Maybe one day, Chicago Blackhawks fans who attended Sunday’s game against the Utah Hockey Club — the ones who were willing to pony up $12 for a commemorative ticket — might look down on that stub and say, “I was there.”
Or it might be a tangible reminder of a failed experiment.
However it goes down in history, it would’ve been the first time several of the former draft picks who marked the genesis of the Hawks’ Great Rebuild assembled for an NHL game.
In the context of Sunday’s matinee, it’s just another game, a desperate playoff contender (Utah) pitted against the league’s second-to-last team (Chicago).
Whether Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, Sam Rinzel, Kevin Korchinski, Artyom Levshunov and the others are ready for this particular moment is immaterial.
For the Hawks’ management and coaches, and even fans, it’s a first glimpse of the future.
“The bigger picture of it, right?” said Hawks interim coach Anders Sorensen, who worked with several of the players as prospects when he coached the Rockford IceHogs. “Six guys that we picked in the first round that get an opportunity to play tonight. Obviously, this is the foundation of what we have going forward that we believe in here.
“So to see them and get a taste for them, to get a taste of what it is to play playoff-bound teams or teams that are fighting for the playoff spot, it’s a good learning lesson and obviously a good evaluation tool for the organization as well.”
It goes without saying that the team isn’t built with just first-round picks.
Look no further than the Hawks trading for goalie Spencer Knight.
But for good or ill, high draft picks represent what a team believes will be the core.
Eventually, they’ll inform us of general manager Kyle Davidson’s skills as a drafter, tradesmith and team-builder.
Sorensen raved about the potential he saw Sunday, despite the loss.
“If you watch Rinzel, for example, his mentality of attack off the blue line or just advancing pucks with his feet, those are attributes that at this level are really positive,” he said. “To see that for a first game, that was pretty impressive to watch.
“But those attributes, both of them (Rinzel and Moore) that came in today have them, for sure.”
Moore and Rinzel took a rookie lap together before Sunday’s 5-2 loss to Utah at the United Center.
“Rinzey and I almost multiple times missed the net right on the ice there,” Moore said.
Both had friends and family in attendance, as well as several of their teammates from the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
“It was obviously really fun experience, definitely something I’ll never forget right from the national anthem on. … But obviously wish we would have gotten the win.”
Rinzel said of making his debut with Moore, “Having to do it with a buddy, it means the world. It brings a level of comfortability to you and that adds to your confidence, for sure.”
Here’s how each player performed.
Connor Bedard, forward
Draft: 2023, No. 1
Outlook: Bedard is the unquestioned centerpiece of the future, but it’s fair to say his sophomore season has been more slump than bump. His dip in points per game (0.78 versus 0.90 last season) attests to that.
But the constant line mixing this season is a tacit admission that the Hawks haven’t surrounded him with the right pieces to compliment him.
Sunday’s performance: Bedard’s two shots on goal co-led the first period with Nazar, Moore and Rinzel.
Bedard had his second consecutive game with an assist, taking a couple of swipes at the net before Ryan Donato cleaned up his rebound for his team-leading 29th goal.
Between Donato’s hat trick Friday and Sunday’s game, Bedard’s new line with Donato and Ilya Mikheyev is paying early dividends.
Frank Nazar, forward
Draft: 2022, No. 13 (pick acquired from the Montreal Canadiens as part of the Kirby Dach trade)
Outlook: Will he be Bedard’s primary wing man — roughly the Alex DeBrincat to Bedard’s Patrick Kane — or will he center the second line for years to come? There are arguments for both.
Sunday’s performance: He had a game-leading five shots on goal, including some breakaways.
In the third period, for example, Nazar blazed through Utah’s neutral zone defense and launched a wrister at Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka — he just couldn’t convert it.
“It’s just learning at this level. Goalies are good,” Sorensen said. “I think he’ll get better at it. Soon.”
Oliver Moore, forward
Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel come out for their rookie laps. #Blackhawks
— Phil Thompson (@philthompsontrib.bsky.social) 2025-03-30T19:53:54.725Z
Draft: 2023, No. 19 (pick acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of the Brandon Hagel trade)
Outlook: He profiles as a speedster with a motor. The consensus was that he was the 2023 draft’s best skater.
