2025 26 Roster…too Soon

[CanadianHawks]

Thought Moore would be a Rockford start next year

Starting to think he’s gonna be the 3C between Mikeyeh and Teuvo

 

[BHFAN92]

Its been a very small sample size, but I am going to say I have been extremely impressed with both Sam Rinzel and Oliver Moore. Dare I say I have gut feeling Sam Rinzel might have highest upside of all our current Dman. Kid is 6'5 plays with great edges and speed and isn't afraid to use his body on the boards. Oliver Moore honestly did not do much in college that impresses me but since coming into NHL he looks like a different player and his speed and willingness to forecheck and go to the net have been extremely noticeable.

 

[ozzzie19]

Best case scenario at this point is selecting Misa and landing Marner right?

Donato - Bedard - Marner
Mikheyev - Misa - Nazar
Teravainen - Moore - Bertuzzi
Foligno - Dickinson - Veleno

Dach/Reichel/Slaggert battling for spots.
Lardis in the AHL.

Vlasic - Levshunov
Kaiser - Murphy
Del Mastro - Rinzel
Brodie

KK/Allan as first call-ups.

Knight
Soderblom

This would be a significant raise of talent level, it would be exciting!

Best case scenario is landing 2nd in the ‘25 draft, landing Misa and sending him to college for a year. Then pretty much sit out this year’s UFA class. Although I’d be interested in Gavrikov, depending on the term, he’s a guy who would complement our young defensemen very well beyond Murph’s contract/injury probability. If there are any younger players who might get squeezed like Borque, Peterka, Samoskevich, look into them.

Next year becomes a developmental year / another tank year, landing us McKenna in the ‘26 draft. We somehow convince McDavid of our future and sign him. Then offer sheet Jason Robertson. We roll the 26-27 season with a top 6 of McDavid, Robertson, Bedard, McKenna, Misa, and Nazar.

You did say best case scenario

 

[CanadianHawks]

Donato Bedard Tippett/X
Ehler/X Nazar Bert
Mikeyeh Moore Teuvo
Foligno Dickinson Anderson
Veleno

Vlasic Lev
EDM Murphy
Kaiser Rinzel
Crevier

Knight
Soderblom

Broissant is dealt in off-season

Reichel is packaged for a top six forward. Maybe a Korchinski or our first in a deal. Tippett one option. Would like to aim a bit higher but I think that’s the kind of player they can get with cap going up, less teams will be forced to move on players.

Hawks sign another top line caliber forward. Ehlers or Duchene make a ton of sense

Reichel could be dealt in a package, or change or scenery like Quinn, or dealt for a piece from cap strapped team like Marchment (or Lee)

If we get Misa he might play a year at BU with other Hawks prospects Boisvert and Pridham

If Korchinski isn’t dealt, him and Allan start on AHL top pair and marinate down there. Suspect the plan was for Soronsen to go back down there. Maybe King too.

Could also look like

Marchment Duchene Bedard
Bert Nazar Teuvo
Donato Moore Mikeyeh
Foligno Dickinson Anderson
Veleno

Vlasic Lev
EDM Murphy
Kaiser Rinzel
Crevier

Knight
Soderblom

 

[WarriorofTime]

Moore and Rinzel will both start in Rockford, imo. They'll sign some vets to fill their spots so they can start down there. All goes well and hopefully it's not a full season stay.

 

[Hattrick Kane]

Moore and Rinzel will both start in Rockford, imo. They'll sign some vets to fill their spots so they can start down there. All goes well and hopefully it's not a full season stay.

NO MORE VETS

 

[Larmer83]

Its been a very small sample size, but I am going to say I have been extremely impressed with both Sam Rinzel and Oliver Moore. Dare I say I have gut feeling Sam Rinzel might have highest upside of all our current Dman. Kid is 6'5 plays with great edges and speed and isn't afraid to use his body on the boards. Oliver Moore honestly did not do much in college that impresses me but since coming into NHL he looks like a different player and his speed and willingness to forecheck and go to the net have been extremely noticeable.

The speed, willingness to forecheck, and going to the net is exactly what he did in the NCAA.

 

[ozzzie19]

I’m very concerned. Murphy only has one year left, and the last thing I want is Davidson to make a trade based on him taking a spot in the lineup and sucking balls every night.

