Blackhawks 2026/27 season

[jersey cubs fan]

Connor is the official captain. Kane and Bertuzzi will wear the A. Bedard has been skating and there’s some chatter he will be ready before the initial 4-month prognosis. Three months would be in time for the 4th game of the year in Long Island. Split the difference and he could be facing Montreal at home the week before Halloween, missing 9 games.
 

Ethan Del Mastro signed a 2 year deal with a 950K cap hit, and is the likely 8th Dman who will spend a lot of the time in a suite on game day. He and Korchinski are no longer waiver exempt and won’t see time in Rockford. They have a crowded and heavily LH blue line. 

there’s not much expectations for this team but people are giving them some props for potential breakouts by Frondell and Kantserov. Nobody is expecting much from Byram, Arty or Rinzel. I didn’t like the Byram deal but do think the potential for a breakout from him is being undersold. It’s not outside the realm to think he could be a better than average #1 Dman. He’s not gonna be a star but the 10th highest scoring D had 61 points last year and that’s on the table. Byram was 19 points behind that as a 2nd pairing guy not getting PP time with Bedard or Kane. One of the 3 dynamic D men might actually click this year and that would go a long way to making this team reasonably competitive. 

[jersey cubs fan]

Well Byram proved he can provide the offensive spark against AHL opponents in the preseason. 
 

A preseason win in OT is about as meaningless as it can get. But one of the specific things that hurt Chicago last year was OT results. A puck driving offensive threat on D helps a ton in 3v3 and Byram is expected to help there. If he can actually manage to be a positive impact in that area alone that’s probably 5/6 more points they could pick up in the standings. 
 
And if he actually turns into a legit #1 Dman, the complaints about what it cost to get him will subside and this team could make a big leap sooner rather than later. 

[Wilson A2000]

The Hawks need to sneak into the playoffs this year

[jersey cubs fan]

4 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

The Hawks need to sneak into the playoffs this year

I would settle for being in the hunt in March. The vibes in the UC on March 16 if the Hawks and Sharks are fighting for a spot will be tremendous. The following road trip could rip out hearts (@utah, @colorado, @MINN, @Columbus) but for that trip to even be meaningful would be an upgrade. 

[jersey cubs fan]

Oliver Moore extended 5 years 4.35 AAV. If he fills the role he’s expected to fill that’ll be a nice contract. But he’s got a lot to prove still and isn’t a lock. 

[jersey cubs fan]

Anybody else concerned about the lumps above Bedards knee that looks like the growths I saw on an old dog this summer? 

[jersey cubs fan]

The one roster question exiting the preseason has been answered, with Landon Slaggert placed on waivers. There’s a better than zero chance he gets taken by a team that could use a capable NHL player with a minimal cap hit. Hopefully he clears and remains as depth in Rockford. 
 

and good luck to Blashill trying to work in Korchinski and Del Mastro as 7th and 8th DMen. 

[jersey cubs fan]

September hockey is silly and destined for sloppiness. But early impressions are ugly. Byram doesn’t look at all like a #1 D, He made a terrible decision to stop his PP entry after gaining the blue line. Kantserov is invisible. Frondell looks good enough. Vlasic needs to be a 2nd pairing guy. Donato has no luck. Kane has regrets. Knight is God. 

[gflore34]

This team is still light years away from any semblance of competence aren’t they?  Appears, yet again, the most exciting part this season is going to be the draft lottery.  I think it reasonable to wonder if Bedard will ever participate in a playoff game as a Blackhawk.

Edited Wednesday at 12:10 PM by gflore34

[jersey cubs fan]

7 hours ago, gflore34 said:

This team is still light years away from any semblance of competence aren’t they?  Appears, yet again, the most exciting part this season is going to be the draft lottery.  I think it reasonable to wonder if Bedard will ever participate in a playoff game as a Blackhawk.

They just don’t have anything resembling a top pairing D, not to mention a top line of F. 
 

Patrick Kane is a borderline top 6 guy, but not top 3 in a good team. Bedard will obviously help, but this team is going to need several F prospects and at least 2 DMen to take a leap. Game 1 looked like they are nowhere close. But a short preseason and regular season hockey starting 2 weeks early some of this was bound to happen. All is not lost. But it’s entirely possible they go winless without Bedard in lineup. 

[JBears79]

Its one game against a team that was just in the Stanley Cup. They will improve throughout the season.

[gflore34]

12 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

They just don’t have anything resembling a top pairing D, not to mention a top line of F. 
 

Patrick Kane is a borderline top 6 guy, but not top 3 in a good team. Bedard will obviously help, but this team is going to need several F prospects and at least 2 DMen to take a leap. Game 1 looked like they are nowhere close. But a short preseason and regular season hockey starting 2 weeks early some of this was bound to happen. All is not lost. But it’s entirely possible they go winless without Bedard in lineup. 

This has been the story, for at least, the past two seasons? And has yet to happen.  Have to question if it ever will occur.

[jersey cubs fan]

37 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

This has been the story, for at least, the past two seasons? And has yet to happen.  Have to question if it ever will occur.

