Chicago Blackhawks offseason

[jersey cubs fan]

After breaking his contract in russia, making it clear he was coming to Chicago this summer, Roman Kantserov makes it official signing his entry level contract 

[Tryptamine]

2 hours ago, jersey cubs fan said:

After breaking his contract in russia, making it clear he was coming to Chicago this summer, Roman Kantserov makes it official signing his entry level contract 

So as someone who knows little to nothing about hockey, how big a deal is this? Sports radio was making this sound like it was a fairly big deal and adding another pillar to the team.

Edited May 14 by Tryptamine

[Rex Buckingham]

8 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

So as someone who knows little to nothing about hockey, how big a deal is this? Sports radio was making this sound like it was a fairly big deal and adding another pillar to the team.

His offensive production at his age in the KHL is comparable to Kaprizov 

[Rcal10]

3 minutes ago, Rex Buckingham said:

His offensive production at his age in the KHL is comparable to Kaprizov 

I someone doesn’t know much about hockey comparing him to someone else in hockey isn’t going to help him. ls he someone to play on the top line when Bedard? Will he be a regular next season? What should be expected of him? 20 or 30 goals? 50-60 points? Is he a top 2 line guy? 

[Tryptamine]

45 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I someone doesn’t know much about hockey comparing him to someone else in hockey isn’t going to help him. ls he someone to play on the top line when Bedard? Will he be a regular next season? What should be expected of him? 20 or 30 goals? 50-60 points? Is he a top 2 line guy? 

This please

[jersey cubs fan]

1 hour ago, Tryptamine said:

So as someone who knows little to nothing about hockey, how big a deal is this? Sports radio was making this sound like it was a fairly big deal and adding another pillar to the team.

It’s an important step but not a big deal today. He probably won’t be a big difference maker in 2026/27. He’s been expected to come over this summer all along so it’s not a surprise. 
 

but he is a guy you can expect to play top 6 minutes and Chicago is desperate for top 6 guys, instead of a bunch of 3rd/4th liners  playing up by default. 
He has star potential but more likely a good support player

if they are able to draft one of the top 2 forwards this summer the forward group can look a lot better next season. What they need to do is trade some of their very significant draft capital for a good expensive player to kickstart their ascendance. 
if you can have 6 legit F in your top 6 plus Nazar as your 3rd line guy, suddenly you have legit scoring depth and will make life difficult for opponents. 
Bedard/RK/new guy

Frondell/Draftee/bertuzzi

Nazar/something/something 

[jersey cubs fan]

Here’s a deeper dive into RK

[Tryptamine]

1 hour ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Here’s a deeper dive into RK

The suspense is killing me

[Derwood]

1 hour ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Here’s a deeper dive into RK

[Rex Buckingham]

Per this article from Scott Powers, top 6 winger 
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7260123/2026/05/14/blackhawks-roman-kantserov-nhl-khl-stats/

36 goals in the KHL, most ever over there by an under-23 player. Maybe hoping for a Patrick Sharp-level offensive threat beside Bedard

[NorthsideAvenger]

The last player from the KHL (that I can find) the Blackhawks signed turned out to be a damn good player. So, who knows.

Hawks have already said Kantserov will be one of the two top lines, the question is if he will be playing with Bedard or Frondell? 

[jersey cubs fan]

12 hours ago, Tryptamine said:

The suspense is killing me

 

https://www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2026/05/09/roman-kantserov-a-nice-summer-starting-win-for-the-blackhawks-but-more-needs-to-be-done/

[jersey cubs fan]

The prospect stockpile backfires again. It was recently reported that hawks prospect Jack Pridham had to enroll in college, sign his entry level deal or go back into draft. He didn’t want to be the 14th best prospect in this system so he was traded to Tampa for a third round pick. 

this was a third round pick that has looked good post draft, but now Chicago loses him for another third round pick where they will have to work to get equal value. 
 

this is where the quantity over quality issue bites you. Guys don’t want to be 4th liners. Chicago somehow doesn’t have a legit top 6 but also doesn’t have room for more middle 6 guys. Draft capital is great but there are diminishing returns. They need to trade surplus for quality 

[NorthsideAvenger]

I'm not worried about losing Pridham. He screams bottom 6 to me. 

[jersey cubs fan]

55 minutes ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

I'm not worried about losing Pridham. He screams bottom 6 to me. 

I’m not worried about the individual. I’m worried about the surplus causing losses. They already lost Dominic James to Tampa under similar circumstances. He saw a quicker path to NHL team with a better team. 
 

you cant keep selecting multiple 1/2/3 round guys and get them in the system. The surplus loses value when you hit the extreme end 

[NorthsideAvenger]

32 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

I’m not worried about the individual. I’m worried about the surplus causing losses. They already lost Dominic James to Tampa under similar circumstances. He saw a quicker path to NHL team with a better team. 
 

you cant keep selecting multiple 1/2/3 round guys and get them in the system. The surplus loses value when you hit the extreme end 

Agreed. Which is why I expect the Hawks to make couple of significant trades within the next calendar year.

[jersey cubs fan]

4 minutes ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

Agreed. Which is why I expect the Hawks to make couple of significant trades within the next calendar year.

Since this was a ‘27 third, the future 1/2/3 rounds picks now look like:

’26 (1,2,2,2,3)

’27 (1,1,1,2,2,3,3)

’28 (1,2,2,3)

that’s 5 1s, 7 2s, 4 3s. 16 contracts that will have to be added to the 50 contract maximum.
 

At a minimum they should be looking to trade away 2 1s and three or four 2s/3s within that calendar year. That should be enough to acquire one top 6 forward and a halfway decent D man.