Korchinski Surprisingly Part of Blackhawks’ Latest Cuts

The Chicago Blackhawks have made their latest cuts as the roster shrinks and there is a surprise. Kevin Korchinski, who spent the entire 2023-24 season in Chicago as an 18-year-old rookie, was sent to the AHL along with Frank Nazar and Louis Crevier. The Blackhawks also returned AJ Spellacy to the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL.

Chicago’s training camp roster for 2024 is now down to 28 players, including 15 forwards, nine defensemen, and four goalies.

The Blackhawks had to make a decision last season with Korchinski. The team would have either had to return him to junior, where he had outgrown, or have him spend the season in the NHL. They chose the latter and he gained some valuable experience playing against top talent.

Unfortunately, the Blackhawks didn’t have much support on defense last season and Korchinski was forced into a second pairing role. While he showed flashes of great offensive talent, he still has some developing and work to do.

It is shocking that with more stability on the back-end this season, he didn’t stick around. But in the AHL, he will most definitely get top minutes in preparation of his return to the NHL which will very likely come at some point this season.

Nazar would have had to prove without a shadow of a doubt that he deserved to be on the Blackhawks to start the season over a veteran that was signed this off-season. That didn’t happen even though he is a talented player. While he got a taste of NHL action late last season, appearing in three games and scoring a goal, he too has some more developing to do. The expectation is that Nazar will be one of the first forwards called up, especially if there is a need at center.

Crevier was in a tough pre-season battle as there are many young defensemen competing for 1-2 spots on the team. The 23-year-old got into his first 24 games in the NHL last season, but his ceiling is as a depth defenseman. He could get the call this season, but it appears as though there are a number of players ahead of him, some of whom haven’t been cut from the Blackhawks yet.

Spellacy had a very good training camp as an 18-year-old who was just drafted a few months ago. He hung around with the NHL talent and proved he can play. The only option was returning him to junior where he looks to build off of last season. The expectation is a big jump in points after what he showed the Blackhawks.

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