With Wednesday night’s win over the Sharks, the 2025-26 Chicago Blackhawks season is finally in the books. The Blackhawks finished with a 29-39-14 record, an 11-point improvement over last season and 20 points better than two years ago. That means there’s still a long ways to go—they missed the playoffs by 18 points and will be picking inside the top four at this summer’s NHL Draft.
But before we get all excited about Chicago’s next young star and the team potentially making a splash on the trade market, it wasn’t all bad things this year. The numbers don’t always show it, but the Blackhawks had a handful of things go right, setting up building blocks for years to come.
Jeff Blashill is… an improvement
Was head coach Jeff Blashill perfect this season? No. He made his fair share of questionable decisions, chief among them leaving Andre Burakovsky on Connor Bedard’s top line almost all season. But, to give him credit, he’s certainly off to a better start than Anders Sorensen or Luke Richardson. He did a great job of skating his young players in roles where they were set up for success and blended the lineup at the right moments, providing a bit more consistency than Chicago has had in the past. His focus is on the long-term outlook of the Blackhawks, and it looks like he’s the right man for the job.
Connor Bedard keeps getting better
Bedard wasn’t close to leading the NHL in points or anything, but his game keeps trending in the right direction. He survived the lean years without any decent help, and he’s finally about to get it. His 75 points in 69 games this year are nothing to sneeze at, and his plus-minus keeps improving (-18 this year after -36 and -44 marks in his first two seasons). He’s developing into a leader on the ice and figures to be named the team’s captain after signing a big extension this summer. Bedard has become an even better playmaker, and it’ll be exciting to see what he can do with a big-name winger or two on his line.
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Help is on the way
We’ve been saying it for years, but the Blackhawks’ pipeline is finally ready to filter into the NHL. Roman Kantserov figures to be the next man up—his 36 goals and 64 points were the most ever in a KHL season by a player under the age of 23. Assuming that production translates to the NHL level, he has the talent to play a big role in Chicago’s top six next year. Others like Vaclav Nestrasil, Marek Vanacker, and AJ Spellacy may be a bit further away, but all have been impressive so far. Some of the improvement next season should come from within the Blackhawks’ own system.
