What the Blackhawks do in the first stretch of next season may matter less for the standings than for the story everyone tells about them.
That’s the real pressure point after a 2025-26 finish that left plenty of room for doubt. A 20-game sample won’t decide the fate of The Plan™, but it could go a long way toward shaping whether people see the Blackhawks as moving forward or just spinning their wheels again.
The Bowen Byram trade is the clearest sign that the organization expects something better. Chicago sent away a No. 4 overall pick for a prime-aged defenseman, then followed that by giving Byram the richest AAV in franchise history.
That kind of move doesn’t happen if the goal is still to sit in the basement forever. Not after three straight seasons of finishing 31st in a 32-team league.
Still, the team’s most recent on-ice evidence doesn’t exactly scream progress. The kid-heavy group that finished last season posted worse numbers over its final 20 games than the full 82-game team in almost every major category:
CF%: 45.60 over the full season, 43.10 in games 63-82
SF%: 44.38 over the full season, 42.37 in games 63-82
SCF%: 43.29 over the full season, 39.13 in games 63-82
HDCF%: 40.35 over the full season, 35.78 in games 63-82
GF%: 43.27 over the full season, 40.43 in games 63-82
xGF%: 42.25 over the full season, 37.47 in games 63-82
SH%: 9.56 over the full season, 9.77 in games 63-82
SV%: .900 over the full season, .894 in games 63-82
The opening-night roster should look different, with Byram and Roman Kantserov in the mix. But Connor Bedard won’t be there, and that feels like a wash at best. Oliver Moore’s healthy return helps, but not enough to swing the equation all by itself.
That’s why the mood inside the building matters so much. If the Blackhawks start next season looking like the team that closed the last one, the perception problem gets louder fast.
There were already warning signs late in the year. Against Buffalo in the penultimate regular-season game, the Hawks were booed after a sloppy outing that didn’t produce a single quality chance. The result was a 5-1 loss, and Ben Pope wrote that the Hawks “did not show any signs of giving a shit throughout the second or third periods.”
Then came the season finale against San Jose, played within an hour of the announcement of Kyle Davidson’s extension. The crowd reaction told its own story when Mikheyev got the Hawks’ first shot on goal 16 minutes into the first period.
A massive eruption from the UC crowd as Mikheyev gets the Hawks' first shot on goal 16 minutes into the first period. Biggest one of the night!
- Second City Hockey (@secondcityhockey.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Those were small moments, but they hinted at a bigger truth: the losses were stacking up, and the hockey was becoming harder for the home crowd to stomach.
So now the question is simple. What happens if the Blackhawks are still getting outplayed early next season, even after the Byram swing? What happens if the young core still doesn’t show clear growth on the ice?
The answer is obvious enough. It all comes back to The Plan™.
Chicago has stayed committed to it, and Davidson has continued to frame Roman Kantserov as the top-six partner Bedard still hasn’t had in his NHL career. Some corners of the internet will keep applauding that patience.
Others will keep waiting for proof that the plan is actually working.
Maybe that proof arrives this fall. Maybe the prospects finally start turning into real NHL answers, and maybe the Byram addition helps steady the blue line until Bedard returns. If not, the perception around this team is going to harden in a hurry.
And once that happens, it stops being just perception.
In Other News...
Blackhawks Face Emotional Reunion Debate With Bedard Set To Miss Time
Connor Bedards expected absence to open next season has already pushed the Blackhawks into a familiar kind of summer conversation: how to keep the offense afloat while their franchise center recovers and the roster around him keeps taking shape. It also adds another layer to Bedards own contract picture, with his injury history and the way recent young-star extensions have been handled becoming part of the backdrop as Chicago weighs its next steps.
For a team still trying to build a true support system around its best player, the timing makes every forward-group decision feel a little heavier. The Blackhawks have already watched other young players around the league get locked in, and the organizations prospect pipeline continues to draw attention as well, but the bigger question remains how Chicago bridges the gap until Bedard is back on the ice and ready to drive the lineup again. [Read more 🡒]
Patrick Kane Debate Just Got Real For Blackhawks Fans
Patrick Kane is once again sitting in the center of the summer conversation, and for Blackhawks fans, that alone is enough to stir up old memories. After spending last season with the Detroit Red Wings, the veteran winger is a free agent, and the discussion around his next move has turned into a familiar mix of nostalgia and roster logic as teams weigh what he can still bring at this stage of his career.
The list of possible landing spots includes the Buffalo Sabres and the Edmonton Oilers, with Chicago naturally lingering in the background as the reunion scenario that never quite goes away. Kanes next decision will be shaped by more than sentiment, though, because his priorities now are tied to finding the right fit for the final stretch of his career, and there is still no official agreement anywhere yet. [Read more 🡒]
One Blackhawks Prospect Has A Real Chance To Force The Issue
For a Blackhawks team still sorting out the edges of its roster, the most interesting camp battles may come from the prospect group rather than the veterans. AJ Spellacy, Drew Commesso and Marek Vanacker all have a chance to push for jobs as the organization keeps moving young players closer to NHL duty, and each arrives with a different kind of case. Commesso is the most polished of the three, Spellacy is trying to translate his development into a real depth role, and Vanacker is the sort of scorer who can make a staff pause if he keeps showing he belongs.
The challenge for Chicago is that none of those paths is simple, especially when the competition includes established names and the leap from junior or the minors to the NHL is still a major one. Spellacy has to prove he can win a spot in a crowded forward mix, while Vanackers offensive profile gives him a different kind of intrigue if he can carry it into pro pace. Commesso, meanwhile, is the closest to forcing the issue, and the way the Blackhawks handle his next step will say plenty about how quickly they want to lean on this wave of young talent. [Read more 🡒]