Blackhawks Recall Sam Rinzel From AHL IceHogs

The Chicago Blackhawks recalled Sam Rinzel from the Rockford IceHogs on Friday afternoon ahead of their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets .

Rinzel, who was sent to Rockford after struggling earlier in the year, played 19 games for them in his stint there. He scored two goals and had eight assists for 10 points in those 19 games. With Chicago this season, he had one goal and seven assists for eight points in 28 games played.

There are a couple of reasons that this call-up could be taking place. For one, Artyom Levshunov has been struggling. In his last nine games, he has 0 points. He was also a -5 against the Penguins on Thursday, and made some egregious mistakes.

Jeff Blashill may decide to go back to the 11/7 strategy, especially if Nick Foligno can't go due to injury. They may also scratch Levshunov and play 12 forwards. Either way, Levshunov is going to have a reset with Rinzel coming back.

Letting young defensemen take a break in one way or another works, especially when they have a high pedigree like Levhsunov does.

For Rinzel, this is an opportunity to see if his game has taken a step while playing with Rockford for a couple of months. There was no corresponding move with him coming up, but Levshunov may be on the same path.

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