Blackhawks 12 thoughts after 12 games, balancing frustration with hope

It’s safe to say this wasn’t what the Chicago Blackhawks had in mind to start to their 2026-27 campaign. We knew they would struggle out of the gate with their cornerstone player Connor Bedard out of the lineup due to offseason shoulder surgery. But Bedard returned just seven games in, and things didn’t get much better from there.

The Blackhawks were happy with a win on Oct. 27 (2-1 over the LA Kings) after losing three games in a row. However, through 12 games their record is still not great at 4-8-0.

There’s disappointment and frustration surrounding the Blackhawks’ start, but there’s also hope for a better future. Here are 12 thoughts after 12 games, which happens to be one-seventh of the way through the new 84-game season.

Kane, Bedard off to relatively slow starts

It’s easy to just expect Connor Bedard and Patrick Kane, two very elite players, to perform consistently every single night. I mean, that’s what they’re paid for, right?! But we also have to take a step back and look at the big picture.

Kane only has one goal. I’m sure he’ll be the first person to tell you he’s disappointed he hasn’t scored more. However, he’s currently tied with rookie Roman Kantserov to lead the team with 22 shots on goal. Based on this, hopefully the goals will start to come for Kane.

Kane also leads the team with seven assists and eight points. In that aspect, he’s on par. He’s always been a playmaker, so there’s reason to believe he’ll get going with more production soon, including goals.

Bedard, the Blackhawks' cornerstone and captain, sits at two goals and six points. Let’s also remember he’s only suited up for six games thus far. I think a point-per-game pace is quite acceptable if he can keep that up. He’s still getting into the groove, building chemistry with his linemates.

Kantserov, Frondell looking good

Speaking of which, Kane and Bedard’s running mate to start the season, Kantserov, is currently leading the team with five goals (this also leads the league lead among rookies). The 22-year-old from Russia has hit the ground running. He’s been impressive in that he has a high hockey IQ and has no problem keeping up with his elite linemates, both during five-on-five play and being adept in the bumper spot on the power play. He also seems to have a knack for finding the right spots on the ice.

“He just thinks the game so well, so skilled,” said Bedard on Kantserov. He's so good at like getting in spots for us. Like I guess the power play is a good example of him just always being in a good spot where no one is, kind of quiet ice. So that's a lot of fun for me and Kaner because we like to hold on to the puck, we like to make plays, and it seems like he's always open for us.”

Anton Frondell has had a solid start to the season as well, but in a little bit of a different way than Kantserov. Head coach Jeff Blashill has entrusted Frondell with driving his own line, centering the second line alongside Tyler Bertuzzi and mostly Teuvo Teravainen. Not only is this line a threat to score, but Frondell’s strong two-way play allows them to also be a shutdown line for the Blackhawks.

The 19-year-old has already notched one goal and five assists for six points. The assist and point count (a three-way tie) is currently second on the team.

If the rookies Kantserov and Frondell can keep up this pace, it will spell good things for the Blackhawks.

Nazar finding his groove

While we’re on the subject of forwards, Frank Nazar has had a slow start to the season, similar to Kane and Bedard. His two-game suspension didn’t help matters either. He’s been snakebitten, much like the rest of the team. However, he’s actually second on the team with three goals, despite just five points.  

There are high expectations for the 22-year-old, considering this is his third season and he’s got a hefty $6.59 million a year contract. Granted, Nazar has been moved around a lot in the lineup. He played top line center while Bedard was sidelined, but then was demoted upon his return. Now he’s being tasked with driving a third line alongside Oliver Moore.

The addition of Kane to that line in the last matchup (Oct. 27 versus the Kings), could be the key to unlocking Nazar’s potential. In this contest, the new-look trio led their opponent 17-6 in shot attempts and 10-1 in shots. Nazar also found defenseman Wyatt Kaiser for what ended up being the game-winning goal. (tweet of goal).

“He creates. He creates for sure,” said Kane after the game. “I mean, there's definitely something there with him. He  finds a way to create.” We’ll see if this line can keep up the good work.

