What will a Patrick Kane-Connor Bedard pairing look like? 5 questions for the Chicago Blackhawks this season.
The short preseason is over, and the Chicago Blackhawks are in Las Vegas for their season opener Tuesday night.
The Golden Knights, coming off a Stanley Cup Final loss to the Carolina Hurricanes (in which Hawks wing Cole Smith played for Vegas), are likely to be contenders again in 2026-27. The Hawks, on the other hand, are a risky bet.
General manager Kyle Davidson’s active offseason was intended to address the glaring flaws that left the Hawks among the NHL’s bottom three teams for the fourth consecutive season. If solved, they will have hope for the first time in a long while.
If not … well, we’ve seen that story already. They’ve taken baby steps, but it’s time these young Hawks have their growth spurt.
Here are five questions we have for the 2026-27 Hawks.
1. Will Patrick Kane and Connor Bedard provide the show Hawks fans are hoping for?
The Hawks have been looking for help for Bedard since drafting him with the No. 1 pick in 2023. He has produced — including career highs of 30 goals and 45 assists in Year 3 — but hasn’t taken flight like he might have if he had stronger-finishing wings sharing the ice with him.
Kane’s resume certainly says he might be that wing. At 37 he no longer plays at an MVP level, but he has continued to perform at nearly a point-per-game rate (163 in 189 games over the last three seasons).
Because of Bedard’s shoulder surgery, we won’t see the two former No. 1 picks skate together to start the season. When they do, what will that look like?
In a best-case scenario, Bedard’s ice vision would create flashy passes to Kane, who would launch one-timer snipes on goal. At the minimum, fans will get to see a dream Hawks line in action.
2. Has the power play been fixed?
Coach Jeff Blashill said special teams will carry utmost importance while the Hawks develop chemistry. They had the league’s second-best penalty kill last season and kept that up in the preseason.
The power play, not so much.
Two defensemen, five forwards — nothing Blashill tried with a man advantage last season worked. The Hawks finished 29th in the NHL with a 16.9% power-play percentage.
It was the same story in the preseason. In the three games featuring mostly NHL players, the Hawks went 1-for-10 on the power play.
They didn’t do much with Bedard on the power play in 2025-26, but his absence will add to the challenge. Kane, Bowen Byram, Roman Kantserov, Anton Frondell and Tyler Bertuzzi will make up the first unit to start the season.
3. Can Artyom Levshunov make strides in Year 2?
The No. 2 pick in 2024 didn’t have a good rookie season. Levshunov struggled with decision making whenever he had the puck. That led to giveaways, opposing scoring chances and his minus-41 rating. On defense, while there were sparks, he also was overpowered and lost at times.
It’s much too early to give up on Levshunov, who turned 21 on Monday. Defensemen take a while to develop (unless you’re Matthew Schaefer), so a below-average rookie season shouldn’t come as a surprise.
What Levshunov needs to do is solidify his style of play. Will he be an offensive anchor like Byram or a defensive tank like Alex Vlasic?
The answer could be the former, as he has quarterbacked the second power-play unit in practices. The Hawks will need that from him if they’re to improve their scoring (2.56 goals per game in 2025-26).
A breakout sophomore campaign from Levshunov, who will start out in the second pair with Wyatt Kaiser, could help address many of the team’s flaws. Another bad season, and the Hawks may need to start worrying.
4. How will Jeff Blashill respond to tough stretches?
Bedard is estimated to return sometime in November if he stays on his recovery schedule. The Hawks will have played about 15 to 20 games by then.
And they’ll be underdogs in just about all of them.
Blashill’s team had several losing streaks last season after a 10-5-4 start. His response was usually along the lines of players needing to execute, grow and adapt to new situations in pro hockey.
All of that is true — the Hawks are the youngest team in the NHL again despite the arrival of Kane and Ian Cole, also 37. At some point, though, we have to see those lessons being applied.
Can the Hawks hold an early lead? Will they limit their defensive zone time? How will they prevent piles of opponents’ shots from flying on goal?
That will depend on Blashill’s systems and ability to make adjustments. If something isn’t working — André Burakovsky on the top line last season, for example — the coach needs to make those changes quickly to retain the Hawks’ confidence.
5. How will Anton Frondell and Roman Kantserov handle their first full NHL season?
Frondell, 19, joined the Hawks in March and was put on the ice immediately, finishing with nine points in 12 games.
Kantserov, 22, joined the team after a 64-point season in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. His first NHL training camp lasted only 12 days.
Neither has been in normal circumstances, yet both will have immense responsibility placed upon them.
For the Hawks to win this season, they need both rookies to produce. They have the skill sets, but it’s also about where they are in the lineup.
Frondell, who found his greatest success in Sweden as a wing, has been centering the second line. He scored a goal in Saturday’s preseason finale but lost 15 of his 22 faceoffs.
Kantserov, who’s listed as a left and right wing, played center in the preseason finale. He had a quality showing without scoring, winning seven of 11 faceoffs.
Blashill liked what he saw — so much that he elevated the Russian to the top line in practice Monday, centering Kane and Oliver Moore.
“I felt ultimately we hadn’t got enough out of the three lines with the combinations we had used,” Blashill said. “(I) got to see Roman at center (and I) feel confident that he can play center in the NHL.”
It’s risky to mix positions early in a career. The exposure to different spots has an equal chance of sparking a player’s growth or stunting his development. For Kantserov and Frondell, we’ll know which by their product on the ice.
klumpkins@chicagotribune.com