For the past several years, the Chicago Blackhawks have been an NHL franchise that has been firmly committed to the principles of the rebuild. They began the process by trading away numerous veteran players, and over the past few years they have elevated a large number of young players into key roles, in some cases putting players into NHL roles they are not quite ready for.
The Blackhawks’ commitment to rebuilding has led to a lot of losses over the last few years, but at the same time, it’s also provided the team with the league’s best prospect pool, according to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic.
Soon, though, the future the Blackhawks have been diligently building towards will need to arrive. In a poll conducted by Scott Powers of The Athletic, nearly 60% of respondents, most of whom are Blackhawks fans, said they expect the team to return to the postseason in the 2027-28 season.
According to Powers, “most people expect the 2027-28 season to be the turning point” in Chicago’s rebuild. The signs that the Blackhawks are feeling a little bit more pressure to accelerate the timeline of their rebuild were already apparent earlier in the offseason, such as when the team traded the No. 4 pick to acquire defenseman Bowen Byram.
That’s a move that would have been unthinkable for Chicago not too long ago, and the trade serves as a reflection of how expectations have begun to shift in the Windy City.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
Former Edmonton Oilers prospect Ostap Safin will need to find a new place to play the 2026-27 season. After signing a tryout agreement with KHL side Admiral Vladivostok earlier this summer, it was announced that the tryout deal will not be extended into a full-time contract.
Safin, 27, is a 2017 fourth-round pick who has been playing in Europe since 2022-23. Although Safin has some positive things on his resume, such as ECHL All-Star honors and a Calder Cup title, the past two seasons have been difficult as he has played for five different teams since the start of 2024-25.
The Utica Comets, AHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils, signed defenseman D.J. King to a one-year contract.
The 6’3″ defenseman is the son of former New York Islanders star Derek King, who is head coach of the Hershey Bears. The 25-year-old spent most of last season in the ECHL with the South Carolina Stingrays, save for 11 games played in Hershey under his father, and seven games played for the Iowa Wild.