The Chicago Blackhawks are set to return for regular-season hockey with a group excited about the future. They likely aren’t a playoff team, but they’re a young squad that has the potential to show growth.
Over the last handful of years, Chicago has inserted a lot of players with little to no experience. This year will see a fair level of that again.
When the Blackhawks take the ice against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night, three players will be looking to score their first career NHL goal, and they all play very different games.
Sam Rinzel
Although Sam Rinzel has played in the NHL for years, he has only nine games under his belt. Those nine games occurred at the end of 2024-25, when Rinzel and Minnesota were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.
In those contests, he collected five assists, played stout defense, but didn't score a goal. His first of the season will be the first of his NHL career.
Artyom Levshunov
When the Chicago Blackhawks selected Artyom Levshunov with the second overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, they were hoping for tons of goals, assists, and defensive gems.
So far, his development has been excellent. That includes 18 career NHL games. He is still, however, looking for his first career NHL goal. He had a big overtime game-winner in the AHL playoffs last year, so you can expect to see that memorable first one in the not-so-distant future.
Ryan Greene
Ryan Greene played in two games with the Blackhawks after his season at Boston University ended last spring. He is not only looking for his first career goal in the NHL, but his first career point. He was initially sent down out of camp, but was called back up quickly because of Landon Slaggert's injury.
None of Greene, Levshunov, or Rinzel will have goal scoring as their main goal in the NHL. The former two are defenseman, and the latter is a defensive-minded forward. With that said are all incredibly skilled and are capable of bringing some offense here and there.
Oliver Moore is an honorable mention. He didn't make the team out of camp as the Blackhawks want him getting top-line minutes in Rockford to begin the year, but he will almost certainly play in the NHL at some point this season. When that time comes, he will also be looking for his first career NHL goal.
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