In The Hockey News 2026 Yearbook, there are predictions for everything involving the Chicago Blackhawks.
In the 2026 edition of The Hockey News Yearbook, which you can get here, the Chicago Blackhawks are predicted to come in last place in the Central Division once again.
That's not what the team is aiming to do, especially when considering some of the off-season acquisitions that they have made. With low expectations, however, comes a chance to outperform these predictions.
The Hockey News' 2026 Yearbook has lots of other Blackhawks predictions as well:
Top Rookies
Although the Anton Frondell hype is strong, mostly because of how he joined the team and played well at the end of last season, Roman Kantserov's unknown makes him incredibly intriguing. Both of these two are going to be "Calder Trophy" types, and the team will rely on each of them a lot in different ways.
The Blackhawks are operating as if Frondell is a center. His two-way skills are strong, and it just depends on how well he translates those skills into production in all three zones as a rookie. As for Kantserov, they are hoping that the KHL's leading goal scorer from a year ago is able to find the back of the net in the NHL.
X-Factor
Defenseman Sam Rinzel was pegged as the X-Factor of the Chicago Blackhawks heading into the 2026-27 season. Bowen Byram is the new number one, and Alex Vlasic is going to provide a steady presence, but it is young Rinzel whose ceiling could help the group find another gear.
Artyom Levshunov probably deserves to be in this conversation as well. The former number two overall pick (2024) has a lot of incredible skills, which is why he was drafted so high, but he has to reach a new level of decision-making in order to take advantage of those skills.
Leading Scorers
Connor Bedard is projected to miss the first month or so of the season recovering from shoulder surgery. Still, he is predicted to have 71 points to lead the team. That would be well over a point per game, but it implies that he misses plenty of time early in the year.
If the Blackhawks are going to make the playoffs or even come close, it probably means that he outdid this prediction due to another level of play and getting on the ice earlier than anticipated.
Bowen Byram is projected to be second on the team with 59 points, which leads all defensemen, followed by Anton Frondell (57), Frank Nazar (49), and Teuvo Teravainen (49) to round out the top five. If the totals look like this for everyone, they are likely looking at another 8th-place finish.
These five, plus young players like Roman Kantserov, Oliver Moore, and Nick Lardis, need to outperform expectations if they are going to win significantly more games. Again, you can see what the magazine predicts for every player on the roster (and so much more) by getting your copy here.
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