Free agency, trades, offer sheets: Do the Hawks have any more surprises?

Posted June 30, 2026 4:38 pm

By Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus

The annual free-agent frenzy is shaping up to be a spectacular spree of ill-advised spending, as the rising salary cap has given teams a ton of money to play with and very few worthwhile players to spend it on. Even before Alex Tuch and Darryn Raddysh came off the board, this was arguably the worst free-agent class in modern NHL history. But that won’t stop teams from spending big money on the likes of Mason Marchment and Michael Bunting.

Instead, the trade market is where the talent is. Zach Werenski, Jason Robertson, Dylan Larkin and Connor Hellebuyck top Chris Johnston’s latest trade board, and all of them could be moved at any moment.

Will the Blackhawks be major players on either front? Well, they already made a big trade, sending the No. 4 pick in this past weekend’s draft to Buffalo, along with a second-rounder and Louis Crevier, for defenseman Bowen Byram. But that doesn’t mean they can’t make another splash, unlikely as it might be.

“We’re definitely looking to make some stuff happen,” general manager Kyle Davidson said. “Again, I stand up here a lot and say I’m open to it. Again, it’s got to make sense, fit for both sides, and you’ve got to accomplish (something) for the other team as well. So, we continue to have those discussions. We do have a lot of good assets. I think we’ve showed we’ve kind of taken a different route where we’re not afraid to use some of these high-valued assets to bring in some players who we think can be with us for a long time.”

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what is — and what could be — on Davidson’s to-do list as the league calendar flips ahead to the 2026-27 season on Wednesday.

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Connor Bedard’s contract

The one certainty of the Blackhawks’ offseason is Connor Bedard signing a new contract. The unknown, though, is for how long and how much.

If the Blackhawks had their way, Bedard would be signing for eight years with a cap hit not far above $10 million. Based on AFP Analytics’ contract projections, Bedard would get around $12.3 million on an eight-year deal and about $9.3 million on a three-year deal.

Bedard can probably seek something more than $12 million on a long-term deal and be justified. The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn has his market value at more than $14 million.

Bedard said earlier this offseason he was open to negotiating anytime, but negotiations have dragged. Bedard’s agents may want to see if players such as Macklin Celebrini and Leo Carlsson agree to extensions this summer and compare those to what Bedard can get.

“I know I want to be here and we’ll get it done soon,” Bedard said in April. “I don’t think if it’s not done in a month, there’s any worry or anything. It’ll just get done when it gets done.”

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Jason Robertson

It’s becoming increasingly clear that Robertson’s preference is to stay in Dallas, where he’s been a three-time 40-goal scorer in just six seasons. But if Stars general manager Jim Nill can’t get to the number Robertson wants — $13 million? $14 million? — and Robertson doesn’t choose arbitration by next week, Nill will have no choice but to deal his star winger.

Of course, no team is going to part with the assets required to land such a player as Robertson without a long-term contract extension, so Robertson still, to a degree, controls his own fate — as he did when he reportedly declined to sign with the Seattle Kraken last week, nixing a potential trade. Would Robertson be interested in signing in Chicago? The appeal of playing alongside Bedard is self-evident, but even with Robertson, it’s not as if the Blackhawks will suddenly be contenders next season. Dallas offers a chance to win a championship, warm weather, no state income taxes and very little scrutiny — Chicago offers none of those things. With three first-round picks in 2027 and a host of young talent, Davidson has the pieces to offer the kind of package that Minnesota sent to Vancouver for Quinn Hughes. But it takes two to tango. Or, in this case, three.

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Byram’s big bump

Bedard’s contract is the headliner, but Bowen Byram’s will be one to watch, too. Byram is entering the final year of his current contract and is eligible to sign a new deal beginning Wednesday.

With Byram due to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2026-27 season, Davidson understood Byram was likely to ask for a significant raise on his next contract, especially if the Blackhawks seek to sign him to a long-term deal. We’ll see soon just how significant, but with the cap rising, he could become one of the league’s highest-paid defensemen.

“We’re OK paying great players,” Davidson said on June 24. “And if there’s an opportunity to acquire and retain a player that we believe is elite and a star, then we will do so and we won’t blink in doing it.”

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Mikheyev’s return?

Ilya Mikheyev is hitting the open market as an unrestricted free agent after declining the Blackhawks’ offer this past season. There is still a chance Mikheyev returns to the Blackhawks, but it comes down to whether Mikheyev can’t find a better offer and if the Blackhawks’ offer remains on the table. Their roster has gotten tighter.

Asked several times since the trade deadline about Mikheyev’s possible return, Davidson continually expressed a hope to bring him back. The Blackhawks think highly of Mikheyev on the penalty kill, his ability to play up and down the lineup and his work ethic. Mikheyev finished last season with a strong showing on a line with Anton Frondell. Chicago also envisions that he could be a good mentor for fellow Russian forward Roman Kantserov.

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Offer sheets

Did St. Louis’ crafty — and successful — decision to offer-sheet both Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg open the floodgates for GMs who’ve always been a little hesitant to be so bold? Or will we go back to offer sheets being rarities we talk about but hardly see?

Chicago has the four first-round picks it would require to offer-sheet Robertson at the highest tier, but that seems highly unlikely. But what about Robertson’s teammate in Dallas, Maverik Bourque? The 24-year-old forward can play both center and wing and is coming off a breakout 20-goal season for the Stars. He fits the Blackhawks’ timetable and could be there for the taking if Dallas manages to re-sign Robertson, putting it right up against the cap. In the range Bourque would go for, it would only cost the Blackhawks one of their three first-round picks next year, along with a third-rounder.

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Depth changes

The Blackhawks aren’t likely to add a whole lot this week. There are the Robertson and offer-sheet possibilities, but those are long shots. Outside of that, they could add a depth NHL defenseman and a few players to AHL Rockford.

They could bring in another defenseman who can assist them on the penalty kill. After dealing away Connor Murphy and Crevier, the penalty kill is an area in which the Blackhawks don’t have a lot of defensemen with a ton of experience. Alex Vlasic led the Blackhawks in shorthanded ice time among the team’s defensemen last season, and Wyatt Kaiser was fourth. Byram was third among the Buffalo Sabres defensemen in shorthanded ice time in the regular season, but he didn’t see much time in the playoffs there.

As for Rockford, the IceHogs appear as if they’re losing defensemen Ryan Mast and Dmitri Kuzmin, who weren’t qualified as restricted free agents, and forward Joey Anderson, who is an unrestricted free agent.