When Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson attended the 2026 NHL Scouting Combine two weekends ago in Buffalo, New York, he spoke with Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times about his mindset with several crucial dates approaching in the offseason.
Davidson touched on the top picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, contract buyout plans, the Blackhawks’ center depth for next season, and various other insightful and intriguing topics. One of those was the possibility of adding another veteran defenseman this summer, considering the defensive corps figures to be among the league’s youngest again next season.
When Connor Murphy was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers at the deadline, the Blackhawks were left with Matt Grzelcyk as the only defenseman on the roster who was older than 24 years old. Alex Vlasic (24), Louis Crevier (24), Wyatt Kaiser (23), Sam Rinzel (21), and Artyom Levshunov (20) were the other lineup regulars once Murphy got traded. Then, after Grzelcyk suffered a season-ending injury on Mar. 22, Ethan Del Mastro (23) and Kevin Korchinski (21) were also inserted into the picture for the home stretch.
With an uber-young blue line for the final three weeks of the year, the Blackhawks struggled immensely and couldn’t close out the season on a high note as they did in 2024-25. Davidson admitted the defense didn’t perform as well as he hoped, and that might force him to bring in additional help via trade or free agency in the offseason.
Even though it wasn’t an ideal end to last season, the sample size allowed Davidson and the front office to gather more information and a better assessment of the team, and what needs to be addressed to achieve the goal of becoming more competitive in 2026-27. While development growth is expected from most of the young players, it likely won’t be enough for the Blackhawks to feel overwhelmingly confident about their current defensive group. For that to be the case, more veteran support is necessary, and Davidson appears to recognize that.
As Pope pointed out in his column, the addition of another left-hander alongside Vlasic and Kaiser makes the most sense. Even though both Levshunov and Rinzel stumbled throughout their rookie seasons, the expectation is still for them to be part of the NHL roster come opening night in October. Louis Crevier has also more than established himself as a full-time member of the Blackhawks at this point, which locks up the right-hand side of the defense.
Impact On Free Agents
Of course, the Blackhawks could try to re-sign Grzelcyk, a pending unrestricted free agent. However, they’ll presumably look for an upgrade from what he provided on the third pairing last year, recording no goals and only 12 assists in 69 games. There also haven’t been any reports suggesting that Davidson is looking to bring back Grzelcyk this summer. The 32-year-old’s time with the organization has all but ended at this point.
Should the Blackhawks bring in another veteran left-handed defenseman, it will be fascinating to see if/how that impacts the plans for Del Mastro and Korchinski, two restricted free agents.
Korchinski played arguably his best hockey with the Blackhawks over the final games of last season and seems ready for the full-time transition. At the same time, his name has been floated around as a potential trade chip this summer, and another lefty on the back end could force him into the seventh defenseman role. That wouldn’t be the best spot for his development, meaning a trade is certainly possible if more defensive help is part of the team’s offseason plans.
Should Del Mastro receive a new contract, he figures to be the odd man out to begin next year, regardless of what transpires this summer. He’s only appeared in 45 career NHL games and didn’t look comfortable during his late-season call-up, failing to capitalize on a major opportunity to impress the organization. The interesting wrinkles with his situation are that he’ll require waivers to reach the AHL level in the fall, and there’s not much of a path for him to receive a larger NHL role anytime soon. Especially if the Blackhawks bring in another left-handed defenseman in the next few weeks.
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