Run an all kids defense, honestly. Give Murphy away and wash your hands of him. He’s approaching double digit own goals this year. He’s slow as dogshit, and constantly out of position.

I’ll cry if they trade Del Mastro. He’s a guy who’s playing tough greasy minutes. You have him homegrown, you’re going to be looking for another him in three years if you trade him away.

Korchinski is more replicated in the future lineup, but still he’s not my first option either. But if you’re forced to choose between the two, Del Mastro is the one who has a unique skillset to this team.

EDM is waiver exempt next year so there is no roster pinch on him. He’ll start the year in Rockford and bounce up and down, spending plenty of time in Chicago. A year from now a decision will have to be made if he fits in our top 7.

 

[ozzzie19]

Korchinski and Kaiser might end up being a redundant type of player as well, if they're opposed to letting one of them play the right side if they move on from Murphy...Korchinski just has the draft capital at this point

How do you see them as redundant? They are pretty different types of players who are at pretty different stages of their development. Kaiser seems to be figuring it out and despite his size, can play a complementary game to Levshunov/Rinzel type. Korchinski definitely can’t do that now and won’t in the future. He’ll need a true stay at home defender as a partner.

 

[ozzzie19]

That's not the answer.

Have people actually been impressed with Levshunov after these ~dozen games? He's shown flashes, he has a tantalizing toolkit but he's clearly, clearly not ready for the NHL. His hemmed in zone/60 must lead the NHL and his shift-to-shift consistency is all over the place. You throw him over the boards and you literally do not know what you're going to get.

Unless they come into camp next year and completely blow everyone away, I can't see either Levshunov or Korchinski on the roster to start the year. Not if you're actually trying to be better and not if you actually want these guys to develop properly.

I don’t think anyone expects Levshunov to come into the NHL and immediately be impressive. His development path has been very steep. Every year he has taken on a huge jump, struggled a bit and then really figured it out. What we’re looking for is the poise, flashes, and tools to eventually be impressive. He’s a guy who has eventually thrived when presented with big promotions.

He’s definitely going to have games where he is hemmed in for 90 seconds or has trouble breaking out on the PP and it will be much better for his development to experience these struggles at the speed and competition of the NHL level, rather than dominating the AHL. We aren’t yet at a point where we really care about the standings.

Korchinski, on the other hand, clearly needs more time in the AHL, I definitely agree there.

 

[Putt Pirate]

I’d like to wait for Connors the year following but no guarantee obviously.

 

[giza]

They all need to put on some muscle.....got to win those crease and board wars.

 

[OTC]

I'd rather have Ehlers at $9M AAV than Marner at $14M if that's what it's going to take. Here's what I'd like to see for next year:

Ehlers - Bedard - Donato
Nazar - Tavares - Bertuzzi
Teravainen - Dickinson - Mikheyev
Foligno - Veleno - Slaggert
Dach Savoie

Vlasic - Rinzel
Kaiser - Murphy
Korchinski - Levshunov
Del Mastro

Knight
Soderblom

I don't know where Moore would fit in this so maybe some seasoning in Rockford would be good for him? Also I'm thinking that even if they draft Misa, a year of college would be likely for him now that's an option.

Another good add is Tanner Jeannot. UFA after this season

 

[TheFridge]

I don’t think anyone expects Levshunov to come into the NHL and immediately be impressive. His development path has been very steep. Every year he has taken on a huge jump, struggled a bit and then really figured it out. What we’re looking for is the poise, flashes, and tools to eventually be impressive. He’s a guy who has eventually thrived when presented with big promotions.

He’s definitely going to have games where he is hemmed in for 90 seconds or has trouble breaking out on the PP and it will be much better for his development to experience these struggles at the speed and competition of the NHL level, rather than dominating the AHL. We aren’t yet at a point where we really care about the standings.

Korchinski, on the other hand, clearly needs more time in the AHL, I definitely agree there.

He hasn't been dominating the AHL. He's gotten better as the year has gone on and he earned the promotion but his promotion has shown he isn't ready to be in the NHL full-time.

