The Blackhawks’ 2025-26 season ended with a 29-39-14 record and 72 points, a step forward from the 25-46-11, 61-point finish the year before. The bigger picture still wasn’t where the organization wanted it, but there was at least some measurable progress, along with signs that a wave of young players is starting to matter.
Drew Commesso fits right into that conversation.
He only appeared in three games for Chicago, which makes him an easy player to overlook in a season-long review. But the 24-year-old goaltender may be lining up for a much larger role down the road than Arvid Soderblom.
The Blackhawks signed Commesso to a two-year extension on Jul. 6, and the deal runs through the 2027-28 season with a $875,000 cap hit. His contract is two-way for the coming season before becoming one-way in 2027-28, when he would earn the same $900,000 whether he is in the NHL or AHL and would also need to clear waivers.
Taken together, that points toward Chicago seeing him as a possible backup to Spencer Knight in 2027-28, if not earlier.
Commesso has also put together a steady run with the Rockford IceHogs over the last three seasons. As the club’s No. 1 goalie, he posted a combined .906 save percentage and 2.76 goals-against average in that stretch. Translating AHL success to the NHL is never automatic, but Commesso gave the Blackhawks something to build on with the way he handled his brief time in the league.
His first appearance came in emergency relief on Jan. 1 against the Washington Capitals, when Knight and Soderblom were both out sick. That night went sideways fast, with Commesso allowing five goals in a 5-1 loss. He bounced back immediately, though, and the next night against the Nashville Predators he stopped all 36 shots he faced for his first NHL win and his first NHL shutout.
After that game, he said:
Something I’ve learned about pro hockey is there’s a lot out of your control. I went from not even playing in the Rockford game on Friday to starting for the Hawks back-to-back games.
You never know. It’s just good to lean back on my preparation when I need it.
Commesso got one more chance on Mar. 9 against the Utah Mammoth, and he delivered again, turning aside 23 of 25 shots in a 3-2 overtime win. Across those three starts, he looked quick, athletic and composed, and head coach Jeff Blashill praised his confidence and his demeanor even though he didn’t know he was starting until the last minute.
That kind of readiness matters for a goalie. Commesso has shown he can handle the chaos when the call comes, and now the challenge is turning those flashes into something more consistent at the NHL level.
After the Mar. 9 win, he was asked about his preparation and said:
I think that’s just part of the job of always staying prepared. I don’t think my approach really changes, where I’m playing.
Just prepare the best I can with the circumstances I’m given, and go and give my team a shot. So that’s really all that I can do at the end of the day.
Final grade: B.
Commesso still has work to do to win a job out of training camp, especially with waivers exempt status on his side while Soderblom is not. He’s likely headed back to the IceHogs, but the Blackhawks have clearly kept him in their plans. The sample size is small, yet the early returns are encouraging, and the next season should tell us a lot more about whether his game can stick in the NHL on a regular basis.
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