Forward depth is key

Looking at the rest of the forwards, it will be important for the depth to stand out. In order for this team to get to the next step, they have to be rolling with four strong lines. Ryan Donato is coming off a few games where he’s had a plethora of chances. Can that become the norm instead of a one-off? Moore was just a healthy scratch, but then played well upon his return. Can he find his consistency?

The fourth line of Cole Smith, Ryan Greene and Jordan Greenway has been the most consistent line so far. They’ll need to keep it up. Andrew Mangiapane is back in the mix now. Can he make a difference?

Can the snake bitten Bertuzzi snap out of his slump? Can Teravainen contribute in a meaningful way? Will Nick Lardis be called up from the Rockford IceHogs at some point and make an impact?

These are all questions to be monitoring moving forward.

Byram a disappointment so far

Another player that hasn’t yet lived up to expectations is defenseman Bowen Byram. He was brought on to be the No. 1 defenseman of the future, and we all know the Blackhawks paid a hefty price for his services.

The 25-year-old had a strong preseason, but it didn’t seem to translate to regular season games. Granted, he was tasked with playing on his off side. Then his wife gave birth to twin baby girls, which I’m sure caused some natural upheaval to his world. Then he sustained an upper body injury.

All in all, Byram has only suited up for six games with his new team. That’s really too small of a sample to come to any conclusions. The blueliner has been practicing with the team, and it appears a return to action is close. He will be traveling with the team on their two-game road trip to Detroit and Boston, but it’s unclear whether he’ll play.

Time will tell whether Byram can live up to some hefty expectations. But there’s no question his return to be welcome to the defensive group.

Defense is a work in progress

This might be the biggest problem for the Blackhawks at the start of this campaign. The defense is having trouble with retrievals, defensive zone exits and giving up odd-man rushes. This is a lot of what the team focused on during their five-game break recently. And it has looked a little better since then, but just not consistently.

Coach Blashill addressed what they’ve been working on. “We worked a lot through the practice on breakouts and D-zone breakouts. I think that ultimately is the engine of any team. So the better you can get at that, and the more trying to put a young D in pressure-type reps where you just add the reps that you would see in the game, and the forwards to want it and support it. And I think if we do that better, we're going to be a much better team. That would be the probably the number one (thing), especially D-zone breakouts. Like once you're in the D-zone state and you get the puck on your stick, what happens next? And if it stays in your zone, it's hard, then it becomes a lot. So you want it to exit the zone, and you'd love it to exit the zone where you ultimately get possession, whether it's through a flip and then a retrieval, or whether it's through a tape-to-tape pass.”

Another theme here is that the less time you spend defending, the more you’ll have the puck in your zone to create offense. Obviously, the two go hand in hand. Fixing the D-zone issues will lead to more offense, more goals and more winning.

Levshunov has been a bright spot

While Artyom Levshunov was one of the most inconsistent defensemen last season, he appears to have turned a corner this year. He’s actually one of the most successful at getting the puck out of the defensive zone, and he looks more confident after putting in the work during the offseason.

Levshunov is currently second (to Kaiser) among defensemen with a goal and three points. Plus his minus-4 plus/minus rating is super refreshing after a minus-41 rating from last season. He's also set to play in his 100th NHL game as of Saturday (Oct. 31), when the Blackhawks take on the Boston Bruins.

We’ll see if the 21-year-old (as of today, Oct. 28!) can keep up the good work.

Power play needs improvement

There’s no sugar coating it; the Blackhawks’ power play needs to improve. It currently ranks last in the league, with a dismal 10.3 success rate. They’ve only scored four times on the power play all season. Against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 25, the Blackhawks went 0-for-7 on the man advantage, including 1:28 minutes of 5-on-3 time.

It’s hard to believe a group as talented as the top unit of Bertuzzi, Bedard, Kantserov, Kane and Teravainen (Byram when he returns from injury) can be this bad. But power plays are fickle, and they definitely go through their ebbs and flows throughout the season.

It was encouraging that the Blackhawks’ power play looked very dangerous against the Kings, converting on 1-of-3 chances and generating a plethora of chances. They also flipped Kane and Bedard on the flanks, with Kane on the right and Bedard now on the left. Who knows; this same exact group could get on a roll in the coming weeks and months, and we’ll be laughing at this being an issue at the start of the season. But right now it’s a bone of contention, for sure.

