TAMPA -- It won't happen in Game 1 at Amalie Arena on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports), but it seems likely Chicago Blackhawks rookie defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk will play at some point in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

If so, the younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk will make his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut on the NHL's biggest stage.

"Not playing today, but he's real close," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said after Chicago's morning skate. "We asked could he play today. He's sitting there. He's that close. We expect a very good chance he's going to be in the series."

Quenneville said it's very likely he'll ice the same lineup as he did this past weekend at Honda Center for Game 7 of the Western Conference Final against the Anaheim Ducks. That means Chicago's fifth and sixth defensemen will most likely be David Rundblad and Kyle Cumiskey, who played the final two games against the Ducks.

Van Riemsdyk signed with the Blackhawks as a college free agent last year and made the team out of training camp as the fifth defenseman. Just as he began to earn more trust from Quenneville, he was injured in his 18th NHL game by a shot puck that fractured his kneecap.

The injury required surgery and van Riemsdyk missed three months. When he returned, he went to Rockford of the American Hockey League to work his way back into game shape. While there, he sustained an undisclosed injury to his right wrist in April and needed surgery to repair it.

His last NHL game was Nov. 16 against the Dallas Stars, but Quenneville thinks van Riemsdyk will be able to adjust to the pace of the playoffs quickly.

"We saw firsthand what he was able to do when he came into training camp," Quenneville said. "Surprised us all how well he played, how effective and efficient he is. We've been skating him in practice every day. One of his strengths is his reads. [He's] positionally aware [and has] decision making with the puck."

If van Riemsdyk can play and absorb about 14-15 minutes a game, it would be a big help for the Blackhawks. Following veteran Michal Rozsival's season-ending left ankle fracture, Quenneville played his top four defensemen about 85 percent of the time in the Western Conference Final.

They took a lot of physical punishment in the seven-game series against the bigger Ducks and it could benefit the Blackhawks if Quenneville could scale back the minutes for a couple of them.

"He's got a lot of attributes that can help our team," Quenneville said of van Riemsdyk. "I think he came onto the scene rather fast for us. I think we have a lot of confidence and trust in him."