5 top storylines to follow in Blackhawk's training camp

The calendar has finally flipped to September, and that means training camps across the National Hockey League are just around the corner. According to the updated collective bargaining agreement, camps are shortened this year from 21 days to just 13 days. Meaning things will be greatly condensed.

For the Chicago Blackhawks, all signs point to physicals on Sept. 16 and the first on-ice practice on Sept 17 (although this is not yet official). Their first exhibition game will be against the Minnesota Wild just a few days later, on Sept. 19. The players and coaches will have limited time before their season debut on Sept. 29 versus the Vegas Golden Knights. With that in mind, they’ll need to get straight to work.

We’ll do more of a deep dive on each of the below topics during camp. But for now, let’s discuss the top five storylines to follow when camp gets underway.

Who will be the top line center?

We all know by now that Connor Bedard will be out for the beginning of the season due to offseason surgery on his left shoulder. He’s set to return at some point in early to mid-November. In the meantime, someone else will need to step into that top-line center role. The primary two candidates are Frank Nazar and Anton Frondell.

Nazar served as the second-line center behind Bedard for most of last season. He fared well there, driving a line with mostly Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen on his wings. The 22-year-old also improved in the faceoff circle, averaging a 47.6% success rate compared to a 44.6% success rate in 2024-25. His speed and tenacity are his strengths, but his overall consistency was an issue.

The rookie Frondell joined the Blackhawks for 12 contests at the end of last season, nine of which he played as the second line center. Head coach Jeff Blashill liked his responsible, two-way game so much he displaced Nazar to third-line center. All in all, Frondell contributed three goals and nine points in his short stint. He struggled at the faceoff dot (30.2%), but most young players require time to get acclimated to that aspect of the game.

A third dark horse option at center could be newcomer Roman Kantserov. The Russian prospect played center in the KHL last season. The Athletic's Mark Lazerus and Scott Powers mentioned this as an option on their Powers & Laz podcast recently. This would be quite the accomplishment for 21-year-old, as he's brand new to the team and will just be getting acclimated. However, it happened with Frondell last season!

No matter who ends up as 1C or 2C, these players will be leaned on with Bedard out. It will be interesting to see how they all handle it.

The top-six forwards group

This is where things should get fun! The Blackhawks have added some new pieces to their top-six forward repertoire; namely Patrick Kane and Kantersov. These two additions will give the team a lot more options up front.

Expect Bedard (when healthy), Nazar, Frondell, Bertuzzi and Nick Lardis to round out the top-six, along with Kane and Kantserov. It will be super interesting to see how the line combinations play out. Here’s my initial predictions, for those interested.

Ryan Greene played on the top line with Bedard most of last season, but most feel that won’t be the case now with the new additions. However, he certainly didn’t look out of place in that role. It will be something to monitor. Oliver Moore possesses plenty of speed and skill to potentially play in the top-six, but most think he’ll be utilized as the third line center (another subplot to follow!).

Veterans Teuvo Teravainen and Ryan Donato have also played farther up in the lineup in the past, but they’ll likely provide more value as depth pieces. Which segues perfectly into the next segment.

Competition among depth forwards

There’s certainly no shortage of players to fill out the rest of the lineup, and competition will be fierce. It’s always tough to displace veterans, and including new additions you now have a plethora of them in Teravainen, Donato, Cole Smith, Jordan Greenway and Andrew Mangiapane.

Then there’s the younger players to consider, consisting of the aforementioned Greene and Moore, plus Landon Slaggert, and even Sacha Boisvert. All in all, that’s nine players to fill six spots, or eight spots if you consider the 14 forwards teams usually carry on their roster.

In all likelihood Boisvert will start the season with the Rockford IceHogs. And with all additions considered, it will be tough for any other prospects to crack the lineup. But you never know! Some dark horse candidates include AJ Spellacy, Sam Savoie and Marek Vanacker.

How will the defensive pairings play out?

The Blackhawks gained a huge asset on the blue line when they acquired Bowen Byram from the Buffalo Sabres. He immediately becomes the Blackhawk’s best all-around defenseman. However, he’s never been the No. 1 guy before, and there will be a lot of pressure for him to live up to those expectations.

Byram also is a natural left-handed shot, and the irony is the Blackhawks lost a valuable right-handed shot with Louis Crevier, who went the other way in this trade. That leaves the only right-handed shots as the young and green Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel. This causes a bit of a dilemma when it comes to putting defensive pairings together.

The good news is many defensemen can play both sides, with advantages and disadvantages coming with playing the off-side. Some fare better than others at this, with another newcomer Ian Cole claiming he’s a pro at it. “I would say, up until maybe the past two years, probably about half my career (I’ve played) on the right side,” said Cole at his introductory press conference. “So very comfortable with it.”

There could certainly be a lot of experimentation going on with the pairings in camp. Another situation to keep an eye on is the placement of 22-year-old Kevin Korchinski, who just re-signed with the Blackhawks on Aug. 29. However, his fit in the lineup is unclear.

Ethan Del Mastro is the only restricted free agent who remains unsigned, so we’ll see how that unfolds in the next few weeks. Del Mastro, by the way, is a true defensive defenseman, of which the Blackhawks are lacking on their D-core. He also has experience playing on the right side. Perhaps those two qualities earn him an extension. Both Del Mastro and Korchinski would also have to clear waivers to get sent down to the IceHogs, making things even more complicated.

Lots of moving parts on defense. Here’s more details in my defensive pairings predictions piece.

Soderblom versus Commesso in net

Finally, we reach the goaltending storyline in training camp. It’s no secret Spencer Knight is the No. 1 guy between the pipes. He’s the uncontested starter. But who will be his backup?

On paper, and likely in reality, this would be Arvid Soderblom. The 27-year-old has been the backup in Chicago for the last three seasons, and his contract runs through this coming campaign. But his numbers weren’t all that great last season, leaving some room for doubt.

Enter Drew Commesso. He only played in three contests last season with the big club, but impressed with a .918 save percentage and a 2.31 goals against average. Commesso also recently inked a new deal, a two-year contract that runs through 2027-28.

All signs point towards Commesso playing one more season in Rockford until Soderblom’s contract expires. Then he’s the guy behind Knight. But if Soderblom struggles, Commesso could arguably cement his place even sooner. I have no doubt he’ll be coming into training camp with that mindset.

These are just the initial top storylines for training camp, with plenty of smaller narratives to watch for as well. As mentioned above, we’ll be following up on each of these scenarios individually as training camp gets underway.

It should be an exciting and action-packed couple of weeks!  

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