It’s been an interesting off-season for the Chicago Blackhawks. They added Patrick Kane late in the free agent window, made some significant draft selections, and traded for Bowen Byram ahead of the draft.
Are these moves going to help them take a step in their development? Will it start to show in 2026-27, or will it take some time? It is going to be a young, exciting team to watch, but whether or not they take a jump in the standings remains to be seen.
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The Hockey News is ranking each NHL team’s off-season from 32nd to 1st, and the Chicago Blackhawks did not land in an ideal spot as the 30th-best.
NHL Off-Season Rankings: No. 30, Chicago Blackhawks
The logic behind their landing in 30th place is that the additions they made, along with the subtraction of Louis Crevier and Ilya Mikheyev, won’t help them take a step forward. They are relying on young players to carry the team, which makes it difficult to see the plan working right away.
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Below them are the Anaheim Ducks at 31 and the Detroit Red Wings at 32. Neither of them had good off-seasons at all, especially Detroit, but they are both currently ahead of the Blackhawks in terms of their NHL roster.
The only way for the Blackhawks to prove any doubts wrong about thier off-season moves is for Bowen Byram to look like the number one defenseman they are going to pay him to be, and for Kane to be an incredible mentor for the young guys, both on and off the ice. Winning also solves everything when it comes to a team’s perception.
It wasn’t all negativity when it comes to lists involving the Chicago Blackhawks, however. The Hockey News ranked the top three centers in the Central Division earlier in the week and was very kind to Connor Bedard.
Top Three Centers In The NHL’s Central Division
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Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche is one of the three best centers in the world, which made him the clear-cut number-one guy within the division. It’s also fair to see Wyatt Johnston of the Dallas Stars ranked second, as he’s become one of the premier players in the sport as well.
Connor Bedard came in at third, which is a result of his first breakout season in 2025-26, where he was a 30 goal/point per game player for the first time in his NHL career.
By coming in third on this list, he beat out Mark Scheifele, Robert Thomas, and Ryan O’Reilly, amongst some other great centers in the Central Division.
The next step for Bedard is to reach the 40-goal plateau and then possibly the 50-goal plateau, while taking a step in his point-per-game journey. He also needs to work on getting his shoulder right, as he is expected to miss the first month of the season recovering from surgery. If there are no setbacks, he should be able to put that behind him for good.
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There is a lot of organizational faith in Connor Bedard and his future, but they are going to need many other young players to reach their NHL potential if they are going to become a winning franchise again.
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