The Rockford IceHogs didn’t exactly roar out of the gate in October 2026. A 3-6 month, just eight points in nine games, and only 18 goals scored left them stuck at the bottom of the AHL in offense. But even in a rough opening stretch, a few players gave the season some early life.
Gavin Hayes has been the loudest bright spot. The 2022 NHL Draft pick, taken 66th overall in the third round, has taken a big step after building up his pro game over the last two seasons.
He opened his career in 2024-25 with five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 50 games, then jumped to 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points in 57 games last season. This October, he pushed that rise even further, putting up six goals and four assists for 10 points in 10 games while finishing at plus-3.
He led the IceHogs in goals and closed the month on a four-game goal streak, a strong statement in what is his final year on his entry-level contract.
Jiri Felcman has also made a quick impression in his first full year as a pro. After finishing his NL season with the Langnau Tigers last year, where he recorded three goals and 17 assists for 20 points in 52 games with a minus-4 rating, he came over to Rockford and had a quiet start in seven games last season with two assists and a plus-2 mark.
October looked much more like the player the IceHogs hoped to see. He stayed at a point-per-game pace with two goals and seven assists for nine points in nine games, plus-2, and was held off the scoresheet in only three games.
He’s been skating on a line with Hayes and Nick Lardis, and the production has made the chemistry obvious.
Brett Seney keeps doing what he’s done since arriving in Rockford: setting the tone. Signed by the Blackhawks before the 2022-23 season, he delivered back-to-back 23-goal seasons in his first two years with the IceHogs and was named captain before the 2024-25 season.
He was later re-signed to a two-year AHL deal, with this season marking the final year. In October, he chipped in two goals and four assists in nine games.
Then on November 1, 2026, against the Texas Stars, he added a goal and two assists and moved into first place on the IceHogs’ all-time points list with 216 in 261 games, passing Brandon Pirri’s 214 points in 275 games.
For a team that has spent the early part of the season searching for offense, those three have been the clearest reasons for optimism.
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Patrick Kanes Absence Leaves Blackhawks Facing A Brutal Early Test
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The exact nature of the injury remains unclear, but the timing makes it an especially tough break for a team still trying to establish structure and consistency. For a young roster, losing a player of Kanes experience is more than a lineup change, it is a test of how much the Blackhawks can absorb when the game gets messy and the goals are harder to come by. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Still Havent Won On The Road As New Look Gets Tested
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Patrick Kanes upper-body injury has forced the Blackhawks to reshuffle, and the opening night of this road swing will also bring a fresh face into the mix. Dillon Boucher is set for his NHL debut against a Florida team that still has plenty of talent on both ends of the ice, giving Chicago an immediate chance to see how its adjustments hold up away from home. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Must Keep Belief Alive Before This Start Gets Away
A month into the season, the Blackhawks are already fighting the kind of early hole that can warp everything around a young team. Chicago is 4-10-1 and has been on the wrong end of lopsided games far too often, which has put the focus on a defense that has struggled to hold structure and a power play that has not given the group much relief. Even so, head coach Derek Blashill and captain Connor Bedard have kept stressing that the group still believes it can straighten itself out.
The challenge now is making that optimism mean something before the standings get out of reach. The Blackhawks have enough issues to sort through that one fix will not solve everything, but the return of Bowen Byram should at least give them a boost in an area that has been dragging. For a team trying to keep its season from slipping away, the next stretch is less about style points than proving the belief in the room can survive the results on the ice. [Read more 🡒]