The latest Bleacher Report power rankings have the Chicago Blackhawks sitting at No. 30, and that’s not exactly the kind of respect a team hopes to earn after a productive summer.
Chicago finished with the second-worst record in the league last year, but the front office spent the offseason trying to change the conversation. The Blackhawks brought in Bowen Byram, convinced legend Patrick Kane to come home, and extended Connor Bedard.
On paper, that feels like a meaningful step forward. Bleacher Report didn’t buy it.
The rankings, released on August 31, placed the Blackhawks behind the Seattle Kraken at No. 29 and the Winnipeg Jets at No. 28. At the very bottom were the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames, teams that are so deep into the rebuild that both are viewed as having strong chances to land the first overall pick at the 2027 NHL Draft.
The Jets’ placement is especially shaky after news broke last week that former Hart Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck publicly requested a trade, months after asking for one privately. The sense around Winnipeg is that it’s a matter of when, not if, the Olympic gold medalist is moved. When that happens, the Jets could be in serious trouble and sink toward the bottom of the Central Division.
That kind of fallout matters for Chicago, too. If Hellebuyck is gone, the Blackhawks have a better path to turning around their recent struggles against their northern rival.
Still, ranking Chicago 30th feels like a slight on the progress Kyle Davidson has made. The Kraken and Jets didn’t do much this summer, either, which only sharpens the case that the Blackhawks deserved better than this spot.
There is one obvious complication: Bedard is expected to miss about a month after shoulder surgery. But that alone shouldn’t send the panic alarm blaring, especially with Kane back in the room to help guide younger players such as Anton Frondell and Frank Nazar.
For a lot of people outside Chicago, the Blackhawks are already being filed away as just another rebuild team heading into 2026-27. No one is penciling them in for the Presidents’ Trophy or a Stanley Cup run.
But the bar is lower than that right now. The expectation is a real step forward, not more drifting in the basement.
Kane did not return to Chicago just to skate through the twilight of his career and stare up at the banners he helped raise to the roof of the United Center. The hope is that he becomes the spark that pushes the younger players closer to their ceiling.
If that happens, the Blackhawks can start winning the kind of games that lift them out of the league’s bottom tier. Bedard will eventually break out. And before long, Chicago could be back playing meaningful games and back in the postseason.
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 🡒]