A 2027 playoff push for the Blackhawks starts with a lot more than hope. It starts with a young roster taking real steps, a franchise center playing like a star, and a few key pieces turning promise into production.
That’s the shape of the challenge for Chicago, a rebuilding team that has finished 31st in the NHL standings three straight years and still has to navigate a Central Division that never gives anyone a free pass. But this is also the first season in a while where winning feels like the expectation rather than the exception.
Kyle Davidson made that clear this summer when he became the first general manager to move a top-four pick in over two decades with the Bowen Byram trade. That move doesn’t exactly scream patience for another bottom-of-the-barrel year.
If the Blackhawks are going to get into the playoff conversation, Connor Bedard has to drive the whole thing. He is still the clear centerpiece, and Chicago’s ceiling rises and falls with him.
The next step for Bedard needs to be a big one, and the bar is high: he has to be in the Hart Trophy discussion, the way Macklin Celebrini was for the San Jose Sharks this past season. Bedard was at his best before the shoulder injury last December, and staying healthy is the obvious priority.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case for him so far this offseason. If he can get through the year and produce at over a 100-point rate over an 84-game season, that would be a major leap.
The rookie class could also swing the season. Anton Frondell and Roman Kantserov are set to join the top-six forward group full-time, and both need to make an immediate impact.
Frondell already has 12 NHL games on his ledger, while Kantserov arrives after an impressive run in the KHL. Chicago needs both of them in the Calder Trophy mix, especially if Davidson doesn’t add more help up front.
Bedard needs playable, dangerous linemates, and these two are supposed to be part of that answer.
On the blue line, the spotlight shifts to Byram. He is the biggest addition to the roster, and the organization has invested heavily in him through both the trade from Buffalo and the richest contract for a defenseman in Chicago.
That kind of commitment comes with expectations. Davidson is betting on Byram becoming the true number-one defenseman he was drafted to be, and next season is the time to prove it.
He’ll need to handle all situations, with special attention on the power play, where he’s expected to run the point.
Frank Nazar is another player who has to settle in and deliver. His last season was up and down, starting strongly before a midseason injury changed the trajectory.
From there, the consistency never really came back. Now his seven-year, $6.6 million extension begins, and Chicago needs him to look like a core piece rather than just another young player with upside.
The same goes for the rest of the youth movement. The Blackhawks used a lot of rookies last season, and now those players have to show growth in their second year.
Oliver Moore and Nick Lardis will be trying to make their first full-season impact after splitting time between Rockford and Chicago. Ryan Greene needs to keep climbing.
Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel need to take steps forward too. If Chicago is going to break through, it’s this young group that has to keep moving the team in the right direction.
And then there’s Spencer Knight, who was arguably the team’s MVP after Bedard last season. Night after night, he was the reason the score stayed respectable while the defense in front of him was still learning on the job.
That defense should be better next season, which should help him, and it should mean fewer nights spent facing 30-40 shots. Even so, Knight still has to be a steadying force in net if the Blackhawks are going to sniff the postseason.
In Other News...
Connor Bedard Just Sent A Strong Message About His Blackhawks Future
Connor Bedard is already acting like a player who knows the Blackhawks future runs through him. Even with his contract situation still unresolved beyond this season, the young forward has been making himself present in the room, and new teammate Cole Smith noted that Bedard reached out soon after Smith arrived. For a team still trying to build a steadier identity, those small gestures matter just as much as the highlight-reel stuff.
Bedards outreach also fits the broader picture around him in Chicago, where his role keeps expanding on and off the ice. The Blackhawks have long viewed him as the centerpiece of the rebuild, but the next step is less about talent and more about whether he can become the kind of voice teammates naturally follow. Right now, he is giving every indication he wants that responsibility, even if the full picture of what comes next is still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Spencer Knights Season Grades Hint The Blackhawks Found Their Goalie
Spencer Knights first full season as the Blackhawks No. 1 goalie gave the front office plenty to like, even if the year came with the usual bumps that follow a heavy workload on a young roster. He played a career-high 55 games in 2025-26, posted a 2.82 goals-against average, a .902 save percentage and 19 wins, and the overall tone of the season reviews was encouraging enough to suggest Chicago may have found its long-term answer in net.
Knights path through the season also reflected the realities of playing behind a defense that changed around him. His early months were his best, and the later stretch became more complicated as the team dealt with injuries and absences on the blue line, which put even more pressure on a goalie already carrying the starters load. Chicago rewarded that progress with a new three-year extension, but the bigger question now is whether Knight can turn a promising first act into something more stable as the roster around him continues to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
Every Blackhawks Move Right Now Feels Secondary To Connor Bedard
The Blackhawks spent part of the week on the sort of housekeeping that usually fills out a summer calendar, announcing their 2026 preseason schedule and handing out jersey numbers for the 2026-27 season. Chicago also locked up restricted free-agent goaltender Drew Commesso on a two-year extension and added forward Cole Smith on a three-year deal, the kind of depth moves that matter in a rebuild even if they do not move the spotlight very far from center stage.
Around the league, there were a few familiar names changing addresses, with Claude Giroux heading to Ottawa on a one-year deal and Daniel Alfredsson joining the Maple Leafs as an associate coach. Still, for Chicago, the larger conversation keeps circling back to the same place, because every routine announcement seems to land in the shadow of the player who drives the franchise's present and future. [Read more 🡒]