The Chicago Blackhawks are still living in rebuild mode, but the clock is clearly starting to tick louder in Chicago.
For years, the organization has leaned hard into the long game: shipping out veterans, pushing young players into major roles and, in some cases, asking those players to handle NHL jobs before they were fully ready. That approach has come with plenty of losses, but it has also left the Blackhawks with the league’s best prospect pool, according to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic.
Now the next phase is starting to come into view. In a poll run by Scott Powers of The Athletic, nearly 60% of respondents - most of them Blackhawks fans - said they believe the team will get back to the postseason in 2027-28.
Powers wrote that “most people expect the 2027-28 season to be the turning point” in Chicago’s rebuild. That sense of urgency showed up earlier this offseason when the Blackhawks traded the No. 4 pick to land defenseman Bowen Byram, a move that would have been hard to imagine for this team not all that long ago.
It was a clear sign that expectations in Chicago are shifting.
Elsewhere in the hockey world, former Edmonton Oilers prospect Ostap Safin will be looking for another team for the 2026-27 season. Safin, 27, had signed a tryout agreement with KHL club Admiral Vladivostok earlier this summer, but that deal will not turn into a full-time contract.
A 2017 fourth-round pick, Safin has been playing in Europe since 2022-23. His resume does include ECHL All-Star honors and a Calder Cup title, but the last two seasons have been rough - he has played for five different teams since the start of 2024-25.
The Utica Comets also made a roster move, signing defenseman D.J. King to a one-year contract.
King, who stands 6’3″, is the son of former New York Islanders star Derek King, now the head coach of the Hershey Bears. The 25-year-old spent most of last season with the South Carolina Stingrays in the ECHL, with 11 games in Hershey under his father and seven games with the Iowa Wild.
In Other News...
Blackhawks Season Plans Are Finally Starting To Take Shape
The Blackhawks are beginning to put some structure around the coming season, and one of the clearest signs so far is the clubs newly released promotion schedule. For a team still trying to re-establish momentum with its fan base, those dates are part of the broader picture now, giving a better sense of what the organization wants this season to look and feel like on and off the ice.
Around the league, front offices are already settling into their next phase of work, from the Islanders bringing in Evan Gold as assistant general manager to handle duties tied to their new AHL affiliate, to the Maple Leafs adding Andy OBrien as vice president of sport performance. The Wild have also been active with several hires and a promotion for Alex Goligoski, a reminder that while training camps are still ahead, the business of shaping a season is well underway everywhere. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Still Have Two Blue Line Decisions Left After Bedard Deal
Connor Bedards five-year extension took care of the biggest item on Chicagos offseason to-do list, and the Blackhawks also locked up goaltender Drew Commesso for the next two years. Even after those moves, there is still work left on the blue line before the organization can close the book on this stretch of roster business, with a pair of young restricted free agents still waiting on their next contracts as the team looks ahead to the 2026-27 season.
The remaining decisions sit with two defensemen at different points in their development, each trying to carve out a longer-term role in Chicago. Their next deals are expected to be relatively straightforward compared with the Bedard contract, but they matter all the same for a rebuilding club trying to keep its young core aligned and its depth organized for the seasons ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Scoring Race Could Look Very Different Than Fans Expect
The Blackhawks internal scoring picture for 2025-26 may not line up with the one most fans would sketch in their heads. The team is coming off a recent look at point totals and individual projections that puts Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Patrick Kane, Tyler Bertuzzi and Bowen Byram at the center of the conversation, with the young core and veteran help all expected to shape the offense in different ways.
Connor Bedard still looms as the obvious headline name, but his offseason shoulder injury changes the early-season math and forces Chicago to navigate the opening stretch without its most explosive scorer. From there, the intrigue shifts to how the new arrivals fit in, especially the way Patrick Kane and Bowen Byram could tilt the top offensive and power-play roles, which might leave the Blackhawks scoring race looking a lot different from the usual assumption. [Read more 🡒]