The Hockey News has predicted that the Chicago Blackhawks will finish in 8th place in the Central Division again.
The 2026 edition of The Hockey News Yearbook is now available. Get it and more here. Included is incredible coverage of some of the game's top storylines, along with breakdowns of each team ahead of the 2026-27 season.
For the Chicago Blackhawks, they predicted them to come in last place in the Central Division once again. Another 8th-place finish doesn't mean that they didn't improve, as an 8th-place finish a year ago was still an 11-point jump. This year, they are aiming to be in the playoff race for much longer, but it is going to be difficult.
Part of the mountain is the division that they play in. The Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, and Dallas Stars are all legitimate threats to win the Stanley Cup. The Utah Mammoth are right there too, and this could be the year that they make that jump.
As for the St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, and Winnipeg Jets, there is a lot of uncertainty. However, all three of them have proven rosters that have finished ahead of Chicago for multiple years in a row.
Unsurprisingly, Connor Bedard, Patrick Kane, Spencer Knight, and Bowen Byram are the most talked-about players when describing what could go right for Chicago. The expectation is that Kane's presence will help out all of the young players on the team, not just Bedard. With most of the roster in the early days of their careers, it is hard to project winning with so much unknown.
Eventually, the Blackhawks are going to come out of the rebuild in the Bedard era. Whenever that is, it will come as a surprise at first. Leaders on the team like Connor Bedard, Alex Vlasic, and others have already expressed belief that they will take a step in 2026-27. Does that mean coming out of the Central Division's basement? Only time will tell.
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