The Chicago Blackhawks future will take the ice this weekend in the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase in St. Paul, Minn.
The young Hawks will face teams of St. Louis Blues prospects at 6 p.m. Saturday and Minnesota Wild prospects at 3 p.m. Sunday. Both games can be streamed at chicagoblackhawks.com.
Here are five players to watch as we get a glimpse of the Hawks future.
Artyom Levshunov
Not many teenagers have developed like Levshunov, 19, has over the past couple of seasons. The former Michigan State defenseman played 52 games for the Rockford IceHogs last season after the Hawks drafted him with the No. 2 pick in 2024, putting up 22 points (five goals, 17 assists) after beginning the season on injured reserve.
The minutes he played in the AHL, including on the penalty kill and power play, helped Levshunov adjust to the pros, and he played 18 games for the Hawks after they brought him up in early March, tallying six assists.
The Belarus native is a fluid skater for his size (6-foot-2, 208 pounds) and never seems to be out of position. He’s turning into more of a dual threat as the competition increases.
“I feel way more comfortable for sure than in my first year,” Levshunov said this week at Hawks rookie camp. “I’m excited to be here, start training and playing.”
Nathan Behm
A two-sport athlete, Behm won the under-17 division at the Amateur Long Drive Canadian Championships with a drive of 327 yards.
Now replace the driver with a hockey stick. Some unlucky goaltender will feel that power.
His skating isn’t as smooth as it can be, but the 2025 third-round pick (No. 66) can score, an attribute the Hawks desperately need. He posted career highs in points (66), goals (31) and assists (35) last season for the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers.
Behm, 18, will return to Kamloops for one more season, then is committed to play for Arizona State in 2026-27. The 6-foot-2, 192-pound forward said after the draft that he’s working on being more explosive to pair with his scoring.
Sam Rinzel
Hawks fans should be comforted by the amount of defensive talent the team is building up. Rinzel, a 2022 first-round pick (No. 25), was one of the standouts of rookie camp practices after making his NHL debut at the end of last season. The 21-year-old registered five assists and averaged 23 minutes of ice time in nine NHL games.
After earning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors as a sophomore at Minnesota last season — a year after Levshunov won the award — Rinzel is just now reaching the next levels of his game. He impressed in the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, averaging 15 minutes on the ice and posting a plus-three rating over seven games as Team USA won the gold medal.
He worked with the forwards some this week, a signal of his versatility. He loves to play in transition, making him useful in all three zones.
“I like to get in the offense, so being able to pick (the forwards’) brain with other stuff, it’s pretty easy to do.” Rinzel said. “Everyone is a hockey player.”
Oliver Moore
Rinzel’s college teammate also played nine games with the Hawks, tallying four assists, after the pair signed entry-level contracts in late March following the end of the Golden Gophers season.
The Hawks drafted Moore, 20, in the first round (No. 19) in 2023. Before his two seasons at Minnesota, he was a part of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program’s under-18 team in 2022-23, putting up video-game numbers: 74 points (31 goals, 43 assists) in 60 games with nine power-play goals and two short-handed goals.
There’s not much to criticize about Moore’s style; it’s about polishing his decision making when the puck is on his stick. He’s fast when he needs to be but can slow the game down as well. The pace-setting puts him in control.
“A big thing I’ve talked about is just execution,” Moore said. “I’m getting in the right areas and finding the right soft spots. It’s really just bearing down on those opportunities (and) wall play.
“I might be playing wing or I might be playing center, so anything I can do to help the team on the wall and get pucks off the wall will be huge.”
Nick Lardis
The 2023 third-round pick (No. 67) was one of the top scorers in the OHL last season for the Brantford Bulldogs, tallying 117 points (71 goals, 46 assists) and a plus-21 rating in 65 games.
The winger’s speed gives him more opportunities to score, in addition to his ability to be present in all zones. He can pounce on loose pucks faster than the opposition, leading to transition opportunities.
The Hawks have a long line of speedy forwards like Lardis, 20, so it will be interesting to see his place along with Moore and others. The Ontario native is arguably the best skater of the Hawks prospects, so that should give him an advantage.
“(I) haven’t played a game in five months, so there’s going to be a little rust with me and a lot of the guys,” Lardis said this week. “Looking to the showcase, (I’m working on) my speed and skills still and the strength that I’ve built over the summer.”
An high-quality training camp could land him on the Hawks roster, but expect Lardis to start out in the AHL with the IceHogs. Can he keep up his aggressive scoring against greater competition? IceHogs coach Jared Nightingale is coaching the Hawks prospects this week, so Lardis will get a feel for what AHL hockey is like.