The Chicago Blackhawks are at the point where potential isn’t enough anymore. After years stuck near the bottom of the NHL, they’ve got enough talent on the roster to matter - but 2026-27 is the season when the pieces have to start fitting together.
A few players could take off this year. These three, though, are carrying the most pressure because their seasons will say a lot about where the Blackhawks are headed.
Artyom Levshunov comes in with the weight of being the second overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, and he’s already shown flashes across 86 games. The upside is obvious.
So are the rough edges. His biggest issues have come in his own zone, especially when it comes to making simple plays to get the puck out.
JFresh has him in the first percentile in even strength defense, but that’s not exactly shocking for an 18/19-year-old defenseman trying to grow into the league.
The encouraging part is that Levshunov has looked like a puck-moving defenseman with real promise. The Blackhawks know they need patience here.
Nobody should be expecting him to walk in at 20 and become the franchise defenseman he was projected to be overnight. What they do need is progress: cleaner work defensively, continued growth offensively, and a step forward that makes the long view feel justified.
Roman Kantserov is a different kind of test. He slid to the second round of the 2023 NHL Draft largely because of the Russian connection, since he was already committed to three seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League at the time. Now those commitments are done, and he’s set to jump into the Blackhawks’ top six in 2026-27.
He earned that chance the hard way. At 21, Kantserov put together a huge season for Metallurg Magnitogorsk, scoring 36 goals and 64 points in 63 games in a league full of older, more experienced players.
He’s only 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds, but he brings a relentless motor and a high compete level that should translate into opportunity right away. Chicago appears to have him penciled in as either a first- or second-line right winger, which means the runway to produce will be there from the start.
Now comes the part where he has to prove the wait was worth it.
Then there’s Bowen Byram, the player the Blackhawks went all in on. They paid a steep price to get him, then backed it up with a contract worth $12.5 million per season. That kind of move says they see him as a No. 1 defenseman right now, even though he’s been more of a No. 3/4 with the Buffalo Sabres over the past couple of seasons.
Byram does have the tools to be a high-end offensive defenseman. In Buffalo, he matched career highs with 11 goals and 31 assists and set a new personal best with 42 points while playing in a heavily used top four.
In Chicago, the expectations are even bigger. He’ll get top minutes, tougher matchups, and all the power play time he can handle.
The concern is what he does away from the puck, but if the offense climbs again, he can start making people forget about those issues and help justify what the Blackhawks paid to bring him in.
That’s the larger backdrop for this team, too. Chicago looks like a group that can at least push for a playoff spot, especially with Connor Bedard’s injury looming in the short term - though the sense is that he’ll be back sooner than first expected.
Even if a full postseason run is a stretch, the Blackhawks need to be in the mix. Another season buried in the basement would bring more questions than answers, and it would also hit the young core they’ve built this future around.
In Other News...
Blackhawks Just Added An International Twist To This Season
The Blackhawks have been leaning into the past and the present at the same time, with their Number History series spotlighting the players who wore 26 through 30 while Wyatt Kaiser continues to settle in as part of the young core that took shape last season. It is the kind of in-house storytelling that fits a rebuild, tying the clubs tradition to the players expected to carry it forward.
Now Chicagos season will also carry an international wrinkle. The NHL has lined up the Blackhawks for a December trip overseas as part of the Global Series, giving the team a marquee stage far from the United Center and a chance to show how this new-look roster handles a different kind of spotlight. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Need Their Biggest Strength To Survive A Major Reshuffle
The Blackhawks spent last season leaning on one of their most reliable areas, and now that strength is being put to the test by an offseason reshuffle. With the team looking ahead to 2026-27, Chicago has seen key penalty-kill contributors move on, forcing the coaching staff and front office to rework a part of the roster that had become a real asset. General manager Kyle Davidson has already brought in Ian Cole, Bowen Byram, Cole Smith and Jordan Greenway as part of the effort to keep that unit steady.
What makes the transition especially important is the style behind it. Assistant coach Michael Peca and head coach Jeff Blashill have stressed the need for buy-in to the aggressive penalty-kill system the Blackhawks used last season, and that kind of commitment tends to matter as much as personnel. The question now is how quickly the new group can absorb those demands and whether Chicago can preserve one of its biggest strengths while replacing so many familiar faces. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Prospect Pipeline Is Turning Heads For More Than One Reason
Corey Pronmans latest top-156 NHL players and prospects under 23 list offered another reminder that Chicagos rebuild has real traction. The Blackhawks had 10 players make the cut for the 2026-27 season, with Connor Bedard naturally headlining the group and the organization drawing notice for the depth of its young talent. It is the kind of prospect inventory that keeps a team interesting even when the standings have not caught up yet.
Still, the reaction around Pronmans rankings was hardly universal praise. Some of the player placements and skill grades drew criticism, which is part of what makes these lists linger beyond the usual offseason chatter. For Chicago, though, the larger takeaway is bigger than any one ranking or label, because the pipeline keeps earning attention for both its star power and the volume of names behind it. [Read more 🡒]