5 Things the Blackhawks Need to Do Differently in 2026-27 – The Hockey Writers – Chicago Blackhawks

It’s no secret the 2025-26 campaign wasn’t what the Chicago Blackhawks had in mind. This season was supposed to be where they took another step towards contention. While it can be argued there was some essential growth and development among the young players, this didn’t translate into more success in the standings. For the third season in a row, the Blackhawks finished 31^st in the league.

The expectation was certainly higher back in October. But significant injuries to key players Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar thwarted the team’s early season success. Losing their entire leadership group at the trade deadline didn’t help matters at the end of the campaign. All that said, the Blackhawks NEED to be better next year. Here are five things the Blackhawks can do differently next season to find more success.

Blackhawks Need More Grit

There are plenty of instances throughout the season where the Blackhawks stood up for each other on the ice. That’s part of the culture head coach Jeff Blashill is trying to instill, and the players seem to be buying in. This is a good start. Defenseman Louis Crevier and forward Oliver Moore each partook in their first NHL fights this season, both in instances where they felt it was necessary to defend a teammate.

Frank Nazar takes a big hit from Kaiden Guhle, and Louis Crevier steps in to defend his teammate. And then chaos ensues at the United Center. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/jAf6A0NSQi

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 12, 2025

But it might not be the best idea for a skill player like Moore to be fighting. And while playing with physicality is important, Blashill did indicate not everyone it wired to be a fighter.

The Blackhawks lost arguably three of their most physical and enforcer-type players at the trade deadline in Nick Foligno, Connor Murphy and Colton Dach. They’ll need to replace that tenacity next season.

The team addressed this with a “fighting practice” on Mar. 30 that included Crevier, Alex Vlasic, Ethan Del Mastro, Sam Rinzel, Landon Slaggert and Sacha Boisvert. Former NHL enforcer Wade Brookbank, now a pro scout for the Blackhawks, gave the players some tips on how to better defend themselves should a fighting situation arise on the ice.

Boisvert certainly has fighting experience; his dad owns a boxing gym and Boisvert grew up training there (from ‘How boxing helped turn Blackhawks pick Sacha Boisvert into a top NHL Draft prospect’, The Athletic – 5/24/2024). He joined the Blackhawks for seven games down the stretch and could be a more physical factor if he makes the team next season.

Andrew Mangiapane, who the Blackhawks acquired at the trade deadline, is another player that adds some grit. He has one more year remaining on his contract. Other more physical players that could make an impact in the future include Sam Savoie from the Rockford IceHogs, or prospect A.J. Spellacy. The 20-year-old is currently competing in the playoffs with the OHL Windsor Spitfires. He impressed last year in training camp and has some sandpaper to his game. The Blackhawks could also potentially target a more physical player in free agency.  

Either way, this is something to keep an eye on next season.

More Help for Bedard

This has been a bone of contention since Bedard joined the Blackhawks in the 202-24 season. With the team going through a full-fledged rebuild, there was really nobody to support their 2023 No. 1 overall pick.

Bedard posted a career season (30 goals, 45 assists, 75 points), mostly playing alongside rookie Ryan Greene and seasoned veteran Andre Burakovsky. We all know Burakovsky started strong, but then somehow completely lost his game. While Greene exceeded all expectations and had a phenomenal rookie campaign, many would argue he should be more of a depth player than Bedard’s wingman.

So who can step in to provide Bedard with the support he needs? Many thought Anton Frondell might be that guy. But Coach Blashill seems to like him centering his own line. If top Russian prospect Roman Kantserov joins the Blackhawks next season, he would definitely be an option. Another top prospect, Vaclav Nestrasil, would be someone to keep an eye on as well.

Rookie and noted sniper Nick Lardis spent the latter part of this season playing with Bedard. Nazar has played with Bedard as well, and could be an option. He was centering the second line, but with Frondell emerging in that position it’s unclear just where Nazar’s fit is. Could he center the third line, or would he be better deployed higher up in the lineup on the wing?

If the Blackhawks can find the right linemates to better complement Bedard, this could lead to much more success for the Blackhawks.

Add a Veteran Defenseman

The Blackhawks found out the hard way rolling with a very young blue line at the end of the season had it’s repercussions. The losses of Murphy at the deadline and then the steady Matt Grzelcyk to injury took their toll. These were depth veterans, for sure. But they stabilized the young group in a way that might have been taken for granted. The remaining defensemen struggled down the stretch without them.

That said, it might behoove the Blackhawks to pick up an experienced veteran defenseman this offseason to help complement the young core. They could potentially re-sign Grzelcyk for cheap. Would Murphy consider coming back if he’s not extended with the Edmonton Oilers? Or would it be someone new?

Or, the Blackhawks might feel the young group has developed enough to take a chance on them next season. Vlasic is already an established member of the team and part of the core. Wyatt Kaiser took huge strides this season, and Kevin Korchinski showed good improvement in his late season stint up with the Blackhawks. Did Del Mastro show enough to be a depth defenseman?

