The Chicago Blackhawks made a huge trade before the draft, acquiring defenseman Bowen Byram from the Buffalo Sabres. In the deal, the Blackhawks sent picks 4 and 45 in the 2026 NHL Draft, along with defenseman Louis Crevier. 

Forward Jordan Greenway was also part of the package, coming to Chicago alongside Byram. Greenway is not someone who will move the needle for the Blackhawks, but he can be a solid 4th-line player if he remains healthy for the bulk of the 2026-27 season. 

Greenway only played in 40 games for Buffalo last year, and he has mostly dealt with injury trouble for his entire career. If the Blackhawks can get 50 games out of him, however, it would be a win as he could rotate in and out with other bottom-six forwards. 

Other players like Cole Smith, Sacha Boisvert, Ryan Greene, and AJ Spellacy will all likely get playing time on the fourth line alongside Greenway, which is a nice mix of skilled skaters who can forecheck, move well, and just be overall hard to play against. 

Greenway was the second-round pick (50th overall) by the Minnesota Wild in the 2015 NHL Draft before he was traded to Buffalo in March of 2023. Although injuries have plagued him, as mentioned before, he has shown the ability to create chaos in an NHL bottom six. 

One of the knocks on the Blackhawks over the last few seasons has been that they are “soft” or “easy to play against”. Part of that has been their youth, but it has also been due to a lack of physical players on the roster.

Well, Jordan Greenway will help with that when he’s in the lineup. If he could find a way to play 80% of the games or more, he may even show some skill from time to time. 

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