The Chicago Blackhawks are a work in progress … geez, I think I started my last article that way. But it’s true on so many levels. They have a plethora of fresh-faced young players who are just getting their feet wet in the NHL. They have the future faces of the franchise coming into their own. They have a group of committed veterans mentoring the kids. And they have a new coaching staff that seems to be pushing a lot of the right buttons. Add in the recent injuries to Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, and things are definitely in a state of limbo.
But one of the things that’s been a bit controversial on the coaching front is head coach Jeff Blashill’s commitment to icing a lineup of 11 forwards and 7 defensemen for 26 of the Blackhawks’ first 29 games. After all, that’s something you do only when you have an injury at the last minute, or every now and then as a one-off situation. It makes fans cringe, because it seems like the team never wins with this deployment.
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But Blashill and company did this by design, because they thought it would give their particular group the best chance to succeed. Recently, they’ve committed to going back to the traditional lineup of six defensemen. Let’s take a look at this evolution, and what it means for the Blackhawks moving forward.
Thought Process Behind 11 Forwards & 7 Defensemen
The Blackhawks originally utilized the 11/7 lineup mostly to help out on the defensive end. As Blashill put it,
The reason for it is we have a lot of really, really young D(defensemen). And I’ll give you kind of two things. One is, when you have really, really young D, you don’t really know what you’re going to get every night (chuckles). So when there’s seven there, it kind of increases the odds that certain guys are on if certain guys are off.
Probably more specifically, it allows us to even the minutes out. I think Louis Crevier is an excellent penalty kill guy. So you have Murph (Connor Murphy) and Crevs who can start those kills. If one of them is not in the box. Rinz (Sam Rinzel) and (Artyom) Levshunov have got the power play minutes. So on that right side, it really evens those minutes out, which I think is a positive thing.
The two youngest and newest blueliners in this equation were 20-year-old Artyom Levshunov and 21-year-old Sam Rinzel, Both are right-handed, offensively-minded defensemen who are considered a big part of the Blackhawk’s future.
So in order to shelter them from too much responsibility as well as too many minutes, Blashill deployed another right-handed defenseman, Louis Crevier. Along with veteran Connor Murphy, he was then able to better pick and choose what situations Rinzel and Levshunov were exposed to.
The Evolution of Rinzel
All in all, this worked quite well for that first segment of the season. Rinzel started out as the stronger of the two. To begin the season, he was on the top defensive pairing alongsided Alex Vlasic. But then his game started to slip. In mid-November, Rinzel was taken off the top pairing and deployed as the seventh defenseman. He was even a healthy scratch on Nov. 15 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Related – Blackhawks Assign Rinzel & Slaggert to Rockford in Beneficial Move
On Dec. 8, the decision was made that Rinzel could benefit from some time down with the Rockford IceHogs. Blashill felt this would give him more ice time in all situations than he was getting with the Blackhawks. This would ultimately allow him to get his “swagger” back and continue to improve defensively. On what Rinzel needed to specifically work on, he expanded,
Kind of some of the technique of how to defend low. With the size of his body, he’s not the strongest guy, so he’s got to learn how to defend really smart with his stick, kind of one hand, two hands, knocking guys off balance, and not getting into physical confrontations where he’s hugging and then making sure that he does a good job that way. So just improving some of the techniques defensively and then get your swagger back. I think it’s a great opportunity for him.
So far, so good for Rinzel. In four games with the IceHogs he’s getting plenty of ice time, and he’s already logged seven assists!
The Evolution of Levshunov
In the meantime, Levshunov was headed in the opposite direction than Rinzel. He started off the season playing very inconsistently. One sequence he would enter the zone and create a beautiful scoring chance for a teammate, while the next shift he’s make a defensive mistake that would lead to a scoring chance for the opposition.
But his play improved as time went on. His main defensive partner, Wyatt Kaiser, commented on Levshunov’s progression after the Blackhawks faced the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 4.
I think he just continues to be, he’s so young, but his defense has taken strides. I mean, yeah he sometimes gets out of position. But his forward gaps, like he’s really kind of stepping up and playing. I think he can be a defensive powerhouse as well as his offensive game. So I think there’s just so much potential on both sides of the game. So it’ll be fun to kind of continue to watch him grow.
