The Chicago Blackhawks Acquired a Number-One Defenseman in a Trade With The Toronto Maple Leafs

Sam Rinzel was called up after his college season ended to play the last few games on the Chicago Blackhawks, alongside Oliver Moore. Fans were excited to get a look at Rinzel and what he could possibly bring to the future, while understanding that there will be some growing pains, but he has quickly turned into the teams best defenseman.

Although there are still some growing pains being worked out with Rinzel, he's surprisingly quickly emerged to be the best defenseman on the team the last couple of games.

Rinzel had a phenomenal game against the Boston Bruins on Thursday night, getting 24:55 minutes of playing time and showing surprising signs of elite skill level in a 5-2 win.

Rinzel hasn't scored his first NHL goal just yet, but he's been inches away.

Chicago only traded a second-round pick in the 2023 draft to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for the 25th overall pick, which they took Rinzel with, and on top of that, they got a second-round pick of their own.

Ever since Rinzel was drafted, there was a nice buzz around him, but as his college career continued with Minnesota, his stock grew higher, and he was proclaimed to be one of the best defensive prospects in the Chicago Blackhawks' system, and that's not an easy thing to accomplish as they're loaded with high-end young talent.

The 20-year-old has two points in six games so far and is certainly going to be a key piece of the blue line for the next ten years, at the least.