9 Blackhawks crack NHL.com's Top 250 fantasy hockey rankings

Although opening night for the Chicago Blackhawks isn't until September, hockey fans in the Windy City are most likely already looking ahead to next season's fantasy hockey season. One key topic they are following is when to draft Connor Bedard, who won't be available for the first month of the season. Right now, the 21-year-old is the highest-ranked Blackhawks player, at No. 65, in the recent Top 250 fantasy rankings released by NHL.com.

Last year in 69 games, the former first overall pick from the 2023 Draft scored 30 goals for the first time, adding 45 assists for 75 points to lead the team in scoring for the third consecutive season. Considering Bedard will start the new campaign on the shelf, the 2026-27 season will be the third time in four years that he’s missed at least 10 games.

Next on the list is rookie Anton Frondell, who claimed the No. 110 spot. In a brief debut last season, the 19-year-old from Sweden tallied three goals and nine points and is penciled in to be a top-six forward in this year’s lineup.

Outside of the Top 150 is a slew of Blackhawks players, featuring recently acquired defenseman Bowen Byram, ranked 164th, followed by goalie Spencer Knight (No. 172), Patrick Kane (No. 173), and Frank Nazar (No. 174). With the Buffalo Sabres, Byram had a career high with 42 points, including matching a personal best 11 goals and a plus-15.

Between the pipes, Knight played a career-high 55 games, posting a 19-25-11 record, which matched a career-high of 19 victories from 2021-22. In addition, he had a .902 SV% and 2.82 GAA, a significant improvement from his brief 15-game stint in the 2024-25 season.

Meanwhile, in a shocking free agency twist, franchise legend Kane returned to the place where he celebrated three Stanley Cup victories. After three and a half seasons away from Chicago, the all-time American leading scorer is back to finish what he started almost two decades ago. Heading into the new season, Kane is a wildcard who could score 25 goals and 60 points, which would be his highest totals since 2021-22.

Just like so many other under-25-year-olds on the roster, Nazar is finding his place in the lineup, scoring 15 goals and 41 points last year, a bump up from 12 and 26 from the season before. As mentioned, with Bedard out, there’s going to be opportunities for others to step up in his absence, including Nazar, who may have a chance to center Chicago’s top line to begin the year.

Further down the list, the final three Blackhawks players find themselves among the Top 250, including Tyler Bertuzzi (No. 220), Sam Rinzel (No. 222), and Artyom Levshunov (No. 236). Heading into 2026-27, Bertuzzi is one of the most veteran players in the Chicago lineup, and teaming with Bedard last year helped him score a career-high 32 goals, while almost matching his personal best (62) in points with 58.

On the back end, Rinzel got to play regular minutes last year, scoring four goals and 14 points in 54 games while averaging 18:16 a night. According to DailyFaceoff lineup projections, he’s slated to be a bottom-pairing defender, but still someone worth keeping an eye on as he’ll get a chance to play all 82 games this year.

Finally, Levshunov is just 20 and is now a top-four defenseman, with 22 points in 68 games last year. However, he led the team with the worst plus/minus total at minus-41, but ranked third in hits with 98 and ice time, 19:35, among defensemen.  

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