The Chicago Blackhawks have a lot of young defensive talent and there just isn't room for everyone. Of the d-men, which includes Alex Vlasic, Sam Rinzel, Artyom Levshunov, Kevin Korchinski, Nolan Allan, Wyatt Kaiser, Ethan Del Mastro, and Louis Crevier, Korchinski and Crevier seem like the odd men out.
Korchinski was a former high pick, but his development wasn't the greatest due to the age restrictions on the AHL. He spent the majority of last season in the AHL to make up for it, but he struggled in the NHL, scoring just a goal and two points in 16 games.
To contend with Korchinski on the left side is Vlasic, Kaiser, Allan, and Del Mastro. All of them arguably performed better for the Blackhawks last season. Given that Korchinski is still 21 years old, he still has a good amount of value left. If too much more time passes, that value could drop significantly and Chicago loses out on a good trade piece. Since he likely isn't in the long-term plans for the Blackhawks, these are some destinations where he could be traded to.
The Colorado Avalanche don't have any good defensive prospects that will be able to step into the NHL right now, or at least that's how it looks for a while. They need some reinforcements and maybe the team adopts the strategy the Edmonton Oilers have used this offseason to get younger and faster. Defensively, that is what should come next. Brent Burns is on a one-year deal and won't play in the NHL too much longer. The team also has two years left of Sam Girard if he isn't moved before his contract ends. Korchinski is a left defenseman, cheap cap-wise, and that is what will be needed in Colorado very soon, although those are both needed right now.
The San Jose Sharks are also in a rebuild and brought in three veterans to increase the cap of the team. These are short-term deals with higher AAVs, but they will all be moving on within the next two years. This opens space for a young defenseman like Korchinski to break in full-time with a little more seasoning in the AHL. Whether the Sharks would make a trade now or wait until next summer is unknown, but there will be a lot of work to do on the back-end very soon. Mario Ferraro, Timothy Liljegren, John Klingberg, Nick Leddy, and Vincent Desharnais all have one year remaining on their contracts, Shakir Mukhamadullin and Jack Thompson will be RFAs after next season, and Dmitry Orlov has two years left on his deal. Korchinski could join a talented young team at the right time.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have noticeably altered their roster over the past couple of years and are close to heading into a rebuild. Even before that happens, Kyle Dubas and the Penguins have been collecting talented, young players that could potentially make a difference down the line and help pull the team out of the rebuild eventually. The left side of the defense is much weaker right now than the right, but the team also has Owen Pickering, who is ready for the NHL. Erik Karlsson will be on the move soon enough while Matt Dumba, Parker Wotherspoon, and Ryan Shea are not long for the Penguins. Pittsburgh has a nice opportunity to acquire someone with offensive capabilities to replace what the team is going to lose soon.
