The Chicago Blackhawks are not very active on the free agent front. They may add another piece or two when it comes to NHL or AHL depth, but they are not interested in acquiring bad contracts as the youngsters start to take over the lineup.
When the team is ready to win, Kyle Davidson will be an active participant in free agency and big-time trades. Instead, there will be training camp battles to earn spots for the guys looking to develop.
The Blackhawks, outside of a handful of depth trades, haven't made any splashes this offseason. The plan is clear: give runway to the prospects that the team has been adding over the last handful of seasons.
"I didn’t want to put any players in front of the young guys that we do think are ready." GM Kyle Davidson said about the lack of moves. "Now, we have enough young players that there aren’t enough spots for all of them to play, so there will be battles there."
Right now, the Blackhawks are trending toward being the youngest team in the National Hockey League during the 2025-26 season. There are a handful of veterans, especially in the forward group, who will play a lot, but this team has mostly been turned over to youth.
Having another developmental year might not be such a bad thing. At the end of the 2024-25 season, the team was significantly more entertaining with a young lineup. They also gave themselves a better chance to win games.
There is also the Gavin McKenna factor. Why would the Blackhawks spend money in free agency to be the 25th place team in the NHL and miss out on a legitimate shot at the Medicine Hat Tigers' superstar?
Right now, it appears as if McKenna is a generational prospect. In 56 games played as a 17-year-old in the OHL, McKenna had 41 goals and 88 points for 129 points. He is one of the most productive players in the history of major junior hockey.
If McKenna was a consolation prize for the team spending a year developing their young players at the highest level, it would be A+ work by the organization.
Giving Tanner Jeannot or Cody Ceci multi-year contracts isn't a wise move for good teams, let alone this rebuilding one.
"I didn’t want to put any players in front of the young guys that we do think are ready. Davidson said. "Now, we have enough young players that there aren’t enough spots for all of them to play, so there will be battles there."
It was already clear that guys like Connor Bedard, Alex Vlasic, and Frank Nazar were going to be the main focus of the team. Now, players like Sam Rinzel, Artyom Levshunov, Oliver Moore, Kevin Korchinski, Wyatt Kaiser, and Ethan Del Mastro, amongst others, will look for everyday playing time. Overall, the team will be better in time for having them play key roles.
Adding veterans to take ice away from these guys would have been a mistake. The rebuild was always about building the team from the ground up, and that's exactly what Kyle Davidson has done.
Are they going to be a lottery team again? Unless they go on a 2024-25 Montreal Canadiens miraculous type of run, it is likely. However, not all bottom-five finishes are created equal.
