The Chicago Blackhawks have been the worst or second-worst team in the NHL for the last two years. That may not change. In 2025-26, they’re going to be featuring a very young, inexperienced roster that might prevent them from making any meaningful steps towards competitiveness.
NHL analyst says Chicago Blackhawks will not be better in 2025-26
The Chicago Blackhawks have some young pieces that could help them be a pretty good team in the near future. Unfortunately, that’s mainly all they have, and that’s not enough for them to get better in 2025-26 than they were last season.
Bleacher Report insider Lyle Fitzsimmons said, “There’s ample reason to like Connor Bedard. And we also like Anton Frondell, who’d been ranked by Central Scouting before the draft as the No. 1 international skater and was available for the Blackhawks at No. 3 overall.”
As for the rest of the roster? “Not so much. Chicago’s attempt to add talent around Bedard in 2024-25 fell flat, and the pipeline, while hardly empty, probably won’t produce enough in the way of results to better the 61 points they compiled.”
The Blackhawks have really been working on stockpiling young players, but those players are not all NHL-ready. In fact, most of them aren’t, and the ones who are are probably not going to be all that good. It’s really going to be the Connor Bedard show.
That said, that’s not a problem. This is a rebuild for the future, not for 2025-26. There is no impetus for the Blackhawks to be good in 2025-26. They can withstand another year of failure as they push for a better future when these young players are in their prime.
Plus, in Gacin McKenna’s draft class, losing more and recording fewer than 61 points like last year is far from a bad thing. That doesn’t guarantee they’ll land the top pick and get McKenna, but it certainly gives them a better chance than had they gone all-in on free agency and stocked up the roster with capable veterans. It is a subtle tank job, but it’s not a bad idea whatsoever. It just also means there’s probably not much improvement on the way.
Chicago Blackhawks analysts say last place isn’t the worst thing in the world
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