BLOG: Korchinski Makes Appearance on First Power Play Unit

As the Chicago Blackhawks continued to change some of the lines around, head coach Luke Richardson and the coaching staff provided a new look to the first power play unit once again.

Kevin Korchinski practiced with the first unit on Tuesday after he spent some time with the Blackhawks’ second unit during the first few games this season. He joined the group with Connor Bedard, Philipp Kurashev, Lukas Reichel and Corey Perry. 

“It’s a privilege,” Korchinski said. “It means that they trust me, which is awesome and it’s an opportunity.” 

Richardson hopes that Korchinski can also provide some quickness with the team’s struggle on breakouts within the last few games.

The second-year head coach also decided to promote the rookie defenseman because of the bond the younger players share together. With the way they communicated and practiced together, he knew he could put them together and see potential success.

“Those guys seem to be around each other a lot and are all around the same age,” Richardson said. “They communicate a lot, which is huge and that's part of the power play., so it kind of makes sense to give it a try.” 

The Blackhawks' special team unit currently ranks 29th in the league where they scored six goals on 53 opportunities with an 11.3 power play percentage. 

The power play also noticed some struggles with their lack of shots on net and agreed with the idea to change some things around. With Korchinski’s ability to move the puck, Seth Jones felt that it could help solve some of their recent issues. 

“Kevin's a great puck-mover, and it's just a different look for us, I think,” Jones said. “We want to try to get more shots on net, so try to develop some chemistry somewhere.”

Korchinski looks forward to the new opportunity to help his team create different looks and also join a unit filled with the team’s top point producers. 

"They still want me to shoot the puck," Korchinski said. "We have a lot of guys who can shoot on that unit, but just play my game, move the puck well, try and use my speed on the breakouts and just try and play with good play and produce."

Last week, the team added Reichel to the top unit to utilize his speed and saw some improvement after the forward scored the team’s sixth power play goal of the season against the Tampa Bay Lighting on Thursday.

With the addition of Korchinski, Richardson stated he also wanted to add Kurashev to the group after his recent production and chemistry with Reichel. Now, he hopes to see what the unit can bring As the team prepares to face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night and

“Kurashev’s been doing really well and it makes sense that him and Reichel seem to have a little chemistry too,” Richardson said “I thought we try something new and we're on the road too so let's just keep it simple and try to change things up.”