Trying To Make Sense Of The Contradictory Conundrum That Is The 2026-27 Chicago Blackhawks
I think many people were SHOCKED to see this announcement yesterday. Just when you though the Blackhawks had hit rock bottom they managed to have the most embarrassing loss in recent memory, losing 9-2 to Carolina. Call me naive, but I thought the national tv game against Florida was going to be rock bottom. Embarrassed and called out publicly, honestly, and ruthlessly by the biggest voice in hockey media. The Blackhawks played the next night in Tampa Bay. I thought the humiliation they suffered against Florida would bring out the best...it didn't. Another loss where the group looked miles off of it. Then on Saturday the Blackhawks looked like a broken team who had completely quit on the themselves, their coach, and the organization. Nobody wanted Blashill, Davidson, and the Blackhawks to be in this situation, but at some point it is a results business. There needs to be a level of accountability for what we are seeing on the ice to start this year.
When Kyle talks on Wednesday I am sure we will hear about how young the team is and how hard it is to win with young players. He will probably say how much missing Bedard at the start, Byram for the majority of the season, and Kane now hurt their team. Those things are all true.
However, there is NO chance that Kyle Davidson thought that his roster was THIS far away from being competitive. He talked opening about taking a step forward. He made the bold move to trade and then extend Byram. I like Byram. I had no problem with that trade in real time. They certainly miss him, but the lack of a healthy Bo Byram isn't the only thing missing from this group. And it's not like he was gangbusters to start the year either. You only trade the 4th overall pick in a very defense-heavy top 10 if you think you need a veteran D to take you to the next level. IF you're sitting there in the summer and looking at your group and thinking "jeez we are still several years and several players away" then you just take your favorite defenseman on the board and move forward with the rebuild and give messaging to your fans that accurately reflects where the team is. I think they probably felt that the defense group was set. Byram, Vlasic, Lev, Rinzel, Kaiser, and Cole with Korchinski and Del Mastro somewhere in the mix filling in when guys are hurt. Lev looks much improved to start the year, but you can't say that about any of the other guys. Vlasic doesn't look like the same player he was two years ago. Kaiser has been inconsistent. Rinzel has really good tools, but it hasn't come together. Korchinski is probably classified as a bust at this point and his development path/plan has to be a huge regret for the organization. Del Mastro is an extra guy. It does kind feel like they thought they had their blue line set so they made a big bet and so far that big bet has lost.
Davidson is meeting the media on wednesday when he returns from the GM meetings and it sounds like he will be trying to introduce a new player or two at that same press conference
If true, this feels like a double down from Kyle. He has entered the "fuck them picks" era. That scares me. It scares me because there are no other high-end prospects in the pipeline right now. It scares me because other teams can probably smell desperation. I know Kyle just signed a 4 year extension, but this feels like the kind of report coming out about a guy trying to save his job. He doesn't need to worry about future first round picks if he's not going to be here. I also worry about the fact that I doubt there's a player or two on the market at this point that could genuinely change the trajectory of the future.
Advertisement
I said this when the rebuild started and I was on board with the caveat that if you're going to trade Hagel, Debrincat, Dach and Seth Jones, let Dylan Strome walk for nothing, run off Toews and Kane in a way that left a bad taste in everyone's mouth then this plan better work. So far, it obviously hasn't. It's hard not to look at the Boston Bruins and be jealous. They were peers of the Dynasty era Blackhawks, obviously. They saw the end of Chara, Bergeron, Krejci, Marchand, and others, but managed to get back to a place where they are very good without ever becoming a laughing stock. And they've done that without even really drafting that well.
The cupboard in Chicago was more barre. The Bruins had McAvoy and then Swayman in their pipeline. Chicago needed more prospects. When you trade really good, established, young players in their prime...you can't miss on the draft picks you get in return for them. Brandon Hagel has turned into Oliver Moore and Sasha Boisvert. Alex Debrincat has turned into Kevin Korchinski and Paul Ludwinski. Kirby Dach turned into Nazar. Given Dach's age and injury history that trade feels like a win at this point even though Frank Nazar currently has only one more point on the year than Kirby.