Penalty kill hanging on

There was a lot of concern at the beginning of 2026-27 that the Blackhawks would regress from a penalty kill that ranked second in the league last season, with an 84.6% success rate. After all, they lost a number of their most accomplished killers in Ilya Mikheyev, Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy. Plus, their more aggressive system might be tough for the newer players to catch on to.

All said, the penalty kill isn’t as strong as it was last year; currently ranking 17th in the league with a 78.4% success rate. But this is basically in the middle of the pack, with the potential to improve as the players acclimate.

Defenseman Alex Vlasic leads the team in penalty kill minutes, and he and Kaiser have experience with the system from last season. The same is true of forwards Greene, Teravainen and Nazar. Veterans Ian Cole, Byram, Cole Smith and Jordan Greenway come with a lot of penalty kill experience, albeit with different teams. Meanwhile, newer PK players Levshunov and Frondell bring solid defensive awareness to add their contributions.

Hopefully the penalty kill will continue to improve and be an asset for the team moving forward.

Goaltending could be better

Let’s face it; goaltending has to be one of the hardest jobs in sports. You’re standing in front of pucks flying at you at 100 miles and hour, and then you’re expected to stop them! And if you don’t, well an entire stadium of fans blames you for the goal.

Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom’s jobs aren’t made any easier with the young defensive corps in front of them, as already discussed. But regardless, neither’s numbers have been very promising through the first 12 games.

Knight has taken a heavy workload, suiting up for 10 of the first 12 games. However, his save percentage leaves a lot to be desired, with a .897 save percentage and a 3.23 goals against average.

Soderblom is even worse, with a .820 SV% and a 4.58 GAA through two games. The schedule is getting a little tighter with 14 contests and two back-to-backs in November, so expect Soderblom to get more starts. Would backing off of Knight and leaning more on Soderblom be helpful to boost both netminder’s stats? Or will an improved defense in front of them do the trick? Likely a little of both.

Regardless, hopefully both goaltenders can put some solid outings together and improve their numbers moving forward.

Coaching is a question mark

Ah, yes. The big question of the hour. Is Jeff Blashill the right guy to lead this team to success?! There’s really no middle ground with the fans out there. They either think he’s incompetent and should be fired immediately, or they preach patience. Stick to the process and it will all turn around eventually.

We won’t really know the answer to this question until it all plays out. Blashill is super consistent, but is he too consistent? Is he too stubborn with sticking to systems that don’t work for the players he has? Or is the team still in the learning process and it’s going to click any day now?

We can pick things apart until we’re blue in the face. Why did Blashill change up the lines that were clicking all preseason at the start the regular season? Why isn’t the power play working? Why the odd man rushes, and the defense being in upheaval? Why does he have such a grudge against Korchinski?

You could make a counter argument for everything I’ve listed above that might not have to do with the head coach. He changed the lines back and they appear to be clicking. The players are the ones that have to execute. The team hasn’t really played at full strength yet, with Bedard out, Nazar suspended, Byram hurt. And I’m sure it wasn’t Blashill’s decision to carry eight defensemen. That was a larger organizational decision.

The long and the short of it is that if the Blackhawks keep losing, Blashill will be in the hot seat. For everyone involved; players, coach, fans alike, let’s hope they can start winning.

Where do the Blackhawks go from here?

The players made it clear at the onset of the season that anything less than the playoffs would be a failure. But so far, this certainly doesn’t seem like a team that’s destined for the postseason.

The Blackhawks 4-8-0 record (8 points) is currently 31st in the league, with only the Vancouver Canucks below them. The team needs a lot of things to go right for them to start winning more and moving up in the standings. The Blackhawks appear to be improving, but is it all happening too slowly? The rest of the league isn’t going to wait for them, so things need to start clicking very soon.  

Granted, we’re only 12 games in and one-seventh of the way through the season. Teams have had bad starts and then gone on runs before. The Blackhawks can still salvage their season, and it all starts with the next practice, the next shift, the next game, the next win.

It’s not the best start, but that can’t be changed. What matters is moving forward. Let's see what the next 12 games bring.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow