Projecting the Blackhawks’ 2026-27 roster: Who stays and who goes?

Posted April 24, 2026 10:58 am

By Scott Powers

Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson could sit on his hands and largely do nothing this offseason.

Yes, he needs to re-sign Connor Bedard, make a top-four draft pick and work out a few other deals, but he could run back almost the same season-ending lineup that featured just one possible unrestricted free agent.

However, it’s unlikely Davidson will do nothing. That top-four draft pick might be NHL-ready. Roman Kantserov is expected to join the NHL. The Blackhawks could probably use a physical forward and a veteran defenseman. Davidson mentioned the possibility of acquiring a bigger fish, too. Those outcomes could likely force some harder decisions about his current players.

Let’s get into those potential roster decisions.

Returning for sure

Connor Bedard

Who will Bedard play alongside next season? Over his first three seasons, his most frequent linemates at five-on-five have been Philipp Kurashev (968 minutes, 55 seconds), Ryan Donato (713:19), Tyler Bertuzzi (634:46), Nick Foligno (586:49), André Burakovsky (580:54) and Ryan Greene (559:37). He ended the season with Nick Lardis (131:52) as a frequent linemate.

Bedard has been on the ice during more goals for than against while playing with only two of those players: Donato (36-34) and Greene (30-29). He was close to 50% with Burakovsky, too. Bedard and Lardis’ analytics together weren’t great, and they were outscored 12-4. If the Blackhawks keep those two together, they may need to find the ideal third linemate. Kantserov would be an obvious option if he signs: He doesn’t need the puck a ton to be productive, but he can carry it into the zone and take some burden off Bedard.

Tyler Bertuzzi

Bertuzzi scored a career-high 32 goals this season. The 31-year-old especially fought off the previous season’s long goalless droughts. This season, his longest drought was six games, compared with 20 the year before. New coach Jeff Blashill’s arrival probably helped him, too. Bertuzzi played nearly two and a half more minutes a game than the season prior.

Ryan Donato

Donato dropped from 31 goals last season to 15 this season. It wasn’t too unexpected. One of the main reasons is that Donato shot a lot less than last season. He played close to the same amount of five-on-five ice time and had about the same shooting percentage in both seasons, but he had 52 fewer shot attempts and 55 fewer shots on goal this season. His position further down the lineup likely factored into that. His most frequent linemates this season were Ilya Mikheyev and Jason Dickinson. Last season, he played mostly with Bedard and Mikheyev.

Anton Frondell

The Blackhawks likely saw enough to keep Frondell at center to start next season. A training camp to actually learn the position at the NHL level will do him some good. The line of Bertuzzi, Frondell and Mikheyev had just a 37.75 expected-goals percentage, but the Blackhawks outscored opponents 8-3 with them on the ice.

Ryan Greene

Greene was assumed to be Dickinson’s successor as a shutdown center, but that’s less certain now. Greene played very little center down the stretch while Blashill was experimenting. Greene unexpectedly played 500-plus minutes with Bedard this season, but Blashill liked the combination and kept returning to it even when Burakovsky was demoted. The question is whether Greene can produce enough to stick with Bedard. Greene was tied for eighth on the team in assists per 60 minutes and tied for eighth in goals per 60 minutes (minimum 10 games).

Wyatt Kaiser

Kaiser was much more consistent in his first full NHL season. His analytics improved, too, when he became a defensive partner with Sam Rinzel. They were the only Blackhawks pairing to play more than 200 minutes together and have a positive goals-for percentage. If Kaiser cuts down on big mistakes, his ceiling can be even higher. He’s due for another contract after next season.

Spencer Knight

For the first time in his career, Knight proved he’s a legitimate No. 1 goalie over the course of a full season. He finished 14th in the league in goals saved above expected, according to MoneyPuck, and that could have been higher if not for the Blackhawks’ rough end to the season. He’ll likely get more games next season with a more balanced schedule.

Nick Lardis

Lardis showed he can score in the NHL. He’ll have to make some adjustments to score more, but the chances were there. The Blackhawks will have to figure out his linemates. He finished the season playing with Bedard, but Lardis scored more consistently with Frank Nazar and showed some chemistry with Oliver Moore.

Artyom Levshunov

The Blackhawks want Levshunov to work on his hip flexibility, as they do with a lot of their young players. They think Levshunov can improve his turning, which would allow him to defend more easily. Levshunov said he’ll split time this offseason in Chicago and Florida.

Oliver Moore

Moore was trending in a positive direction until his lower-body injury ended his season. He could have probably played late in the year if the Blackhawks needed him to. He will get back to playing for the U.S. at the Worlds. That competition had a positive effect on Nazar last season. The Blackhawks do have to figure out where Moore best fits in the lineup next season. He and Blashill thought he played better at center. But where does he fit in if Bedard, Frondell and Nazar are also playing center? Do they want him on the fourth line?

Frank Nazar

Nazar and the Blackhawks took a chance by agreeing to a seven-year extension with a $6,599,991 cap hit last offseason. Would he have gotten the same offer after this season? Maybe. There are indicators that Nazar has a chance to score 25 goals and produce 60 points. Injuries factored into his inconsistencies this season. Come next season, though, the Blackhawks will want to see him closer to those numbers. He’ll likely be the Blackhawks’ second-highest-paid player behind Bedard.

