When the Blackhawks called up defenseman Sam Rinzel before Friday’s home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, there were so many questions. Is someone getting traded? Is someone (Nick Foligno?) hurt? Are the Blackhawks going to go back to the 11 forward, 7 defenseman lineup? Is someone going back to Rockford?
Specifically, are the Blackhawks sending Artyom Levshunov to Rockford for a rest?
We got a few answers to those questions from Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill when he spoke to the media about 90 minutes before puck drop on Friday.
First, Foligno is day-to-day and not playing on Friday night.
Second, nobody has been traded. Blashill said he’s staying in his lane and just coaching game by game at this point. So even as we close on the NHL’s Feb. 4 pre-Olympics trade freeze, he isn’t too concerned about the front office’s decisions.
When Rinzel was recalled, there was no corresponding move announced. So there are still seven defensemen in Chicago.
But only six of them are dressing on Friday night. And it sounds like that will be the case for the foreseeable future.
Blashill said the Blackhawks are going to sit Levshunov down for a bit to work on some specific “foundational” areas of his game. He will not go to Rockford; he’s staying with the Blackhawks to work with the NHL coaches.
The specific areas that Blashill indicated Levshunov will get some tutoring on are:
Shooting technique “Delivering the puck in the right spot” Defensive footwork and positioningAgain, “foundational” things.
Blashill referred to Levshunov as a physical freak athlete, and reiterated that he thinks Levshunov has gotten better throughout this season, but reminded us (again) that the NHL is a hard place to learn. He went as far as to say they’ve been coaching him to be more offensively engaged, and maybe that element of the game has gone too far in one direction.
Levshunov has one goal and two assists and is minus-14 in January. He’s averaged 21:44 per game and has been running the top power play — thru some good times and, more recently, bad — for most of the month as well.
But the Blackhawks’ head coach also noted that, now that we’re 54 games into the NHL season (ironically, No. 55 is Friday night), some of the young guys will have played a lot more hockey than they ever have and might hit a physical and mental wall. Blashill wouldn’t commit to a timeline for Levshunov’s timeout. If that means he watches the remaining three games before the Olympic break from the press box, so be it.
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