Another day is off the offseason calendar, and the hockey world is inching closer to training camp. The Blackhawks now know what numbers their newest players will wear, and the league’s full 2026-27 schedule is almost here.
There was at least one notable absence at the rink on Tuesday: Connor Bedard did not take part in the day’s activities after appearing to injure his shoulder during the first Kaivo skate. Ryan McGregor was back on site to check out that session, and the team is still waiting on an official update.
The Blackhawks also rolled out the new jersey numbers for their incoming players, and that included a change for Sacha Boisvert. Bowen Byram had already been set to wear No. 24, and now the rest of the group has its assignments too.
Elsewhere around the Blackhawks, Richard Jelinek examined Kyle Davidson’s July 1 moves and whether the quiet free-agency period could come back to bite Chicago. Justin Lynch took a broader look at the team’s path forward, laying out the “ifs” that would need to break the right way for the Blackhawks to be playing meaningful games into the spring.
The birthday list for July 7 includes Michel Dumas, Karl Dykhuis, and Nick Lardis.
Around the NHL, the league will unveil the full 2026-27 schedule on July 16 at noon. The day before, July 15, the opening night matchups will be revealed, and those games will air on ESPN.
Ottawa also made the Claude Giroux signing official. He gets a one-year deal with a $2 million base salary and can climb to $5 million if he reaches all of his performance bonuses.
And in a surprising twist, Daniel Alfredsson is heading to Toronto. The former Senators star is joining Jim Hiller’s coaching staff with the Maple Leafs as an associate coach after three seasons as an assistant in Ottawa. Alfredsson spent 17 of his 18 NHL seasons with the Senators and remains the franchise leader in goals with 426, assists with 682, and points with 1,108.
Finally, Helene St. James reported that Dylan Larkin has not widened his trade list beyond the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, and Vegas Golden Knights. She also noted that Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman wants current roster players and has no interest in starting another rebuild, which leaves Larkin’s situation tied to both Detroit’s stance and the cap realities of those three teams.
In Other News...
New Blackhawks Addition Just Weighed In On Chicago's Rebuild
Cole Smith is already sounding like a player who understands why Chicago wanted him. In his first public comments since signing a three-year deal on July 1, the veteran forward said he likes where the Blackhawks are headed and praised the way the front office handled the process, adding that the organization made him feel appreciated from the start.
For a team still trying to turn the corner in its rebuild, that kind of buy-in matters as much as any depth addition. Smith also said he is looking forward to meeting Connor Bedard, and his optimism about the groups direction fits the broader feeling around Chicago that the next step is no longer just about patience, but about finally starting to win again. [Read more 🡒]
Matt Grzelcyk Put Blackhawks Fans In A Familiar Blue Line Debate
Matt Grzelcyks first season in Chicago gave the Blackhawks exactly the kind of blue-line conversation they knew they were signing up for. After arriving on a one-year deal following a preseason PTO, he settled in as a third-pairing defenseman and brought a steady veteran presence to a young group, appearing in 69 games before an injury cut his year short.
The numbers were modest, with 12 assists, no goals and a minus-6 rating, and now the bigger question is what comes next. Grzelcyk is set to hit free agency, and while he should draw interest elsewhere, Chicago appears unlikely to bring him back, leaving another familiar opening on the back end for the Blackhawks to sort out. [Read more 🡒]
Kyle Davidson's Quiet Summer Just Put Blackhawks Fans On Edge
Kyle Davidsons summer roster work was never going to be about headlines, and in that sense the Blackhawks stayed true to form. Chicago added six players in free agency and through trade, with the bulk of the activity aimed at shoring up the blue line and stocking the organization with more defensive depth for both the NHL club and the Rockford IceHogs. Ian Cole, Dylan Anhorn, Connor Mackey, Cole Smith and Connor Mylymok all fit that theme, giving the Blackhawks a deeper pool of options as they try to keep building out the back end.
The move that really changes the temperature, though, is the arrival of Bowen Byram, who came over in a trade and immediately became the most meaningful addition of the group. Even with that kind of upgrade, the broader reaction around the team is easy to understand: Chicago did real work, but it still feels like the sort of summer that leaves fans wondering whether the front office had bigger swings in mind and simply found the market too expensive, too thin or too hard to sell. [Read more 🡒]