Sunday’s performance: Sorensen matched Moore with Nick Foligno and Joe Veleno.
“He’s got a lot of pace of play,” Sorensen said of Moore before the game. “Joey’s played well the last couple games. … (Foligno) obviously has some experience in the first game for the young kid.”
Moore showed some burst chasing puck carriers and had two first-period shots on goal.
“Under pressure, (he) made a lot of plays,” Sorensen said.
Moore said, “(Foligno) and Veleno did a really good job of helping me, just talking to me. It’s a different game than college for sure. It’s a lot bigger.
“I felt pretty good, but a lot can be better, for sure.”
Artyom Levshunov, defenseman
Draft: 2024, No. 2
Outlook: He’s had his rookie moments, but there are others where he’s shown defensive instincts beyond his years. He’s likely the heir apparent to Seth Jones, the top assist man from the back end and No. 1 power-play quarterback.
Sunday’s performance: Levshunov threaded a pass underneath Mikhail Sergachev to Veleno for the Hawks’ first goal. An excited Levshunov thrust both hands in the air, then skated over and slammed into the celebration scrum.
He has at least three assists over the last three games.
But Levshunov was part of giving up two third-period goals.
He mishandled a breakout pass from Alex Vlasic and Utah went back on offense.
After Arvid Söderblom gave up a long rebound off Alex Kerfoot’s shot, Levshunov went into a slide technique, but Kailer Yamamoto lifted his shot over him.
Nearly two minutes later, Logan Cooley scored in front of Levshunov to make it 5-2.
“The one (by Yamamoto) is a misplay, goes under his stick,” Sorensen said. “(Vlasic) is trying to make the right play, just didn’t work out.”
Sorensen blamed defensive-zone turnovers for Cooley’s goal.
“(Levshunov) was fine. He was in a good spot, it wasn’t really on Arty. … I thought he handled it well.”
Sam Rinzel, defenseman
Rinzel: “Like Ollie said, as a hockey player you want to win, so that stings. But overall, it was an unbelievable first game.”
— Phil Thompson (@philthompsontrib.bsky.social) 2025-03-30T23:14:29.779Z
Draft: 2022, No. 25 (pick acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a salary cap move)
Outlook: The 6-foot-4, 177-pound, 20-year-old defenseman, who signed a three-year deal Saturday, has room to fill out. Keep an eye on his puck moving and skating abilities, perhaps with more offensive upside than expected.
Sunday’s performance: As a skater, he glides like Korchinski. He had a nice stop-and-shoot early in the second period, just one example of his comfort at the NHL level. Generally, he had the better debut.
For someone who’s not regarded as a primary offensive threat, he took a lot of shots: four through the first two periods.
He also kept pucks in-zone a couple of times on the power play.
“Learned a lot of things today,” Rinzel said. “Scoring is hard, that was one of them.”
Late in the second, Jack McBain plastered Rinzel into the end wall — welcome to the NHL, kid.
Pat Maroon dropped gloves with McBain.
By Rinzel’s account: “He gave me a little jab on the boards, so when I saw a guy on me and trying to handle the puck behind the net, I saw him coming. I tried to turn and kind of give him a little reverse hit, back, but that obviously didn’t go too well.”
Sorensen said of his overall performance, “Rinzel really (had an) attack mindset. I think he had three or four Grade-A chances offensively, did a lot of good things.”
Kevin Korchinski, defenseman
Draft: 2022, No. 7 (pick acquired from the Ottawa Senators as part of the Alex DeBrincat trade)
Outlook: He has to grow mentally and physically, as well as work on defense.
He agreed with Hawks management that too much was put on his plate as a rookie last season: “It’s coming to (the team) at 19, just getting a taste of the NHL, and then having to every night show up, it’s tough,” he said Thursday. “But I definitely learned from it, and it was a positive experience to just learn, grow and be the best player I can be.”
Sunday’s performance: Korchinski was on the ice for two of Utah’s second-period goals, along with Connor Murphy.
Lack of physicality came into play when Kerfoot muscled his way in front of Korchinski and scored a goal.
“Yeah, positioning, too,” Sorensen said. “There’ve been some good things and there’s some things that we have to improve on. I think overall he’s had a really good year of development and then coming up here now, it’s not an easy environment.”