The Chicago Blackhawks spent the offseason making noise in all the obvious places. They went out and paid through the nose for Bowen Byram in June, hoping they had finally landed a true No. 1 defender from the Buffalo Sabres. Then they brought back franchise icon Patrick Kane to bolster the scoring and cash in on some easy nostalgia.
But for all that movement, the biggest reason Chicago can talk seriously about a run at the 2027 Playoffs might be the player easy to overlook: Spencer Knight.
Knight is already one of the NHL’s better young goaltenders, and if the Blackhawks take a real step forward this season, he has a path to the league’s top 10 at the position.
The raw numbers don’t jump off the page. Among goalies with at least 25 games played, Knight finished with a .902 save percentage, which ranked 21st, and a 2.82 goals-against average, which sat 31st. But the deeper numbers tell a much better story.
He finished fourth in both shots against, with 1,583, and saves, with 1,428, while seeing 30 shots per game, which ranked 31st in the NHL. His goals saved above expected was 10.9, good for 14th, and his wins above replacement was 1.82, also 14th. Chicago didn’t exactly help him out, either: just 19.01% of shot attempts were blocked by teammates, ninth from the bottom among all goalies.
Put it together and the picture is pretty clear. Knight was doing a solid job in front of a team that kept asking him to survive bad odds. The Blackhawks were rough in front of him, but he still landed near the top 10 in several key underlying categories.
And the eye test backed it up.
If you watched Chicago last season, Knight was impossible to miss. The Blackhawks were not a good team - that much was obvious - but he kept them alive with the saves they needed just to have a chance. Some fans voted him the team’s MVP for a reason.
What stood out most was his composure. Behind a young roster that made plenty of mistakes, Knight never seemed to get rattled. He reset quickly, shook off goals, and kept making big stops over and over again.
He should have a better situation in front of him this season, even if Chicago opens without Connor Bedard. The team is better than the 72-point group from a year ago.
Kane adds scoring in a secondary role and brings veteran leadership with him. Byram arrives as the new No. 1 defenseman, even if his defensive numbers are shaky, because his offensive upside could still change the game.
There’s also the simple matter of growth. Alex Vlasic, Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, Frank Nazar, and Anton Frondell all have another season of experience now. Roman Kantserov is also joining after three strong seasons in the KHL, which makes him technically a rookie, but not really one in the usual sense.
That all points to a better team in front of Knight. How much better is the question, but it should be an upgrade over the group that sat near the bottom of the standings last season.
And that’s what makes this such a pivotal year in Chicago. The idea of the “workhorse goaltender” is fading across the NHL, and Knight was excellent in his first season as the guy in net.
But young goalies can swing wildly from year to year. The Blackhawks are counting on internal development to fuel their push in 2026-27, and another strong season from Knight would be a huge part of making that push real.
In Other News...
Blackhawks Rebuild Could Speed Up If This Draft Plan Happens
The Blackhawks long rebuild has always been about timing as much as talent, and one of the next big tests may come well before the 2027 draft. Scott Powers of The Athletic reports that Chicago is expected to use at least some of its stockpile of future first-round picks to upgrade the NHL roster, a sign that the front office may be ready to turn surplus draft capital into a more immediate help. Around the league, recent trades involving first-rounders for young players have shown how aggressively teams can move when they see a chance to accelerate the climb.
For a Chicago team still shaping its core, that kind of move would mark a meaningful shift in strategy and a bet that the next step comes faster through the trade market than the draft. The Blackhawks have three 2027 first-round picks at their disposal, and the question now is not whether they can afford to spend them, but how much of that future capital they are willing to convert into present-day impact. Around the hockey world, other roster moves also kept the transaction wire active, with Linus Oberg heading to Kiekko-Espoo and Igor Ozhiganov extending with Dynamo Moscow. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Just Made Bowen Byram Their Biggest Defensive Bet
Bowen Byram is arriving in Chicago with the kind of runway the Blackhawks have been trying to build around their blue line. General manager Kyle Davidson made clear the organization sees far more than a short-term add-on here, pointing to Byram as someone who can grow into a top defenseman for the franchise. Byram, for his part, sounded eager to take on the responsibility and get to work with a team still shaping its next core.
The move fits the Blackhawks broader push to turn promise into something sturdier, and it comes with a level of commitment that makes this more than a routine trade deadline swing. Byrams contract gives Chicago long-term control and plenty of certainty, which only raises the stakes on whether he can become the kind of difference-maker the front office believes it is getting. [Read more 🡒]
Kyle Davidson Just Gave Blackhawks Fans A Fresh Reason For Hope
Kyle Davidson spent part of his offseason public-facing turn giving Blackhawks fans a clearer look at where the rebuild stands and why the organization believes it is moving in the right direction. In a podcast appearance, the general manager discussed the teams busy summer and offered a window into the work happening behind the scenes as Chicago continues sorting out its long-term plan.
For a fan base that has lived through years of turnover, any sign of steadiness from the top matters. Davidsons comments arrived amid a busy stretch around hockey, with the Red Wings still looking for a new general manager, Simon Despres landing with the Fort Wayne Komets and Kelly Hrudeys run at Sportsnet ending after 28 years, but the Blackhawks piece is the one that will resonate most in Chicago because it points back to the future the franchise is trying to build. [Read more 🡒]