Kyle Davidson made real moves this offseason, but the Chicago Blackhawks still look like a team trying to climb out of the same hole.
After finishing 31st in the NHL in 2025-26, Chicago has changed enough to look improved on paper. The additions of Bowen Byram and Patrick Kane stand out right away. Still, even with those names in the mix, the roster feels more like a modest step forward than a full-scale jump.
The biggest loss came in free agency with Ilya Mikheyev heading to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played 77 games and finished with 18 goals and 18 assists for 36 points, but his value went well beyond the box score. Mikheyev was a major piece of a penalty kill that finished second in the league in penalty kill percentage, and he brought speed and defensive reliability to the forward group.
That departure stings more when you consider the contract he landed. The Blackhawks reportedly would have been comfortable around three years at $3.25 million AAV, but Mikheyev signed for four years at $3.85 million.
Andre Burakovsky is gone too, and that move at least brought something back. Davidson sent him to the Ottawa Senators for a sixth-round pick in the 2027 draft. Burakovsky had a rough season and was frustrating for fans, but Chicago turned his contract into an actual asset instead of eating dead cap with a buyout.
On defense, Louis Crevier was also included in the Byram deal, while Matt Grzelcyk remains unsigned. Crevier had a solid season in Chicago, but he was part of the price for landing Byram. Grzelcyk gave the young defensemen a veteran presence, though Davidson did add experience elsewhere.
Byram is the headline piece. He came over from the Buffalo Sabres and, despite concerns about his defensive game and the price tag attached to him, he is clearly the best defenseman on the roster right now. Last season, he would have ranked third on the Blackhawks in points with 42, which was a career high.
There is reason to expect more offense from him in Chicago, too. Without Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power ahead of him, Byram should get first power-play unit time, which could push his numbers up. But the deal was still a hefty one: a four-year contract with an AAV of $12.5 million.
Kane’s return is the other major story. The cap hit comes in at $8 million, which leaves Chicago with just $2.8 million in cap space for now, though Davidson still needs to get a deal done with restricted free agent Kevin Korchinski.
Even with the financial squeeze, Kane looks like a strong move. He should help the power play, and he gives Connor Bedard a veteran who has won in this market and can be around him every day.
Chicago also added Ian Cole on defense and Cole Smith up front. Cole brings experience and some stability to a very young blue line. Smith gives them a defensive forward who skated well for the Vegas Golden Knights after being moved there from Nashville last season, and his speed stands out: he ranked in the 85th percentile in 22-mile-per-hour or higher bursts and in the 94th percentile in max skating speed.
Jordan Greenway came back in the Byram deal and adds physicality to the fourth line. The fit isn’t ideal in this view, and there’s a desire to see that spot opened for a younger player.
Even with all those changes, the core problems remain. Chicago still projects as a young team with defensive issues, and Bedard being out until November makes the climb even harder. There is plenty of youth to watch, including Anton Frondell, Oliver Moore, Nick Lardis, Roman Kantserov and Ryan Green, but those players need time to adjust to the NHL.
The best-case read is not a dramatic leap, but a team that looks a little better, stays out of a deeper hole, and gives fans something to enjoy. The range here still feels wide, but a finish somewhere from 31 to 27 is the expectation. For this season, the bigger questions are whether the young players take steps, whether Spencer Knight can repeat last year, and whether Byram can prove he’s good enough to be a top defenseman.
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