Sure, but to be fair there hasn’t really been a F you could expect to take a leap that didn’t. With the exception of Nazar depending on what you think of his game. I think they view Nazar as a long term #3 center with a 200 foot game. Every other meaningful forward just started getting an opportunity. Guys like Greene Moore and Lardis are pretty much destined for role player status. 
 

the D is more concerning. Korchinski is in year 4. They completely mismanaged his first pro year throwing him into the NHL on a bad team with bad teammates and no chance to thrive. Arty was thrown in early but not egregiously so, with some college under his belt. Rinzel had more seasoning, but none of these guys has shown improvement. They seemingly have the bottom pairing covered with guys like Kaiser and the rest. Vlasic is a fine piece but not a top pairing D unless he’s paired with a star and Byram isn’t a star. 
 

they need either Byram to really step up and one other guy take a leap or two of the Korchinski, Arty, Rinzel triumvirate to become legit top 4 guys. 

[bukie]

Felt like Kane was the best player on the ice for the Blackhawks last night, and that just can't be the case going forward if they want to actually compete for a playoff spot.

[BigbadB]

21 hours ago, bukie said:

Felt like Kane was the best player on the ice for the Blackhawks last night, and that just can't be the case going forward if they want to actually compete for a playoff spot.

That probably will be the case until Bedard gets back. Everyone else just needs a lot more experience. 

We will always have that Rinzel hit, though. That was the highlight of game 1. 

The first period was a horsefeathers show. Thought they were going to get shut out on SOG. 2nd period featured some better teamwork. 3rd period was the best of the bunch, so I think they just need more time together on the ice. Vegas still looks like a top playoff team. I think it's bit of a stretch to say they'll go winless without Bedard. Not all of their games will be against playoff caliber teams.

[17 Seconds]

23 hours ago, jersey cubs fan said:

They just don’t have anything resembling a top pairing D, not to mention a top line of F. 
 

Patrick Kane is a borderline top 6 guy, but not top 3 in a good team. Bedard will obviously help, but this team is going to need several F prospects and at least 2 DMen to take a leap. Game 1 looked like they are nowhere close. But a short preseason and regular season hockey starting 2 weeks early some of this was bound to happen. All is not lost. But it’s entirely possible they go winless without Bedard in lineup. 

isn't he still expected to be out until november?

[jersey cubs fan]

1 minute ago, 17 Seconds said:

isn't he still expected to be out until november?

The original timeline was early November, missing something like 14-18 games. Since he’s been on the ice and shooting there has been a lot of insinuation that it will be shorter. This opening road trip was never on the table but best case scenario is the islanders one off road trip (3 months instead of 4) or on the following 2 week (7 game) homestand. 
 

in other words he may end up missing 5-9 games and it might take that long for this group to skate together and figure out their mess. The Blues are the weakest team they face in the opening stretch. Pittsburgh followed by Winnipeg is the first time they face a bad team. 
Utah Buffalo Carolina Dallas Montreal Florida are all super tough teams way ahead of them in terms of contention. LA and Detroit late in the month are middling teams and Boston is a mystery. Then they open November facing a gauntlet of Colorado Florida Tampa Carolina in 6 days. 
 

They don’t get into the bad opponents until mid November. 
 

they should win a game before then but a streak of 5-9 games without regulation win is something this team is unfortunately very capable of still. 

[Old Style]

That national anthem rendition made my ears bleed. Woof. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

53 minutes ago, Old Style said:

That national anthem rendition made my ears bleed. Woof. 

That was really bad.

[jersey cubs fan]

Bowen Byram is looking awful. 

[jersey cubs fan]

Good thing DuPont will be playing on an entry level contract in 3 of those years of Byram’s contract 

Edited yesterday at 03:04 AM by jersey cubs fan

[NorthsideAvenger]

12 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Bowen Byram is Blackhawks looking awful. 

Two games in and the Hawks have seen to thrown in the towel. How long does Blashill last? Halloween? Thanksgiving? Let's time the Hawks played this inept to start a season, it got Colition fired. 

[jersey cubs fan]

1 hour ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

Two games in and the Hawks have seen to thrown in the towel. How long does Blashill last? Halloween? Thanksgiving? Let's time the Hawks played this inept to start a season, it got Colition fired. 

On the one hand, this isn’t really a coaching issue. This is a personnel problem. The Blackhawks have very few good NHL hockey players and were predicted by many to be awful again. Because tanking sucks. On the other hand, they have done a terrible job of developing talent and while that isn’t really an NHL head coach’s job in normal places, it is in Chicago. 
 

If this trend continues, blow out losses while looking completely overmatched, it’s gonna be on the table. Presumably they will not lose every game by 3+ goals. If they do he may not make Indigenous Peoples day. But realistically he has a pass until Bedard returns. If that doesn’t immediately ignite a turnaround then maybe he doesn’t make it through America thanksgiving 

[17 Seconds]

glad I had had no excitement whatsoever for this season

[gflore34]

12 hours ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Bowen Byram is looking awful. 

Bowen Byram and the Blackhawks are awful. Fixed.