Blackhawks Christmas Wishlist

Perhaps no team in the NHL has had a more depressing month of December than the Chicago Blackhawks. Virtually everything that could go wrong has gone wrong after what was such a promising first two months of the season, when the team was winning games in the playoff picture. The club's fortunes have snapped back to reality record-wise as the Blackhawks have gone an abysmal 2-8-1 in the last month of play.

And to make matters worse, Chicago has had horrible injury luck, as both of its top young stars have been injured. After losing Connor Bedard to a shoulder injury last week, the Blackhawks received another brutal loss in Saturday's 6-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators, as Frank Nazar went down with a facial injury that is expected to keep him out for four weeks, according to Jeff Blashill. Not to mention the fact that they have been without their captain, Nick Foligno, for half the season.

The Blackhawks have to be looking forward to the Christmas holiday break as a chance to reset mentally. This time of year, 'tis the season of wishes. Chicago will be hoping for a reversal of luck as we approach the end of the year and the calendar flips to 2026. With that said, what does the Blackhawks' Christmas wish list look like?

Healthy Bedard/Nazar

The first and most obvious hope the Blackhawks will be wishing upon a star on Christmas is the return of their franchise player, Bedard, as soon as possible. The timeline for his return remains unclear at this point. What we do know is he will be out for at least the rest of 2025 with his status being revaluated in 2026. It would be a nice surprise gift for Bedard to be cleared right as the new year begins. With GM Kyle Davidson stating much of this will come down to how Bedard feels in his rehab process, knowing Connor, he will want to get back on the ice sooner rather than later.

The play of the Blackhawks without their top superstar over the last week has only further illustrated just how important Bedard is to this team. Goals have been hard to come by without their quarterback on offense, who accounted for nearly half the production.

Chicago will also be hoping Nazar's facial recovery to go as smoothly as possible. Losing him for at least a month is the last thing the Blackhawks needed at the moment as they continue to navigate life without Bedard. For now, fans will have to watch this team perform without "Bedzar."

Let the kids cook

It is hard to find any positives in Blackhawks land with the way things are currently going. If there is one silver lining to be found, this time will provide opportunities for players to step up and prove their worth to this group. With more ice time to go around, guys will be forced to pick up the pace if the Blackhawks want any chance of winning games without their top stars.

This moment gives a chance for the emerging youth of this new Blackhawks core to get used to the NHL level and learn what it takes to achieve success in this league. How about Nick Lardis? What can he do with the increased responsibilities he will likely receive in the lineup with more spots to go around? Coming off his first career goal yesterday, his confidence should be high. Oliver Moore is another guy to closely watch as he will be counted on in a larger role as the Blackhawks look for offensive support from their young guns. Ryan Greene is another one to keep an eye on; he has passed the test after amassing his first multipoint game in the Blackhawks' loss to Ottawa.

Draft lotto luck

With the way the season is trending for Chicago, this team will probably finish amongst the bottom of the NHL once again, barring a miracle run in the second half of the year. The playoff dreams and aspirations were fun while they lasted. But, it is clear this team is still a ways away from returning to contention. And while the Blackhawks have plenty of young talent waiting in the wings (Anton Frondell, Roman Kantserov, Sacha Boisvert, etc), the need for another top forward piece to complement Bedard has become apparent to add in the prospect pipeline.

Thankfully for the Blackhawks, this 2026 draft class is ripe with forward talent. There are prizes throughout the top 10, but the headlines are Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg. If the Blackhawks can have draft lotto luck on their side one more time and land one of these studs, an already bright future in Chicago becomes scary good.