Sam Rinzel

Rinzel had much higher expectations for himself this season. He improved defensively after a stint in Rockford. He knows he has to be at another level offensively. Bedard’s run as power-play quarterback late in the season showed how the Blackhawks feel about Rinzel in that position. He had zero goals and one assist in 110 minutes of power-play time. There is an opportunity for someone, whether it’s him or Levshunov, to accumulate points and eventually get paid a lot of money to produce with Bedard and company on the power play and at even strength.

Teuvo Teräväinen

This season was arguably the worst of Teräväinen’s career. By the end of it, he was playing on the fourth line. That’s not ideal for one of the Blackhawks’ highest-paid forwards, but it’s not like they’re strapped for cap space. The condensed NHL season and the Olympics seemed to wear on Teräväinen, who is 31. The Blackhawks have to be hopeful that a long offseason will do him well. If they spread out their offense over three lines, he could plug in somewhere and thrive. At worst he’s a reliable veteran down the lineup. He’ll be entering the final year of his three-year deal.

Alex Vlasic

Vlasic hasn’t reached the defensive levels he did three seasons ago. He may not reach that again, but the Blackhawks need more consistency, especially next season, as they are likely to play a young group of defenseman. Like a lot of players, Vlasic needs to find his best-fit defense partner. He and Louis Crevier showed promise, but neither is an elite puck-moving defenseman. That led to more time in the defensive zone last season.

Returning … we think

Louis Crevier

Crevier had a breakout season and is under contract for another year. He will probably return, but if the Blackhawks decide they don’t want to bring back the same defensive group and opt to add a veteran, they will have to make a tough decision. They’re unlikely to sit Kaiser, Levshunov, Rinzel or Vlasic. Would they sit Kevin Korchinski? Crevier has proven he’s an NHL player, but he, too, needs to find his ideal partner.

Ethan Del Mastro

The Blackhawks gave Del Mastro a longer look late in the season to gauge where he was at. The tryout didn’t go great. In 19 games the Blackhawks were outscored 14-3 with Del Mastro on the ice and had an expected goals percentage of 36.02. Del Mastro is no longer waiver-exempt next season, so that complicates what the Blackhawks can do with him.

Kevin Korchinski

Korchinski played some of his best NHL hockey late in the season. In nine games after the trade deadline, he had a 52.10 expected goals percentage, and the Blackhawks were outscored 7-4 with him on the ice. The organization still has faith in him and has devoted a lot of development resources to him over the past few seasons. The unknown is where he fits into the defenseman group next season. The group may be Crevier, Kaiser, Levshunov, Rinzel, Vlasic and Korchinski. But by doing so, the Blackhawks know there’s a bit of a gamble, given how the team played late in the season without Connor Murphy and Matt Grzelcyk.

Landon Slaggert

The Blackhawks may have to make a tough decision or two among their forwards, too. If the Blackhawks sign Kantserov, draft an NHL-ready forward, re-sign Mikheyev, and/or make any offseason additions, the numbers will add up quickly. There are nine forwards listed in the previous category. Slaggert held his own on the fourth line, but did he do enough if there’s a tough decision to make?

Arvid Söderblom

Söderblom will probably head into next season as the Blackhawks’ No. 2 goalie again. There’s a chance they’ll open up competition with him and Drew Commesso in training camp, but having fewer preseason games probably won’t allow that in a real way. If Söderblom can be closer to what he was in the 2024-25 season, the Blackhawks would probably take him as their backup goalie.

The 50-50 club

André Burakovsky

Considering how good Burakovsky was early in the year and that he played with Bedard more than anyone this season, it’s odd to think he could be bought out this offseason. That tells you how far his game dropped off.

He scored just one goal and had six points at five-on-five over the Blackhawks’ final 41 games. Blashill kept him high in the lineup for a lot of that time, too, but eventually turnovers continued to add up, and his production didn’t get any better.

The Blackhawks partly acquired Burakovsky because of his $5.5 million cap hit, which helped them get to the cap floor. If the Blackhawks can reach the floor without him — he’d still have a $3 million cap hit next season if bought out — and the Blackhawks bring in enough forwards that he’s expendable, they may buy out his contract. Their offseason will dictate how real that possibility is.

Andrew Mangiapane

Mangiapane is another buyout candidate this offseason. He has a $3.6 million cap hit next season. The Blackhawks took him and his contract on to acquire the Edmonton Oilers’ 2027 first-round pick.

The Blackhawks thought Mangiapane could bounce back in a different environment. Because he got hurt and played just 10 games, he didn’t stack up a big sample size. He had a goal and an assist in those games.

As with Burakovsky, it might depend on what the rest of the roster looks like. The Oilers put Mangiapane through waivers and sent him to the AHL. Would the Blackhawks do the same? It might not be ideal for either side.

Ilya Mikheyev

The Blackhawks would like to re-sign Mikheyev. They gave him a contract offer before the trade deadline, and he turned it down. They’ll now have longer to negotiate. Mikheyev won’t be a free agent until July 1. The Blackhawks got a deal done with Donato after last season but before July 1.

Likely moving on

Matt Grzelcyk

Grzelcyk arrived last season on a player tryout agreement and made the most of it. He not only earned a contract, but he was one of the Blackhawks’ most reliable defensemen throughout the season. As good as he was, the Blackhawks aren’t likely to offer him an extension.

Sam Lafferty

Lafferty had to think he was going to have a larger role on this season’s team after the Blackhawks acquired him for a third time. He was mostly the 13th forward, though. With his contract expiring, he’ll probably become an unrestricted free agent.