playing hockey,” Rinzel said. “But it’s hard, right? Drills are set up to fail and also set up to learn. So it’s good to push yourself that way. … [I need to] just kind of go out and play on instincts. I’m confident in myself and I learn from the older guys.”
Del Mastro, on the other hand, was a fourth-round pick by the Blackhawks back in 2021. He spent a couple seasons in the OHL — including being the captain for Mississauga — after being drafted before joining the professional ranks. Over the past two years, Del Mastro has appeared in 26 games in the NHL and 116 in the AHL with Rockford. This is his third training camp since turning pro and fifth hockey season since being drafted. But he told me you cannot replicate NHL experience.
“I think you just feel a lot more confident in yourself and your game and then just where you are, stacking that up against actual NHL players,” Del Mastro said Saturday. “It’s kind of tough when you don’t play too many games and you don’t really know too much what to expect going into the season. But I think once you’re able to get a couple games in your belt, you kind of settle down and know what it’s going to be like and know what they’re expecting and I think that makes it a lot easier coming into a fresh season.”
The Blackhawks have a unique situation right now where they have a group of young defensemen from three consecutive draft classes showing they’re close to — if not already — ready for the NHL at the same time. Some coming from juniors, some from college, and all with varying degrees of time spent in the AHL to show they’re fully ready for prime time.
That range of experience — or lack thereof — is something that’s going to continue to be talked about with this year’s Blackhawks team, especially on the blue line. Prospects coming out of juniors can have more professional training camp experience than college players, who can’t attend pro training camps because they’re already on campus. Quickly getting comfortable with and against NHL players is the key.
Charles LeClaire-Imagn ImagesGetting to know each other
Rinzel and Del Mastro skating together makes a lot of sense, even if most onlookers have Rinzel penciled in on the Blackhawks’ top defensive pair with Alex Vlasic once the season starts. Not only do they both have a gold medal at home from the World Junior Championships, but their styles of play should complement each other well.
“Obviously he’s a big guy, he’s a physical guy,” Rinzel said of Del Mastro. “He likes to kind of shut things down early as well. He complements me well. I like to get in the rush and play offense, but I want that two-way game as well. Learning things from him is important for me. Even just watching him on defensive side is good with as long as his reach is and how that helps him out. Deli’s been great. I think we work well together.”
Del Mastro has enjoyed working with Rinzel as well.
“We’re starting training camp together for now and I’ve enjoyed that and hopefully that can be a place that I can play with him for a while,” Del Mastro said. “It’s been great so far and I think we really work well off each other. It’s good that we’re both young and close in age and we’re able to chat off the ice and on the ice, so it’s been great so far.”
Thru three days of camp, the Blackhawks have primarily had Vlasic skating with Connor Murphy and Wyatt Kaiser with Artyom Levshunov. Kevin Korchinski has been skating with Nolan Allan (on his off-side). All four of those defensive pairs has a chance to stick, whether it’s in Chicago or Rockford.
After Saturday’s practice, head coach Jeff Blashill said the Blackhawks are going to start camp with these pairs and see where things go. He did mention that Vlasic and Rinzel spent a lot of time together last year (it felt like that’s where this will go eventually) but, at least for now, we’ll see some of Del Mastro and Rinzel together.
Even though there’s strong competition with a lot of young guys battling for roster spots, Del Mastro told me they’re all working together to make each other — and the Blackhawks — better.
“We’re all young but I think we’re all in the mindset that we want to play and we want to be able to do this together, which is a great thing,” Del Mastro said. “None of us are hoping one of the other guys fails. We’re all working together and trying to make sure each other is better. Iron sharpens iron. We have a lot of guys fighting for spots and I think that makes all of us better and makes all of us closer.”
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