The Chicago Blackhawks (29-39-14) ended year six of a very long rebuild. This year, they were supposed to step up to wild-card contention, and they did early on. They started off 11-9-5 in the first two months of the season.
Then, the entire team collapsed. Connor Bedard suffered a shoulder injury that took him out for 12 games, and the team didn’t have enough around him to remain competitive. In December, they went 3-9-2 and only got marginally better as the season went on.
More: Elliotte Friedman highlights biggest disadvantage for Oilers after Game 3 loss
As a result, the team will need to show something in the 2026-27 season. To do that, they need to have a great 2026 offseason.
One consistency for the Blackhawks is their failure to find a winger beside Connor Bedard. They’ve hit on that pick, but in the past few drafts, they’ve neglected the wings.
Out of the past four drafts, the Blackhawks have spent just one of their 11 first-round picks on a winger. They’ve put Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore at the wings sometimes, but most of the time, it’s Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen on the line with Bedard.
More: How to live stream Oilers vs Ducks: NHL Playoffs, TV channel
Bertuzzi scored a career-high 32 goals this past season, but Teravainen went from 58 points in 2024-25 to 35 points in 2025-26. Safe to say, the Blackhawks need much better wing talent around Bedard. They could enter the sweepstakes for Matthew Knies and Jason Robertson, but even a pending UFA like Bobby McMann would be a big help.
They also have the No. 2 lottery odds in the draft, so if the Vancouver Canucks go with Ivar Stenberg, Gavin McKenna would instantly slide in as the No. 1 left-winger on the team.
The Blackhawks have two major RFA decisions this offseason: Bedard and Kevin Korchinski. They have a lot of cap space to work with, so the question isn’t about resources, rather about term.
Bedard is probably going to get a long-term extension, and it’ll be over eight figures per year. A good comparison could be Logan Cooley’s contract with the Utah Mammoth. He signed an eight-year, $80 million deal in the early part of the season, but Bedard probably wants more.
More: How to live stream Golden Knights vs Mammoth: NHL Playoffs, TV channel
He’s definitely deserving of more, as Cooley isn’t the first-line center on the Mammoth. I’d project somewhere closer to $12.5 million or even $13 million per year for Bedard.
That leaves Kevin Korchinski. Unlike Bedard, Korchinski’s status on the Blackhawks could be more uncertain. The 2022 first-round pick has failed to live up to expectations.
He only played 13 games in the NHL last season, spending most of it with the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League. Once the Blackhawks traded Connor Murphy to the Edmonton Oilers, Korchinski got some NHL ice time.
More: Connor McDavid urged to ‘breathe’ as struggles continue vs Ducks
The Blackhawks have the money to sign him to an extension, but it doesn’t make sense with Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, and Alex Vlasic showing more flashes last season.
The Blackhawks could dangle Korchinski for a more proven defenseman. Dougie Hamilton of the New Jersey Devils and Morgan Rielly of the Toronto Maple Leafs stand out as two names they could target. Either way, the Blackhawks need a more proven defenseman to headline their core, and they can’t keep waiting on Korchinski to develop into one.