NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept.
1. Today, the Chicago Blackhawks.
CHICAGO -- Connor Bedard has been chatting plenty to his Chicago Blackhawks teammates this summer, and the topic is usually the same.
“Everyone just kind of talks about how pumped we are to get back and be with the guys, get started, get to work,” Bedard said on July 20, two days after he signed a five-year, $75 million contract ($15 million average annual value) with the Blackhawks.
“A lot of us are of a similar age, going through the same things and there’s just so much to relate to each other. It’s a lot of fun and we support each other well.
When you get that kind of camaraderie and family aspect, it makes it even that much more fun to play hockey.”
It may be about fun but it’s also about ending Chicago's Stanley Cup Playoff drought, as it hasn't qualified for the postseason in eight of the past nine seasons. There’s been enough losing for the Blackhawks’ young core, which includes Bedard, 21, forwards Frank Nazar, 22, and Anton Frondell, 19, and defensemen Alex Vlasic, 25, and Artyom Levshunov, 20.
Granted, Bedard will have to wait to help the Blackhawks win this season. He had surgery on his left shoulder last month after sustaining an injury at a practice in Vancouver on July 2.
He’s expected back in November but until then, others, including their latest acquisitions, will have to step up.
Inside look at the Chicago Blackhawks ahead of the 2026-27 season
Chicago's biggest trade was acquiring defenseman Bowen Byram from the Buffalo Sabres for the No. 4 and No. 45 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and defenseman Louis Crevier.
Forward Roman Kantserov, a second-round pick (No. 44) in the 2023 NHL Draft, is coming over from the Kontinental Hockey League and should be part of the Blackhawks’ top six, perhaps even the top line.
“We want to take a big step this year," Bedard said. "We want to be a playoff team and that’s our only goal.
With those additions, to add that high-end skill and the other additions, you add guys who are physical and can help on the other end of the ice, which is just as important.
“Our adds are going to be a huge difference. We feel good about our group and what we’ve got going in.
We’re extremely confident of each and every guy in the room and the growth we’ve all had this summer. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Still, adding a known scorer was key for Chicago. Enter Patrick Kane, who should make Bedard’s absence a little more tolerable.
Kane, who was with the Blackhawks from 2007-23 and won the Stanley Cup three times in Chicago in 2010, 2013 and 2015, is back after signing a two-year, $16 million contract ($8 million AAV) on July 23. He was traded to the New York Rangers on Feb.
28, 2023 and played the past three seasons with the Detroit Red Wings.
“When Patrick departed a couple years ago, we were in a totally different spot as a franchise," Chicago general manager Kyle Davidson said on July 24. "We were much more at the outset of this whole (rebuilding) project.
Now that we’ve got some of these draft picks that have entered and established themselves in the NHL, obviously continue to grow in the NHL. but I felt from an organizational standpoint and roster standpoint that the time was right with what he provides.
“And [I want] to be very clear that we’re bringing him in to contribute to the hockey team here. Nostalgia and the return are very nice aspects of it, but it’s not the core reason.
We’re bringing him in to make our team better, which we firmly believe he does do. We’re ready to continue to take steps and believe he’s an important piece to help that.”
Patrick Kane set to add to his Blackhawks career highlight reel
The 37-year-old forward is still a steady producer in the NHL. He had at least 47 points in each of his past three seasons with the Red Wings, and those 47 points (20 goals, 27 assists) came in 50 games in 2023-24, when Kane was coming back from hip resurfacing surgery and didn’t play until November of that season.
He should add some needed punch for the Blackhawks, who averaged 2.56 goals per game last season, tied for 30th in the League.
“It’s been three years since my hip surgery," Kane said on July 24. "The hip feels really good.
It’s in a great spot. I’m excited to come back and try to produce and fit in with all these young players and guys that I can play with, help build chemistry, learn and I’ll learn more as a player, too.
I want to get better, learn from the coaches, even learn from the young players: Connor and Frankie and all these young guys who have so much potential and have had to pay their own way into the League as well.
“Yeah, (I want to) do all those things, help the team win, help the team score. That’s what I’ve always been known to do is help produce.
I don’t think that’s going to change anytime now, but I’ll try to do the best I can.