Sam Rinzel – The young defenseman says intermittent eating and targeted weight gain are part of his plan to build strength after an uneven rookie year with the Hawks.
The path from promising prospect to reliable NHL defender is rarely linear, and for Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Sam Rinzel, the offseason is becoming a deliberate reset.
Rinzel. who will turn 22 in June. has been experimenting with his routine around food—not as a quick-fix dieting trend. but as a strategy for gaining weight steadily while still feeling functional and consistent.. Intermittent fasting, in his telling, isn’t just about cutting calories.. It’s about timing: he’s trying to pick the time slots to eat. and to adjust portion rhythm so weight comes on at a “good” pace rather than all at once.
“It’s about having good meals and high-calorie meals but also having more meals throughout the day,” Rinzel said.. He describes a setup where he snacks on healthier options more regularly—avocados are one example he’s mentioned—then aims for one larger meal roughly 90 minutes before he goes to sleep.. The key. he says. is whether he can digest that meal overnight. wake up at a normal time. eat breakfast promptly. and repeat the routine.. The outcome, at least in his view, is that he gains weight at a steady rate.
For readers outside hockey. the story lands on a familiar theme: athletes are increasingly treating fundamentals like nutrition. recovery. and body management as performance tools rather than background maintenance.. In the NHL. a young player is constantly asked to win space—along the boards. in front of the net. in the churn of defensive zone play—where raw strength can decide whether you finish the play or get outmuscled.. Rinzel’s approach reflects an athlete’s practical logic: if weight can help him hold positions better. he’ll try to build it in a way he can sustain.
Rinzel also frames the expectations realistically.. He doesn’t suggest dramatic transformation will happen in a single summer.. Instead. he points to longer-term progress—adding about 10 to 15 pounds of muscle and weight over summers. based on the work he’s already done during the past three years.. His trainer. Cal Dietz. has estimated that Rinzel’s ideal long-term playing weight is about 205 pounds. factoring in his 6-foot-4 frame and build.
During the recently completed season, Rinzel entered at 194 pounds but ended up losing more weight than he wanted.. That detail matters because it shows the offseason plan isn’t happening in a vacuum.. Even with an effort to maintain weight—he’s mentioned maximizing sodium intake—an NHL year can create unpredictable conditions for the body: travel schedules. training load. game intensity. and the simple reality that a young player’s offseason goal and in-season demands rarely align perfectly.
The bigger question, though, is what weight is supposed to change once the games start.. Rinzel draws a clear distinction between weight and strength. and he acknowledges that even if he reaches his target playing number by early fall. he’ll still need additional work to translate size into on-ice power.. That matters in the specific areas where he’s been tested most.. He’s identified board battles as a growing pain. and he’s worked to counter physical limitations with “brainpower”—using awareness and positioning to stay competitive.. But against NHL opponents, he said, winning puck battles and boxing out can be difficult when physical power lags.
His confidence isn’t blind.. He’s also described the prospect of adding a little body fat in the short term as not automatically catastrophic. especially if the end goal is strength development.. In his mind, the short-term tradeoff is less important than building a base that makes future gains possible.. The logic is blunt. but common among athletes: the body can be trained. but it can’t be trained effectively if you’re starting from a moving target.
There’s also a psychological through-line in how Rinzel talks about his development.. He calls himself a “late bloomer. ” referencing both physical strength and learning the game’s details as separate processes that took time.. Coming off a rookie season that didn’t meet expectations—his own included—he seems determined to turn frustration into structure.. Chicago’s bench and coaching staff. according to Rinzel’s reflections. encouraged him to play with “swagger” while staying alert for danger. and he says the season contained more highs and lows than he wanted.
From a performance standpoint, his numbers weren’t alarming, but the adaptation was uneven.. Rinzel finished his first full NHL stretch with four goals and 10 assists and averaged 18:16 of ice time across 54 games.. He also spent time in the AHL for 23 games between early December and late January. a demotion that can feel humbling even when the player understands it’s part of the development track.. Even when the team’s results during his five-on-five minutes were relatively close—39-35 in the period described—his defensive-zone retrievals and exits were a point of concern.. The surprising element. in his telling. is that the issue didn’t show up because he couldn’t skate; it showed up because the details of defensive play didn’t consistently match his movement.
That context helps explain why the offseason plan has a built-in purpose beyond appearance or scale.. Rinzel is trying to give himself more tools to compete in the spaces where hockey’s margins are smallest.. If he arrives at his next training camp closer to 205 pounds—and follows through with the strength work that weight alone can’t guarantee—his “brainpower” may be paired with more finishing power in the dirty areas of the game.
And for fans watching how quickly a young defender grows into the role, the offseason becomes a real-time storyline.. Hockey careers are built over multiple summers, not one.. If Rinzel’s weight gains are steady and his strength training catches up. the biggest change could be less about the scale and more about how confidently he enters board contact. how consistently he boxes out. and how often his game looks like it belongs at full speed—without the gaps that can linger when a player is still catching up physically.