Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Sam Rinzel responds to coaching staff after being healthy scratched Saturday

While he was scratched, the Blackhawks don't want Rinzel to view this as a punishment, though.

They want Rinzel to view this as more of a reset to clear his mind after being slowly moved down the lineup from top pair to seventh defenseman to scratched.

This is what head coach Jeff Blashill had to say about the situation with Rinzel.

Luckily, Rinzel is taking it the way it was intended and said that there are a couple areas he needs to improve on.

The 21-year-old has been up and down throughout the whole season so far. Rinzel only has three points in 17 games but is a +2. Stats aside, he had a rough start to the year, picked it up in the last eight or nine games, and then fell back to his bad habits from the beginning of the season.

Sadly for Rinzel, he's still looking on the outside of the lineup.

The good news is the Blackhawks already did this earlier this season with Artyom Levshunov. They sat Levshunov after a rough stretch for a mental reset and he's come back better than ever.

Hopefully, the same happens with Rinzel, and he comes back better.