The Chicago Blackhawks took care of a major piece of summer business this past weekend, signing franchise star forward Connor Bedard to a five-year, $75MM contract extension, solidifying his place with the team for the next half-decade. The move quieted any potential offer sheet talk and set Chicago up to start planning how to build a winner around the 21-year-old.
The team also added franchise legend Patrick Kane today with a two-year $16MM contract, but the fact of the matter for the Blackhawks is that they still don’t have enough high-end talent around Bedard, their blueline is lacking in many ways, and they simply don’t have enough depth on their roster. All of that being said, Chicago still has a pile of cap space remaining for next season, the top-ranked prospect system in the NHL (according to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic), and 11 picks in the 2027 NHL Entry Draft, including three first-round picks.
The Blackhawks have a wide-open lane to make some impact moves this summer, and given the state of their roster, they need to start doing so.
Credit where credit is due, the Blackhawks have improved their NHL roster quite a bit over the last two offseasons, but they still lack offensive firepower up front, with only three players reaching 40 points last season in Bedard, Tyler Bertuzzi and Frank Nazar. It’s fair for them to bank a bit on internal improvement, but how far that will carry the 30th-ranked offensive team from last season remains to be seen.
Bedard can carry a line with average linemates, but when the rest of the forward core is offensively challenged, there’s an urgent need to find a true finisher to ride shotgun with Bedard. Teuvo Teräväinen, Ryan Donato and Andrew Mangiapane have all had good years as NHL professionals, but they aren’t the offensive solutions to Chicago’s challenges. Sure, it’s a deeper group than in years past, but none of those players mentioned are putting up 70-80 points next year, and likely neither will Bertuzzi or Nazar.
Chicago has built up their depth, but the difference makers need to come from either major internal improvements or a major trade acquisition.
As of today, Chicago has very little cap pressure and could add just about anyone in the NHL under their cap ($5.165MM still available with Ryan Ellis on the NHL roster) and with the assets they have. That sort of flexibility is rare, and it makes the inevitable feeling of an incoming move all the more palpable. Especially when you consider the amount of youth Chicago is leaning on and the wave of prospects who will be looking to make their mark in the NHL.
Not everyone gets to play, and eventually Chicago will have to move on from some prospects to get NHL-ready players to insert into their lineup.
One concern, and this could be what has held the Blackhawks back from making more moves, is the price of acquiring impact NHL players. Chicago paid an exorbitant price to acquire defenseman Bowen Byram, and maybe they simply don’t have the stomach to make another huge move like that. The Blackhawks dealt the No. 4 and No. 45 overall picks in the 2026 Draft, along with defenseman Louis Crevier, in exchange for Byram and forward Jordan Greenway.
It was a shocking trade for Byram, who is a very talented player who’s on-ice results have rarely matched his skill level. That being said, he is 25, and it’s a huge gamble, one Chicago might not want to make again this summer.
But even with Byram in the fold, Chicago has a lot of question marks on their defense. Can Kevin Korchinski finally take that next step? Is Artyom Levshunov ready to play more than 20 minutes a night?
How soon until Sam Rinzel can take on the top four minutes? All of these questions will be answered in the near future, but they could be better addressed by adding another to the lineup.
A big help for Chicago, either on the backend or in the forward group, would be the transition game. It’s interesting they didn’t have deeper talks with Anthony Mantha, who just went to the Devils and is a good transition player. The Blackhawks were loosely linked to Mantha by Daily Faceoff, but it appears that was more speculation than genuine interest in the 32-year-old.
The gap between what the Blackhawks have in their lineup and what the teams in their division have is noticeable and will be hard to close with internal improvement alone.
The arguments against making another big splash are all fair in theory. The cost is too high, and you don’t want to blow cap space and future assets. Those are all good points to make.
But another season near the basement would be unacceptable at this point, and there is always a fear with rebuilding clubs that you create a culture of losing that is hard to shake. This happened with both the Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres in their rebuilds during the 2010s, and it’s not an easy label to shake.
The Blackhawks don’t need to rush the big move, but it’s one they will need to make sooner rather than later. They have the flexibility to absorb salary and the prospect capital to make an attractive offer. Few teams have ever been positioned this strongly to make a late-summer move, and it will be interesting to see if they make it.