en-us SportSpyder - The Latest Chicago Blackhawks News https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/news The NHL offseason has quieted down over the last month, with little major news outside of a few notable contract signings, including Macklin Celebrini’s five‑year extension worth $18.8 million per… Sat, 22 Aug 2026 12:55:21 GMT Zach Berta https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57667281 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57667281 false false The Chicago Blackhawks goaltender is among the game's elite. Sat, 22 Aug 2026 12:24:24 GMT Greg Boysen https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57667097 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57667097 false false The NHL Network just released its top 20 defensemen list, and the highest-paid blueliner for the 2027-28 season didn’t make the cut. Should Blackhawks fans b... Fri, 21 Aug 2026 20:37:56 GMT Locked On Blackhawks https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57661234 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57661234 false false The Blackhawks have a logjam of promising youngsters in the goalie position. Only one of them can be in the show, so what should the team do with the others? Fri, 21 Aug 2026 20:17:51 GMT Jeremiah Lee https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57661011 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57661011 false false These four Chicago Blackhawks players are facing pressure ahead of the 2026-27 season. Fri, 21 Aug 2026 19:09:51 GMT Vinnie Parise https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57660172 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57660172 false false The Chicago Blackhawks are entering a new season with expectations rising under head coach Jeff Blashill, but which players are poised for a breakout? With e... Fri, 21 Aug 2026 19:04:20 GMT CHGO Sports https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57660100 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57660100 false false The Chicago Blackhawks head coach knows what the franchise icon brings to the table. Fri, 21 Aug 2026 18:11:15 GMT Greg Boysen https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57659462 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57659462 false false This upcoming 2026-2027 Chicago Blackhawks season has plenty of hype & anticipation surrounding it, & for good reason. Who will be the most exciting to watch? Fri, 21 Aug 2026 16:44:32 GMT Justin Lynch https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57658341 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57658341 false false Connor Bedard and nine other members of the Chicago Blackhawks organization appeared in Corey Pronman’s latest top-156 players and prospects […] The post appeared first on . Fri, 21 Aug 2026 16:36:35 GMT Jack Bushman https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57658229 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57658229 false false One day after releasing his 2026 NHL under-23 pipeline rankings, The Athletic’s Corey Pronman put together another list of the […] The post appeared first on . Fri, 21 Aug 2026 15:11:11 GMT Jack Bushman https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57657109 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57657109 false false The Chicago Blackhawks lost some of their best penalty killers after last season. But they still have the tools to stay strong in this area of special teams. Fri, 21 Aug 2026 14:38:05 GMT Gail Kauchak https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57656732 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57656732 false false Spencer Knight was the best player the Chicago Blackhawks had last season. After being acquired from the Florida Panthers for Seth Jones and a conditional 2027 first-round pick, Knight had… Fri, 21 Aug 2026 14:02:41 GMT Matteo Giuliano https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57656324 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57656324 false false Let’s open our Friday with some more discussion about the current Blackhawks issue of perception vs. reality. Yesterday, I shared . In that, I was fairly critical of the macro discourse surrounding the franchise; the Hawks are far from a rudderless ship, though many national/league-wide writers paint it as such. In thinking about the results of that poll, I was mindful of another poll at the same outlet. Earlier in the month, Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus did a poll that, based on their beat, targeted Blackhawks fans specifically. I wrote about at the time. And the results of that poll — again, one that specifically targeted Blackhawks fans — was more optimistic and that had more excitement in the results than we saw in the macro poll from The Athletic. If we assign letter grades to a 1-5 scale, the largest segment of Blackhawks fans in the Powers/Lazerus poll gave their confidence in Kyle Davidson as general manager of the Blackhawks a B. The macro poll, on the other hand, saw only one aspect of his job grading higher than a C+. The overwhelming majority of Blackhawks fans (53.2 percent) gave the team a B for their offseason, yet the macro poll (and the comments from Dom Luszczyszyn) were notably down on the acquisitions (most critical of the Bowen Byram deal/contract). The differences between the poll produced by the Chicago-focused writers and the macro audience-targeted poll are undeniable. And it’s worth mentioning as we continue to try to mitigate a hockey media landscape that has vastly different perceptions of what the Blackhawks are doing, and the relative success of the rebuild. I’ll also remind folks here that I share a wide range of perspectives and evaluations of all things Blackhawks because there’s value in what those other ideas provide us as fans. Compare the perceptions of with how Paul Pidutti wrote about the Hawks when he . We, as fans, have our own perceptions of the Blackhawks’ rebuild and current state. But a lot of that is shaped by what we read and hear about the team. I try to provide a balanced, large-scale look at what a lot of valuable, responsible and respected folks are saying so we can have an informed conversation here. One of the reasons for optimism in Chicago is the Blackhawks adding two young forwards to their mix this year. Roman Kantserov could be a difference maker. And we got a brief glimpse of Anton Frondell last year. The folks at Dobber Hockey love Frondell, projecting him to put up 65 points this coming season. When we looked at the , the leaderboard shows seven players reaching the 60-point mark as rookies — a list that includes Connor Bedard and Patrick Kane. Frondell joining that group would be a huge win for the Hawks. 🚨 Anton Frondell is one of the rookies I’m VERY interested in this season. I’ve got him jumping straight into 82 GP, 23 goals and 42 assists for 65 points. 👀 65 points as a rookie. 🔥 — Dobber (@DobberHockey) Scott Wheeler at The Athletic published his annual fantasy hockey dynasty rankings, in which he ranks . Again, these are guys fantasy hockey fans should keep, who project as having good and improving value into the future. Blackhawks prospect Xavier Villeneuve is mentioned as a prospect from the 2026 NHL Draft class who was among the final cuts from his list. And there were no goalies considered for these rankings, so no mention of Spencer Knight. Here’s where Blackhawks made his list: 5. Connor Bedard 34. Bowen Byram 55. Roman Kantserov 56. Anton Frondell 64. Frank Nazar 67. Artyom Levshunov 🆕 at : My annual fantasy hockey dynasty ranking is out. The top 100 players 25-and-under for keeper leagues (🎁 free to read): — Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) Last night I joined the guys on to talk about the Blackhawks’ offseason. The final question they asked me was something I get frequently: when will the Blackhawks be back in the playoffs? My answer always has two parts: your team has to get better, and someone else has to replace them lower in the standings. As we’ve talked about here, the Blackhawks have improved in the standings based on points the last two years, but haven’t moved out of the basement yet. The Western Conference has been really good — and the Central Division is arguably the best in the league. I bring this up because Matt Larkin at Daily Faceoff wrote about . His five teams: Anaheim, Buffalo, Colorado, Dallas and Vegas. That’s two teams in the Central and four in the Western Conference. Am I saying the Blackhawks are suddenly going to catch up and pass the Avs and/or Stars this season? No. But the top coming back to the pack a bit opens up more opportunities to win games and climb the standings. We’ll see how the season plays out, but I think the Hawks are going in the opposite direction of a few teams in the Western Conference right now. And Anaheim still hasn’t signed Cutter Gauthier… Joe Pavelski has joined the staff at the University of Wisconsin as the director of player development. GREAT get for the Badgers. Big-time... Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:59:52 GMT Tab Bamford https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57656292 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57656292 false false While the Vancouver Canucks haven’t been the best team at shutting down great opponents in recent seasons, there are always a few players who stand out as extra difficult to… Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:25:38 GMT Ryan Clark https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57655960 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/articles/57655960 false false