The University of Minnesota’s losses are the Chicago Blackhawks’ gain. The Golden Gophers were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night by UMass. With the Minnesota loss, pundits started speculating there would be a mass exodus of NHL draft picks signing with their clubs. Jimmy Snuggerud was the first Gopher to sign with his club, the St. Louis Blues, on Friday.

The next two Gophers who signed with their respective clubs were Blackhawks first-round draft picks Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel.

Oliver Moore

Moore was the 19th overall pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2023 NHL Draft. Moore signed a three entry-level contract with Chicago and will join the team immediately. The scouting report on Moore is that he is a world-class skater, has quick hands and is very consistent.

Moore recorded nine goals and 24 assists as a freshman at Minnesota. He was named to the Big Ten All-Rookie Team.

In his sophomore year, he scored 33 points in 38 games with the Gophers. In addition to his success at Minnesota, the 6-foot forward won two World Junior gold medals with Team USA.

While the numbers look good on paper, Moore did go through some struggles at Minnesota.

Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko had this to say about Moore’s struggles:

“The points aren’t coming, and sometimes that gets in your head, but he is becoming so responsible in the defensive end,” Motzko said early in the season. “He’s a force on the forecheck, you know, how he attacks the puck. He just needs to get rewarded. Sometimes you see sophomores go through this. You do. But the good thing, all the great ones go through it, but they come through it. It has a start, a middle and an end.”

While it could be a cause for concern, the Hawks were not worried about the results so much as the approach was good.

Kyle Davidson had this to say about Moore: “He’s got this great package with his pace of play, his relentless pursuit of the puck, his ability to transition the puck up the ice quickly and create offense with his feet and skill.”

Sam Rinzel

The other Gopher to sign was Sam Rinzel, also with a three-year deal beginning immediately. Rinzel was the 25th overall pick in the 2022 Draft. The 6-foot-4 Rinzel was just 17 at the time of the draft. He was viewed as a long-term project by many scouts because of his age and developmental rawness at the time of the draft. With the Hawks already drafting Kevin Korchinski and Frank Nazar in the 2022 Draft, the Hawks could afford to be patient with their third first-rounder of the draft. The Hawks believed that Rinzel could be an elite defenseman because of his skating and size.

Instead of going to college right away, Rinzel went back the USHL for another season. Rinzel’s numbers improved dramatically in his second season with Waterloo.

As Rinzel matured, so did his game. Rinzel rewarded the Hawks with their patience by winning Big Ten Defenseman of the Year as a sophomore this season. As right-handed shot, Rinzel fills a big hole in the group of defensemen. In addition to being a right-handed shot, scouts believe that Rinzel is still scratching the surface of his potential.

Analysis

Davidson just signed two big pieces of his rebuild puzzle. Both guys are signing for $950,000 on three-year deals. While some fans have not been patient, fans might finally be seeing the fruits of Davidson’s labor.

Moore is going to bring speed to a young forward group. His scoring approach should yield more results in the NHL.

Rinzel might be the prize of these signings. The young defenseman has so much potential that has yet to be tapped into.

Some speculate that Rinzel could be the best defensive prospect in the Hawks system, a system including multiple top-10 picks in Korchinski and Arytom Levshunov.

Both Moore and Rinzel are expected to make their NHL debuts with the Blackhawks on Sunday against the Utah Hockey Club. Moore will wear No. 11 and Rinzel will wear No. 6. With Moore and Rinzel now in the fold, the Blackhawks are poised to have a big offseason in the next step of the rebuild.