The Blackhawks’ 2026-27 schedule is out, and that means the calendar is already starting to fill with the kinds of dates fans circle first: outdoor games, international play and the revenge spots that always jump off the page.
There’s also a little history baked into July 18 for Chicago. On this date in 2000, the Blackhawks signed veteran forward Valeri Zelepukin. His run in Chicago was brief and quiet - three goals and seven points in 36 games - and it ended up being the fourth and final stop of his 10-season NHL career.
Eight years later, the franchise made a move that shaped an era. In 2008, the Blackhawks named Jonathan Toews the 35th captain in team history.
The second-year center became the youngest player ever to wear the C for Chicago, doing it at 20 years and 70 days old. He went on to wear it for 1,003 games, score 348 goals and post 829 points, and he did the Stanley Cup center-ice handshake with Gary Bettman three times.
Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson says he is always looking for ways to improve the roster, and Scott Roche believes a trade with the Boston Bruins is a risk worth taking.
The Blackhawks’ July 18 birthday roll call includes Gord McFarlane.
Around the league, the biggest contract ripple is still coming from the blue line. Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar are both in the final years of their current deals, and their next contracts are expected to reset the market for defensemen.
Hughes has not yet signed an extension with the Minnesota Wild, but the team remains confident it will happen. Head coach John Hynes told the Minnesota Star Tribune that he is “very optimistic” the superstar blueliner will be with his team beyond the upcoming season.
The Philadelphia Flyers also took care of business, avoiding arbitration with defenseman Jamie Drysdale by agreeing to a four-year, $26 million contract. That makes him the highest-paid blueliner on the roster. The Flyers got him from the Anaheim Ducks in the 2024 trade for Cutter Gauthier.
Former Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk is heading back to Europe, signing a one-year deal with EC Salzburg of Austria’s IceHL. It’s his third straight season overseas after one-year stops in Finland and Russia, and he has not played in the NHL since appearing in five games for Chicago during the 2021-22 season.
In Other News...
Kyle Davidson Just Made His Boldest Blackhawks Bet Yet
Kyle Davidson spent the offseason making the kind of moves that signal a front office is no longer content to keep stockpiling future assets. He added veteran help in Ian Cole and Cole Smith, but the bigger theme was a willingness to spend real capital on players who can help Chicago sooner rather than later, all while the club still has roughly $12 million in salary cap space to work with.
The most delicate part of that balancing act is still ahead. Contract talks with Connor Bedard remain ongoing, and with the franchise centerpiece coming off shoulder surgery, the Blackhawks have to keep one eye on the present and another on the price of what comes next. Davidsons latest offseason push suggests he is ready to make a bold bet on the roster, but the next move may say even more about how far hes prepared to go. [Read more 🡒]
What Jordan Greenway Could Change For The Blackhawks Bottom Six
Jordan Greenway arrives in Chicago with the kind of profile that can matter in the bottom six if everything clicks. He has dealt with injury trouble for much of his career and got into 40 games last season, but the Blackhawks are looking at him as a possible fourth-line piece who can add some size and stability to a group that needs more dependable depth.
Greenways fit will come down to whether he can stay available and give the Blackhawks a real option on a nightly basis. Chicago is expected to use him with other players on the fourth line, and if he can settle into that role, it would give the club a more functional lower-end lineup than it has had in recent seasons. [Read more 🡒]