Hockey Terminal
Be a GM

← All players

Photo of Sam Rinzel

Sam Rinzel

#6 · Defence · Chicago Blackhawks

Born Jun 25, 2004 in Chanhassen, Minnesota, USA (age 22) · 6'4", 200 lb · Shoots right · Drafted 25th overall in 2022 by CHI (round 1)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2025-26. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Rasmus Ristolainen PHI · 14 P in 44 GP Troy Stecher TOR · 14 P in 64 GP Dylan Samberg WPG · 14 P in 66 GP Trevor van Riemsdyk WSH · 14 P in 68 GP Sam Dickinson SJS · 14 P in 72 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

05102024-25: 5 points524-252025-26: 14 points1425-262026-27: 2 points226-27

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2024-25 CHI 9 0 5 5 1 0 22 12 0.56
2025-26 CHI 54 4 10 14 -7 44 83 49 0.26 $942K
2026-27 CHI 5 1 1 2 -2 0 7 3 0.40 $942K
3 seasons Career 68 5 16 21 -8 44 112 64 0.31

2025-26 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
54 4 10 14 -7 44 83 49 0.26 4.8 18:16

Contract

$942KCap hitends in 2027, then RFA
$67KCap dollars per point14 points in 54 games
-$958KWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$1.9MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. He rated at or below a spare-part player, so there is no cost per goal to show. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 715 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Chicago Blackhawks on Mar 29, 2025, as an entry-level contract: 3 years, beginning in 2024-25. It runs through 2026-27, with 1 season left after this one, and he is then a restricted free agent.

Season Cap hit
2024-25 $942K
2025-26 $942K
2026-27 $942K

Each season left on the contract. Only its cap hit and its end are known: how the pay is split by season, and any signing bonus, are not.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Mar 29, 2025 Chicago Blackhawks Entry-level 2024-25 to 2026-27 3 $942K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2025-26 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2025-26 analytics

Rating

-2.0Goals above replacement653rd of 715 skaters, 203rd of 239 defencemen
-0.3Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-5.3Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 239 ranked defencemen: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence+0.1 70th percentileEven-strength defence-1.9 21st percentilePower play-1.8 1st percentilePenalty kill0.0 46th percentilePenalties-1.7 16th percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among defencemen. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance.

-3-2-1012024-252025-262026-27Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

44.9Corsi for %724 attempts for, 890 against
-0.9CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
43.5Expected goals for %32.2 expected for, 41.8 against
-0.6xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
44.6Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
48.0Goals for %36 for, 39 against
101.8PDO10.8% shooting + 91.0% saves
153Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 615 skaters who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. PDO and attempts taken are left plain, since neither is good or bad on its own.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Wyatt Kaiser · Sam Rinzel51372:1643.442.619-16
Alex Vlasic · Sam Rinzel53231:5547.343.88-11
Matt Grzelcyk · Sam Rinzel38147:0343.941.67-6
Ethan Del Mastro · Sam Rinzel1537:1340.738.60-3

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net.

4Goalsnot counting empty-netters
4.3Expected goalsfrom 130 unblocked attempts
-0.3Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.26 expected goals per 60 minutes75th
Shot quality 3.3% chance per attempt48th
Finishing -0.3 goals above expected40thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 240 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

01234Game 20Game 40Expected 4.3Goals 4

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. Darker red means more attempts from that spot, and each dot is a goal. "Show every shot" switches to a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Apr 15, 2026 vs SJS W 5-2 1 0 1 2 0 1 1 19:00
Apr 13, 2026 vs BUF L 1-5 0 0 0 -2 2 1 0 16:16
Apr 11, 2026 vs STL L 3-5 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 20:43
Apr 9, 2026 vs CAR L 2-7 0 0 0 -3 0 1 1 21:57
Apr 6, 2026 @ SJS L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 16:34
Apr 4, 2026 @ SEA W 4-2 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 21:04
Apr 2, 2026 @ EDM L 1-3 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 17:44
Mar 31, 2026 vs WPG L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 1 2 22:44
Mar 29, 2026 @ NJD L 3-5 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 20:49
Mar 27, 2026 @ NYR L 1-6 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 19:35
Mar 26, 2026 @ PHI L 1-5 0 0 0 -1 0 2 2 19:22
Mar 24, 2026 @ NYI W 4-3 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 17:20
Mar 22, 2026 vs NSH L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 21:44
Mar 20, 2026 vs COL L 1-4 0 1 1 0 2 1 1 19:40
Mar 19, 2026 @ MIN W 2-1 0 0 0 -1 2 3 1 16:57
Mar 17, 2026 vs MIN L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 16:52
Mar 14, 2026 @ VGK L 0-4 0 0 0 -1 0 0 2 18:50
Mar 12, 2026 @ UTA W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 2 1 20:45
Mar 9, 2026 vs UTA W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 23:22
Mar 8, 2026 @ DAL L 3-4 (OT) 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 22:20
Mar 6, 2026 vs VAN L 3-6 0 0 0 -1 2 2 0 18:24
Mar 3, 2026 @ WPG L 2-3 (OT) 0 1 1 1 2 3 0 22:19
Feb 26, 2026 @ NSH L 2-4 0 1 1 -1 2 3 0 20:53
Feb 4, 2026 @ CBJ L 0-4 0 0 0 -1 0 3 2 25:42
Feb 2, 2026 vs SJS W 6-3 1 0 1 1 2 3 0 20:38
Jan 30, 2026 vs CBJ L 2-4 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 22:16
Dec 7, 2025 @ ANA L 1-7 0 0 0 -1 0 2 1 14:52
Dec 6, 2025 @ LAK L 0-6 0 0 0 -2 0 0 1 12:40
Dec 4, 2025 @ LAK W 2-1 0 0 0 -1 0 3 2 13:13
Dec 2, 2025 @ VGK L 3-4 (SO) 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 09:30
Nov 30, 2025 vs ANA W 5-3 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 13:16
Nov 28, 2025 vs NSH L 3-4 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 17:03
Nov 26, 2025 vs MIN L 3-4 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 14:03
Nov 23, 2025 vs COL L 0-1 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 12:03
Nov 21, 2025 @ BUF L 3-9 0 2 2 -3 0 1 0 12:20
Nov 20, 2025 vs SEA L 2-3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 16:26
Nov 18, 2025 vs CGY W 5-2 0 1 1 2 10 1 0 14:16
Nov 12, 2025 vs NJD L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 11:29
Nov 9, 2025 @ DET W 5-1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 14:29
Nov 7, 2025 @ CGY W 4-0 0 0 0 2 0 1 2 15:13
Nov 5, 2025 @ VAN W 5-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16:07
Nov 3, 2025 @ SEA L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 19:54
Nov 1, 2025 @ EDM L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 16:51
Oct 30, 2025 @ WPG L 3-6 0 0 0 -3 0 3 0 17:27
Oct 28, 2025 vs OTT W 7-3 0 0 0 1 6 2 1 16:01
Oct 26, 2025 vs LAK L 1-3 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 20:37
Oct 23, 2025 @ TBL W 3-2 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 17:35
Oct 19, 2025 vs ANA W 2-1 (OT) 0 1 1 2 0 2 6 23:14
Oct 17, 2025 vs VAN L 2-3 (SO) 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 20:56
Oct 15, 2025 @ STL W 8-3 0 0 0 2 2 1 1 18:29
Oct 13, 2025 vs UTA W 3-1 0 0 0 -1 2 0 2 14:30
Oct 11, 2025 vs MTL L 2-3 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 25:58
Oct 9, 2025 @ BOS L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 2 0 19:03
Oct 7, 2025 @ FLA L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 25:18