The Chicago Blackhawks are closing in on training camp, and the calendar is already starting to tighten. With the updated collective bargaining agreement cutting camp down to 13 days, the club is expected to hold physicals on Sept. 16 and hit the ice for the first practice on Sept. 17, though that schedule is not official yet.
That short runway leaves plenty of storylines to sort through, and a few of the biggest ones are already hovering over camp: the captaincy, defenseman Bowen Byram, and the broader questions that come with a compressed preseason.
There’s been no shortage of discussion around the blue line, either. One recent take looked at how the Blackhawks may be underplaying the loss of defenseman Louis Crevier, who went to the Buffalo Sabres as part of the trade for Byram. Another piece drew a clear line between Byram’s arrival and the Seth Jones chapter of Blackhawks history, while a separate discussion noted that Byram’s contract now looks like chump change next to the massive Cale Makar signing.
Camp itself is the main event, though, and the Blackhawks have five major storylines to watch once things get going. More detail is coming as those situations unfold.
The club also landed at No. 30 in a recent NHL power ranking, but one evaluation argued that slot is too low and could end up serving as motivation for Chicago.
And because not every Blackhawks update has to be about roster construction, the team also gave fans a lighter moment for National Dog Day. On Aug. 26, Chicago shared a video of Alex Vlasic, Wyatt Kaiser and Artyom Levshunov’s dogs out on the ice with them.
The countdown to opening night keeps rolling, too. The number right now: Andrew Mangiapane days.
Mangiapane may not be the flashiest name on the roster, but he’s in the mix after arriving as a salary dump by the Edmonton Oilers in the trade for Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach at last year’s deadline. He never really settled in with the Blackhawks, and now he’s in a battle just to stick around. With depth forwards like Cole Smith and Jordan Greenway added this offseason, Mangiapane could wind up being the odd man out.
In Other News...
Blackhawks Rebuild Suddenly Has A Real Breakthrough Path
The Blackhawks rebuild suddenly looks a little less theoretical because the pieces around Connor Bedard are starting to give the front office something more than hope. Patrick Kane is back in the mix, young forwards Anton Frondell and Roman Kantserov are part of the longer-term picture, and the defense group has its own reasons to push after years of growing pains. Add in the possibility that Spencer Knight can stabilize the crease, and Chicago can at least sketch a path toward a season that feels more purposeful than the ones that came before it.
Bedard remains the obvious hinge, though, and his timeline still shapes everything about how quickly this can turn. The broader question is whether the Blackhawks can survive the opening stretch well enough to keep the season alive until their top talent is available, because the difference between another development year and a real breakthrough may come down to how much help they get from the rest of the roster before the face of the franchise is back on the ice. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Just Put More Pressure On Connor Bedard Than Ever
Connor Bedard is heading into his fourth NHL season in Chicago still waiting for his first playoff berth, and the pressure around him has only grown as the organization keeps trying to raise the team around its young centerpiece. The Blackhawks have already made notable moves this summer, including adding defense help and bringing Patrick Kane back into the mix, as Kyle Davidson continues to reshape a roster that has struggled to find any real balance.
The latest reminder of how much is being asked of Bedard came from The Athletics recent player tier rankings, which put him in the third tier and pointed to concerns about his defensive game on a team that has had trouble in its own end. For a player who is supposed to drive Chicagos next era, the message is clear: the Blackhawks are building with urgency, and they need Bedard to look like much more than just a star scorer if this push is going to stick. [Read more 🡒]
Two Blackhawks Rookies Are Suddenly At The Center Of Calder Buzz
A little more than a year out from the 2026-27 NHL season, the Blackhawks already have two rookies drawing serious attention in Calder Trophy conversation. The Athletics Harman Dayal, Scott Wheeler and Corey Pronman put forwards Roman Kantserov and Anton Frondell among the top candidates, a sign of how much belief there is in both players as possible top-line and power-play contributors for Chicago.
For a rebuild still looking to turn promise into results, that kind of early buzz matters because it reflects both ceiling and opportunity. FanDuel Sportsbook has Frondell and Kantserov among the favorites as well, which only adds to the intrigue around how quickly they can translate prospect hype into NHL impact once the season arrives. [Read more 🡒]