Few things put Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill in a sour mood faster than questions about Kevin Korchinski.
The first example came after Korchinski’s lone appearance of the season so far — Oct. 3 against the Sabres — when Blashill was asked to evaluate Korchinski and Ethan Del Mastro’s performances.
Blashill quipped that they’re “not the same,” briefly praised Del Mastro and never mentioned Korchinski.
After four more games of scratching them both, Blashill inserted Del Mastro instead of Korchinski on Thursday to replace injured Bowen Byram, whose playing style is objectively more similar to Korchinski’s. Del Mastro remained in — and Korchinski remained out — during Byram’s second consecutive absence Saturday against the Stars.
When Blashill was asked Friday about Korchinski, he mentioned the former seventh overall pick needs to “be great in practice every day” to push for a spot in the lineup — and it doesn’t sound like he has been.
“[He] wasn’t good enough today,” Blashill added. “But that’s like two plays…[that] really jump out at you. We want to make sure he’s super crisp and on it and putting himself in a position to be successful when he goes in.”
Both Blashill and general manager Kyle Davidson insisted before the season that they decided to keep eight defenseman on the NHL roster because they were OK with Del Mastro and Korchinski playing sparingly.
But that leaves Korchinski — who’s clearly the eighth defenseman on the roster, not even the seventh — in a situation that could be at best described as “in limbo.” At worst, it’s purgatory.
Davidson understandably doesn’t want to risk losing the first player he ever drafted for nothing on waivers. But Blashill seemingly has little interest in playing him.
And considering Korchinski just signed a two-year contract on Aug. 29, it’s conceivable he could remain stuck in flux for a while. This doesn’t compare to young forward Nick Lardis’ developmental crossroads; this is more like a developmental trap, or perhaps dead end.
“I love hockey, and I want to get out there,” Korchinski said Friday, avoiding making any waves. “But I have to prepare the right way and be ready when the time comes.
“I’m still confident. Obviously, you want to play, and that’s how you maybe grow your confidence. But confidence comes inside. Playing or not playing, you’ve got to have confidence in yourself.”
Many frustrated Hawks fans have taken to blaming Blashill for the mess, pointing out how Del Mastro, Sam Rinzel and Wyatt Kaiser have been mistake-prone in practices and games, too.
Blashill’s dismissive quotes about Korchinski are indeed strangely out of character, but I’m less convinced this entirely stems from personal bias.
Blashill coincidentally talked Friday about the importance of strength in hockey, too, and that’s something Korchinski lacks. He can skate like the wind, but historically he has been incapable of boxing out NHL opponents. His breakout passes haven’t been consistently accurate enough, either.
So it will be interesting to see how long the Hawks prove willing to let this go on.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman raised eyebrows last week when he mentioned on a Nashville radio show that the Hawks “had some discussions with other teams around” Korchinski during the offseason, presumably before they re-signed him.
Those trade negotiations could theoretically be revisited at any time, but that would involve the Hawks selling low — very low — on an asset into which they’ve invested a lot of time and resources.
It it possible Korchinski has already reached Lukas Reichel territory? Next Saturday will mark one year since the Hawks gave up on that failed first-round pick and sent him to the Canucks.
But Reichel was a forward and therefore expected to develop faster than defensemen. Plus, he had already played 174 NHL games of subpar quality. Korchinski has only played 106, including only 30 during the last three seasons.
Every logical course of action has an equally logical rebuttal. It’s quite a conundrum.