You can make the argument that the Blackhawks needed to be bad enough to get a real shot at Bedard. They got him. Great. He has lived up the expectations. It's the rest of the project that hasn't. I think there needs to be some internal evaluation of what they have and who they've drafted and realize that a lot of these guys just aren't that good. They aren't going to be difference-makers. As things look right now your promising young core is comprised of Bedard, Frondell, Levshunov, and Kantserov. I think Frank is a solid player who can do more than he has shown. Everyone else...they look like complimentary type guys who are probably going to be in the NHL, but don't drive you towards winning in the NHL. I am certainly not giving up on guys like Boisvert and Spellacy, but those are bottom 6 energy type of guys. Not core pieces. So if after 4 years of being terrible, tanking, drafting, and developing you only have 4-5 players you're sure about then this project is in BIG trouble.
The report from yesterday said that the Blackhawks had a long meeting with management, hockey ops, and the coaching staff. I would've loved to be a fly on the wall there. I don't know what can be said besides "we drafted the wrong guys" or that the strategy was bad from the outset. I hate relitigating drafts. The draft is a craps shoot. Every GM misses on picks so it's to criticize taking Adam Gajan in the Jacob Fowler draft or taking Korchinski in the Lane Hutson draft, etc etc. But I think it's fair to say that if you and everyone else understands that the nature of the draft is going for an inside straight then it's better to lean on what you do have (Hagel, Strome, Debrincat, Kane) than focusing on what you don't have.
The die has been cast though. This is the strategy they've decided upon. It's hard to imagine a trade being available to them that turns things around. I'd be very nervous about a trade that stops the bleeding short term. In no world are the Blackhawks going to be able to get a stud like Larkin, Hughes, or Edvinsson. So you're in the market for veterans who can help you win now. I just don't know who that is. Morgan Frost and Zach Whitecloud from Calgary? The Blackhawks could probably out-bid contenders, but Frost is set to be a UFA next summer. Whitecloud has two years left. I like those guys. They're probably available. I don't think they get you where you want to go.
I've been thinking about this problem for a week or more. At the end of the day I think the Blackhawks are just kind of stuck at the moment. Spinning their tires with long term contracts throughout every level of the organization from president to gm to coach to players, a roster that isn't ready to or can't compete, and no obvious solutions. I think if you're Danny Wirtz you really only have two options.
1) you fire everyone now. Get fresh, but experienced eyes on your players and hockey ops department to evaluate what you have and get a coach who has a strong resume. You eat the money on these long term deals, and put your hand up. I don't blame any fan who is advocating for option 1. If I were sitting in Danny Wirtz's chair I'd probably choose option 1 too at this point. I can be emotional and impulsive. I am not convinced that cleaning house is the right move. I am also a soft little bitch and I never like to see anyone lose their job, uproot their family, and everything that comes with that.
Advertisement
Or 2) the only way out is through. You ride it out. You believe that you have the right people in place and tell them not to make reactionary moves that further jeopardize the future. See what you have in guys like Rinzel, Moore, Lardis, Boisvert, Mason West, etc. The risk is that you lose a generation of fans the way you did last time in the late 90s/early 2000s. Fans turn from angry to apathy which is so tough in a sport that is already niche compared to the others.
So many mistakes have been made going all the way back to probably the summer of 2015. You don't get here with just one decision, one hire, one draft pick. Success has a thousand fathers and failure is an orphan. Just going back to 2020 though look at the power structure trying to do a rebuild after the collapse of the Dynasty and then the scandal.
Danny Wirtz...first time owner
Jamie Faulkner...first time President
Kyle Davidson...first time GM
Luke Richardson...first time head coach
Key players on the roster...all young players.
There was always going to be a STEEP learning curve for an organization without any NHL experience. Mistakes were clearly made at every level. I don't think any changes are coming, so the hope is that they're able to learn from experience and improve. More than anything else, I think the thing that sank the previous regime was an inability to self-evaluate. They didn't understand their own prospects or their own roster. That led to bad trades like Ryan Hartman and Artemi Panarin leaving far too soon. Obviously there were other blind spots in the organization too.
I don't think there's a quick fix to be had right now. There's plenty of things to criticize on and off the ice the past 5 years, but the purpose of criticism is to separate the wheat from the chaff. Not to burn the entire crop to the ground. If the Blackhawks are sticking with this leadership group, then you almost need Danny Wirtz to put his arm around Kyle so he doesn't jeopardize the future because he's looking for a short term fix that will. If the problems persist then the last thing you want for the next leadership group is fewer assets to trade.
We are in the mud. Hitting the gas as the tires are spinning isn't going to fix anything. Everyone involved needs to get out of the car, find the problem, and course correct. Be it ticket prices, or draft philosophy, scheme, analytics, or simply effort on the ice.