Any player is going to have a learning curve in the NHL. That's not a problem. I don't expect any player to come up from the AHL after demonstrating that they've excelled at that level and present themselves as finished products when they're promoted. But Levshunov has too many warts at the moment. His consistency, pace and decision-making all need more reps and those are things that he should be demonstrating in the AHL at a baseline level before being up in the NHL full-time. Those are things that are well within his control to improve upon.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Another good add is Tanner Jeannot. UFA after this season

I like adding Jeannot to be the goon that protects the kids

Good skater and he'll only be 28 so you can give him some term

 

[Mrfenn92]

I like adding Jeannot to be the goon that protects the kids

Good skater and he'll only be 28 so you can give him some term

Can take the Foligno role over

 

[WarriorofTime]

Will Crevier be re-signed? He's only played 3 times since Levshunov was called up.

 

[CanadianHawks]

Will Crevier be re-signed? He's only played 3 times since Levshunov was called up.

He should be. Will be a good 6/7 option for the team

Although I don’t love 6/7 of our D next year being kids, you go that route rather than sign a 28 year old to a long term deal that blocks someone during our window or signing another Martinez/Brodie like corpse

 

[CallMeShaft]

Will Crevier be re-signed? He's only played 3 times since Levshunov was called up.

Yes, you don't let young RHD with size go.

If one or both of Levshunov/Rinzel need more time next season, we'll be sorry if we don't re-sign him. Same thing if Murphy gets moved during the season.

 

[Deputy McRizzy]

Will Crevier be re-signed? He's only played 3 times since Levshunov was called up.

I’d re-sign him and if it were my call I’d get rid of Murphy and KK before opening night next season and roll with…

Vlasic-Lev
Kaiser-Rinzel
EDM-Crevier

Try to get a good forward prospect for KK and whatever you can get pick wise for Murphy.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Will Crevier be re-signed? He's only played 3 times since Levshunov was called up.

absolutely

he's been a good shutdown defender and should be playing more

I think he's a lock for 6/7D next season

right now it feels like they're figuring out who's the most tradeable between Kaiser, EDM, and Korch (and Korch is losing).

 

[Toews2Bickell]

absolutely

he's been a good shutdown defender and should be playing more

I think he's a lock for 6/7D next season

right now it feels like they're figuring out who's the most tradeable between Kaiser, EDM, and Korch (and Korch is losing).

Has Kaiser sat at all recently? Seems like he's 1 and its between EDM and Korch right now for the final spot...Allan already out, it seems just based on no looks but who knows some liked him early in year

 

[Kevin Musto]

This is the D situation


To explain:
Red is bad CorsiFor%, blue is good

The X axis is their deployment, whether they're getting more offensive deployment or defensive deployment

The Y axis is the quality of competition that the player faces

So what can we draw from this?

1. You can see why Allan is in Rockford. He faces low level of competition and still has the worst Corsi among all defensemen.
2. Korch is super sheltered. Only offensive deployment, facing the lowest level of competition, and only driving middling results.
3. EDM faces low competition, primarily gets defensive starts, and drives high Corsi results.
4. Kaiser is the same as EDM but faces a bit stiffer competiton.
5. Lev gets the most offensive deployment, and faces pretty even match ups. Corsi metrics are average.
6. Murph is still an effective vet. Faces tough competition with only defensive matchups.
7. Crevier and Vlasic I'll group together because they're similar. Their Corsi metrics are teetering on the low end, but they take some of the toughest assignments on a bad team so all things considered they've been good shutdown defenders. And in Vlasic's case, a lot more minutes played than anyone else.
8. RINZEL THE GOAT - it's a very small sample size of 3 games, but Rinzel has faced the toughest matchups out of anyone on the roster, exclusively defensive deployment, and he's driving fantastic Corsi metrics. They've put this guy through the ringer, and he's handled it like a f***ing champ.

 

[ChicagoHockeyFan]

Rolling out an all kids defense next year won't and shouldn't happen. They are playing all of them now to evaluate before the summer. A few of these D will be traded most likely in offseason and I tend to agree Korchinski is most likely because he can probably get more value back than the others.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Based on current metrics + stats, I'd rank the kids as such:

1. Vlasic
2. Rinzel
3. Kaiser
4. EDM
5. Crevier
6. Lev
7. Korch
8. Allan

Since you'll keep Murph around as a vet to alternate with Crevier as the 6/7D, it leaves Korch and Allan on the outside looking in.