The Chicago Blackhawks are down to the final edges of their 2026-27 roster picture.
On Sunday, with the 2026 preseason wrapped up, the team made several moves as it moved toward Monday’s 4:00 p.m. CT deadline to submit a cap-compliant 23-player opening-night roster.
The biggest one: forward Landon Slaggert was placed on waivers, according to PuckPedia. Forward Dominic Toninato was also placed on waivers.
That move effectively settles the last roster battle. Slaggert, 23, had been competing with defenseman Ethan Del Mastro for what was left of the Blackhawks’ NHL group, and with Slaggert on waivers, Del Mastro is presumably in as the team’s eighth defenseman. Chicago had 24 players practicing with the NHL club throughout camp, but only 23 will head to Las Vegas for opening night on Tuesday.
The forward group is taking shape, too. Only 13 forwards made the cut from camp, with Teuvo Teravainen expected to be the lone healthy scratch for Game 1. Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom are the two goaltenders on the final roster, just as expected.
For Slaggert, the hope is straightforward: clear waivers and open the season with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs. The 2020 third-round pick has logged 17 points, with 6 goals and 11 assists, in 102 NHL games over the last three seasons, which gives him a reasonable chance to pass through unclaimed on Monday.
What Slaggert has built in Chicago is a pretty clear profile. He’s been a fast, annoying, defense-first winger who’s spent most of his Blackhawks time on the fourth line. Last season, he also earned trust as a penalty killer for head coach Jeff Blashill, helping the Blackhawks finish among the NHL’s best while shorthanded.
If he does end up in Rockford, that doesn’t mean he disappears from the picture. The Blackhawks could still come back to him for a call-up, and Blashill has already made it clear during camp that some roster decisions are going to spill into the regular season because of the shortened training camp and preseason.
“Some of these battles that might’ve been somewhat decided for game one of the season in the past are going to linger throughout the course of October… There will be guys that are continuing to vie for where they really sit within the team all the way through October.”
That applies to Jordan Greenway, Andrew Mangiapane, and Teravainen as well. All three remain in the mix for bottom-six roles and regular ice time, with Greenway and Mangiapane holding the early edge because they fit the heavier identity Chicago wants to lean into this season.
Teravainen, meanwhile, is in a different spot after a career-worst 2025-26 season. For now, he looks like the odd man out among the forwards, even though his puck skills and special-teams value could matter a lot over an 84-game schedule.
The Blackhawks also sent goaltender Drew Commesso and forward Dillon Boucher to the AHL earlier on Sunday after both were in uniform for Saturday’s preseason finale.
Commesso never got into one of Chicago’s four preseason games, so he never really had a chance to challenge Soderblom for the backup job. Soderblom, entering the final year of his contract, was always expected to return as the No. 2 goalie, and he backed that up with two strong preseason starts.
For now, Soderblom’s spot is safe. If he stumbles early, though, Commesso will be right there waiting.
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