Blackhawks rookie Sam Rinzel learning how to use brainpower to overcome lack of physical power

Sam Rinzel's first two games back in the Blackhawks' lineup have featured two of his best performances this season.

The rookie defenseman, just recalled from the AHL after a nearly two-month-long reset, has logged more than 20 minutes against both the Blue Jackets and Sharks and recorded a combined six shots on goal, including a one-timer goal from the high slot Monday.

His accurate passing and poised puck-carrying on breakouts has been noticeable, and he hasn't conceded any goals against. He looks more like he did coming out of college last spring: very impressive.

It's not surprising that Rinzel has played well, though. Most guys do when first called up. A bigger challenge will be consistently maintaining this level of play after the Olympic break.

But there are signs the 21-year-old has improved in the specific areas the Hawks wanted him to improve in. Sensing and reacting quickly to danger, for example, is one.

During his Rockford stint, coaches also emphasized using his brainpower to overcome his lack of physical power.

He has good size at 6-4, but he entered the season at only 195 pounds, and that may well have dropped a bit since. Maintaining the weight he does have with salt, such as via electrolyte drinks, has been a priority since autumn.

Hawks coach Jeff Blashill said Rinzel "definitely hasn’t reached his peak strength" yet. It could take a couple more years for him to do so. However, there are ways to minimize the consequences of a weakness if you know it exists, which Rinzel does in this case.

"Any time you’re undersized in any way, whether you’re smaller in stature, shorter or thinner...you have to use your brain," Blashill said. "Our young defensemen [are] learning what they can get away with, what they can’t, how they can combat a size or strength difference, and that comes with experience. He’s definitely trying to find those little tricks of the trade.

"[It's] no different than Wyatt Kaiser. [Matt Grzelcyk] has probably learned it over the years. When you get in those types of battles, a lot of times you use your brain as much as your physical attributes."

The Hawks are teaching Rinzel to be strategic about his stick and body positioning to make sure he's in an advantageous spot before engaging opponents physically, not just while engaging them.

"Going into corners, I don't want to just full-on [attack]," Rinzel said. "Obviously, I want to kill plays and close quick, but I want to steer [opponents] in the direction I want them to go in. I want to try to get him to cut back when I want him to cut back, and then I can close that way. And I can be physical without wrapping up guys by having a good stick."

The Hawks have coincidentally encouraged defenseman Alex Vlasic to do the opposite, to rely on his stick less and instead use his 6-6, 220-pound frame to play the body more. But Vlasic and Rinzel are at different stages of physical maturation.

Rinzel has studied Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, whom he faced last week and will face again Wednesday, as an elite model of a defenseman whose brain is one of his greatest strengths.

Werenski has never lacked physical strength — he was already 6-2, 214 pounds entering the 2015 draft — but his intelligence has nonetheless fueled his recent mid-career evolution from great player to legitimate superstar.

"It's unbelievable the way he thinks the game," Rinzel said. "Nothing's super flashy with him. You don't see him going around toe-dragging people. But he's so effective with his skating and his stick and how he's able to effortlessly break the puck out, skate up the ice, kick it and drive [the net]. And how he reads the play. You never see him running people over or being overly physical."

Levshunov update

Fellow rookie defenseman Artyom Levshunov, whose performance-related removal from the Hawks' lineup prompted Rinzel's recall, is now five days into his individual program to reset some "foundational" aspects of his game.

Levshunov has indeed been seen doing lots of work with Hawks skills coach Brian Keane and, on Tuesday, even captain Nick Foligno. Blashill reiterated the process will take a while, though.

"To say that we have a miracle cure in two days is not reality," Blashill said. "This is something that’s really going to build through when we come back [from break] — as much as we can over the course of the last month in time. And certainly, this summer is going to be huge."

Levshunov, in contrast to Rinzel, possesses more than enough physical strength but sometimes struggles to mentally process situations quickly enough — or remember where he should be within the Hawks' structure or system in a given situation.

The Hawks have used this opportunity to run some tests on Levshunov's body, though, and they've discovered a few physical tweaks that could "give him more endurance within a shift," Blashill said.

Levshunov will go to south Florida — where he spends his summers — during the Olympics because NHL teams aren't permitted contact with players during that break.