The Chicago Blackhawks are finally back to practices again after nearly two weeks off for the Olympic break. Tuesday (Feb. 17) was a very well-attended optional practice, and the first mandatory practice was Wednesday. The Hawks will have a mini training camp of sorts, with practices every day for the rest of this week (with the exception of Saturday). They’ll likely also get a few more practices in next week before traveling to face the Nashville Predators on Thursday, Feb. 26, the start of a four-game road trip.
Let’s get caught up with the latest news and rumors coming out of the break.
Kaiser Injury Update
Defenseman Wyatt Kaiser exited the Blackhawks’ last game on Feb. 4 with an apparent knee injury that didn’t look good.
A closer look at the Wyatt Kaiser injury. Doesn’t look great. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/iDtcIsBiD6
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 5, 2026
Sure enough, head coach Jeff Blashill confirmed on Tuesday that Kaiser will NOT be available once games start up again. He wouldn’t give any timeline beyond “hopefully it’s not going to be March.”
Kaiser has emerged as one of the team’s most reliable defensemen. He’s also done an excellent job mentoring D-partner Artyom Levshunov, as well as Sam Rinzel more recently. Kaiser leads all defensemen on the team with five goals, which is quite impressive considering he’s more of a defensive defenseman. If he’s out for an extended amount of time, it could be a tough loss for the Blackhawks.
Defensemen Korchinski & Rinzel Recalled
On Wednesday (Feb. 18) the Blackhawks officially placed Kaiser on injured reserve, and recalled Rinzel and Kevin Korchinski from the Rockford IceHogs. Both young defensemen were at practice that morning.
Rinzel started the season with the Blackhawks but was sent down to the IceHogs on Dec. 8. He was, however, called up for three games before the break. In 31 games this season, he’s contributed two goals and nine points.
Korchinski, on the other hand, has played most of the season with the IceHogs. He was called up to the Blackhawks for two games in early January when the flu bug was going through the Blackhawks’ locker room. Korchinski recorded one assist while he was with Chicago.
Said Blashill of the two call ups instead of just one, “I want them to make sure, if they’re gonna play games down the stretch here, that they’re ingrained in everything we’re doing.” He also said it’s hard to run practices with just six defensemen.
It’s really no surprise both blueliners were recalled. Korchinski is a natural left-shot defenseman, so he would likely replace Kaiser (also a left-handed shot). Levshunov (a righty) has been struggling and was scratched the last three games before break. Rinzel is a right-handed shot as well. It’s possible Blashill will run with a seven-defenseman lineup like he did at the beginning of the season. Plus, one or both of veteran D-men Connor Murphy (right) or Matt Grzelcyk (left) might be moved at or before the trade deadline on Mar. 6.
Related – Blackhawks’ Rinzel Showing Confidence & Growth After Recall
Lots of moving parts on the blue line to be keeping an eye on.
Bedard Back to Taking Faceoffs
Coach Blashill did confirm, as he hinted before the break, that Connor Bedard will be taking faceoffs again. He indicated, “I think the plan right now, and the plan always was in his (Bedard’s) mind, to start taking face-offs coming out of this break. So, I’d expect to see him kind of playing more of a true center role where he’s taking face-offs.”
Centerman Jason Dickinson and Bedard were practicing faceoffs at the optional practice on Tuesday, and Bedard lined up as the top line center during line rushes on Wednesday. He verified after practice Tuesday that this is the plan. “It’s nice to play your full position, for sure.” When asked if it was nice to take a break from the faceoff circle and concentrate on getting back with the rest of his play, his response spoke volumes.
No. No, I don’t think so. It was more kind of precautionary a little bit. But like I said, you want to play your full position.
It’s safe to say Bedard is ready to get back to full-on centering and faceoffs duties again, and he’ll be hungry to find some success once games resume.
Blackhawks’ Initial Lines & Pairings at Practice
Speaking of which, here are the forward lines and defensive pairings that were run in practice on Wednesday.
Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky
Moore-Nazar-Bertuzzi
Donato-Dickinson-Mikheyev
Dach-Foligno-Slaggert
Lafferty
Vlasic-Crevier
Grzelcyk-Murphy
Korchinski-Rinzel
Levshunov
Not Present: Teravainen (Olympics), Kaiser (lower body)
As a disclaimer, Coach Blashill said he’s given zero thought to the lineup for next Thursday’s game. But it should be pointed out that the above forward lines are very similar to what was clicking earlier in the season before Bedard and Nazar sustained their injuries. Said Blashill,
The most success we’ve had this year has been Connor (Bedard) and (Andre) Burakovsky with either (Ryan) Greene or Bert (Tyler Bertuzzi), and Frank (Nazar) on another line. And obviously Frankie had real success in the early part of the year with Turbo (Teuvo Teravainen) and Bert. So we’ll kind of play that out.
That could mean that Oliver Moore is just a placeholder for Teuvo Teravainen on that second line. Although, Moore and Nazar have been deployed together before because of their speed factor. Teravainen has also had success on the third line with Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev. More to follow on the forward lines as that first game gets closer.
Regarding defense, Korchinski and Rinzel are likely just paired together to get acclimated, since they both just came down from Rockford. They actually weren’t deployed together with the IceHogs. I would also assume Blashill will want to get Levshunov back into some games sooner rather than later. There are a lot of practices before the Blackhawks play again, so a lot could change.
Related – Blackhawks Hoping Olympic Break Rejuvenates Them for Final Stretch
The Blackhawks were happy to rest and reset over the last few weeks, but it’s obvious they’re ready to get back to work again. As mentioned above, a four-game road trip starts against the Predators on Feb. 26, and the first home game back is against the Vancouver Canucks on Mar. 6. Stay tuned for more of the latest news and updates as more practices commence throughout the weekend and beyond.