On the right side, Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel have super high ceilings. Louis Crevier had a breakout season. It’s possible the Blackhawks could run with their existing defensive group and hope they can handle it.

Finish More Games

The Blackhawks were in so many close games this season, which is an encouraging sign. They lost a total of 22 games by just one goal, 14 of which they took to overtime or a shootout. If they would’ve won half of those games instead, that’s up to 22 more points in the standings. Which puts them in the 94-point range. For some perspective, four teams made the playoffs this season with less than 94 points.

The idea here is that it’s not outside of the realm of possibility for the Blackhawks to have a much better record next season if they can figure out how to finish out these close games. Score the clutch goal. Figure out how to hold the lead instead of give it up. Score more on the power play. The Blackhawks were 29^th in the league this season on the power play, with a 16.9% success rate. That needs to improve.

Blackhawks’ goaltender Spencer Knight comes from a winning culture with the Florida Panthers. He’s mentioned numerous times throughout the season that it’s a privilege to play in close games, and it will only help the team grow and improve. He brought it up again at exit interviews on Apr. 16.

You want to win every game, but you just got to be in the game sometimes to get to that point. I think you can have that mindset; winning needs to happen next year. But it’s more or less to have the mindset of like, okay, let’s take steps. Let’s try to collectively buy into what it takes to win, not necessarily focus on just the outcome. But the process of what it takes to win. That’s, to me, I think the most important thing. And wins are probably gonna be a byproduct of that.

It’s funny, because you look at teams that have gone through rebuilds and then are maybe having a little more success, and how quickly the change is. It changes so quick. People are like, what changed? Not much sometimes. Really, it’s just sometimes sort of confidence. Maybe another year of growth, of being older. Who knows? But I think we’re just gonna try to get that more of a mindset, not necessarily just saying we need to win. But we need to do the things we need to do to have the wins show up.

Have the Blackhawks already put in a lot of the work they need, and now it’s just a matter of finding that finish? Let’s hope so.

Is Blashill Too Much of a Nice Guy?

We can’t talk about areas of improvement without touching on coaching, especially when this was Blashill’s first season behind the bench for the Blackhawks. For the most part, it seems the head coach has established a positive culture, and did a good job working with each individual player to help them improve. But one knock on him from a fan perspective is that he might favor the veterans too much.

The most obvious example here is the Burakovsky situation. Blashill stubbornly kept the 31-year-old on the top line despite him scoring only two goals from January through the latter part of March, a stretch of 30 games. Said Blashill on Mar. 9, “If he wasn’t working as hard as he’s worked; if he wasn’t caring as much as he’s cared, maybe we don’t keep him up there. But I just felt like he was working so hard, he was competing hard. He cares a ton.”

Sooo, you “care a ton” and that secures you a permanent spot on the top line? Granted, Burakovsky was made a healthy scratch on Apr. 6, and he finished the season playing on the third line. But should it have taken that long for him to be demoted?  

There are other examples. Blashill played Dominic Toninato (an extra body filling in from the Rockford IceHogs) and Sam Lafferty (an insurance forward who only suited up for 29 games) the last two games of the season over prospect Boisvert. Boisvert was available for 11 games after his visa issues were resolved, but he only played in seven of them.

Teuvo Teravainen had a disappointing campaign, especially after the Olympic break. He ended the season playing on the fourth line. But on Apr. 9 when the Blackhawks hosted the Carolina Hurricanes (Teravainen’s former team), Blashill deployed the veteran forward on the top line instead of Greene. Nice gesture, but Teravainen was ineffective on the 7-2 loss. By the way, when Greene was a mystery healthy scratch on Feb. 4? It was the same night Foligno came back from injury to suit up against…yep, his former team the Columbus Blue Jackets.  

So, is Blashill too sentimental? Too partial to the veterans? The above all hints at that. But I would also argue it’s part of the culture he’s spent so much time putting in place. Those choices he made showed the entire team (young players included) that everyone matters, and that the coaching staff has their backs.  

Lafferty and Toninato likely won’t be on the team next season. Why not let them play one last time in a game that’s mostly meaningless? The Blackhawks would’ve probably still lost to the Hurricanes with Greene on first line instead of Teravainen. Plus, Greene played in 81 games this season, mostly on the top line. It’s not like the rookie wasn’t given plenty of opportunities.

We’ll see if some of these things stand out next season. Perhaps Blashill needs to be a little more stern in his decisions or treatment of the players. Perhaps not. Besides, all these little details won’t matter if there’s simply more winning involved.

The Blackhawks have work to do to become a better squad next season; there’s no doubt about that. The above are some major areas for improvement. A few offseason additions in personnel could be helpful. Plus, the existing group of players and coaches can learn from their mistakes, and take the next step in their evolution. We’ll see if they can put more pieces of the puzzle together for the 2026-27 campaign.