Forward Jason Dickinson added some insightful input on Levshunov as well.
For Arty, the big thing is to learn that he’s got great legs; he’s strong, and he can out muscle guys. The more he keeps doing that, the more he’s going to learn where his spacing is to do those sorts of things. And like you said, he created a couple of exits because he’s strong on the puck. He uses his legs and he trusts himself to get himself out of tight spots, because he is a strong kid that can do those things.
In the last six games since the Blackhawks have been deploying six defensemen, Levshunov’s ice time has risen from averaging around 17 minutes a night to just over 22 minutes per night. Beyond a healthy scratch versus the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 16 because he was late to practice, Coach Blashill is clearly trusting the 20-year-old with more ice time and more responsibility.
Defensive Pairing Changes With 6 Defensemen
So just how is the defense faring overall now that they’re rolling with six defensemen versus seven? Well, it’s probably a bit of a relief for the players. Veteran D-man Matt Grzelcyk said as much on Dec. 10 against the New York Rangers, the first game in which six defensemen were deployed.
It’s little bit of an adjustment. I think the good thing is we’ve all played with each other, and we all kind of have a little bit of chemistry being out there in different situations. So I think within a game, maybe sometimes it can be a little bit better just reading off each other and having a little bit more communication, coming to the bench, things like that. So I think as a D-core, it was probably one of our better games, just using our feet to our advantage and gapping up.
The pairings were adjusted a little bit as well. Vlasic and Crevier have been tasked as the top pairing for a while now. But instead of Kaiser with Levshunov and Grzelcyk with Murphy, they adjusted the second and third pairings as shown below.
Vlasic-Crevier
Grzelcyk-Levshunov
Kaiser-Murphy
Here’s Blashill’s thought process on the lineup moves,
Vlas and Crev have done, when they’ve kind of probably played their best, they’ve got a specific role to match up against the other team’s best; the other team’s top line … So that’s a challenge that I think they’ve accepted very well. They’re so long, and it’s just really, really, really hard to play against. Kais and Levshunov have played a lot together, but we just thought maybe a little switch with those guys. Griz, kind of a little more veteran presence with Griz and Levshunov, a little more veteran presence with Murph and Kais.
Grzelcyk has turned out to be a great pickup, and very solid and consistent blueliner this season for the Blackhawks. In this regard, putting him with the more inconsistent Levshunov makes sense. Finally, the steadiness of Murphy alongside Kaiser, who has really found his game this season but it still learning, rounds things out with more of a defensive shutdown pairing.
Obviously, this is another way to somewhat shelter both Levshunov and Kaiser. We know Levshunov is only 20 years old and has just 51 NHL games under his belt. But many forget Kaiser is only 23, and he hasn’t played a full season in the NHL yet (133 games across the last four seasons).
Final Thoughts on Blackhawks 6-Defensemen Lineup
It seems there were two deciding factors behind the Blackhawks moving to the more conventional six defensemen lineup. The first was the decision that time in Rockford would be most beneficial for Rinzel. With the 7-man rotation he just wasn’t getting enough ice time, or rhythm, to truly work on improving his game.
But this wouldn’t have been possible if the Blackhawks didn’t feel Levshunov was ready to take on more responsibility. Sure, the Blackhawks have lost five of their last six games since deploying six defensemen. But that can’t be pegged on the defense. The losses of Bedard (Dec. 12) and then Nazar (Dec. 20) have a lot more to do with that. Blashill seems comfortable with the group of six defensemen he has moving forward.
There’s advantages both ways. And I’ve been good with 12 and 6. But I was good too with 11 and 7. It’s more personnel-based than it is strategically based. I think either one we can manage. I thought our guys did an excellent job of managing the 11 and 7 for that period of time. But now, with the 6 we have, I kind of feel more comfortable with that 12 and 6.
At some point, Rinzel will be ready to return to the Blackhawks. Or perhaps Kevin Korchinski might be deserving of a call up. Plus, the organization will want to have a seventh defenseman available at least to take on the road with them. Ethan Del Mastro was just that on this last road trip. He was an admirable fill-in against the Maple Leafs on Dec. 16. The ebbs and flows of the season will determine where it goes from here. Injuries might be a factor as well.
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But for now, the Blackhawks are happy with their group of six defensemen, and the progress they’ve made.
