Blackhawks hoping to maintain strong penalty kill this season, despite losses in personnel

The Chicago Blackhawks will be embarking on a brand-new season in October, or September 29th to be exact. With a new campaign comes a fresh slate. The organization made some solid additions in the offseason, and they hope the continued progression of their youth leads to more success in 2026-27.

Special teams is always an area of focus, as doing well in both can be the difference between wins and losses. We’ve already covered how the Blackhawk’s power play should be much-improved this season. But the team lost some key members of their penalty kill. Can the PK still be a strength? Let’s take a look.

Penalty kill a strong point in 2025-26

The Blackhawks ranked second in the NHL last season with an 83.6% success rate on the penalty kill. Assistant coach Michael Peca, who oversees the penalty kill, was integral in implementing a much more aggressive system that involves heavy pressure. Forward Landon Slaggert described it like this,

“It's high pressure, forcing them (the opponent) to make decisions under duress, and I think it makes it really hard on other teams’ power plays, and gets them frustrated over the course of a game.”

The coaching staff also felt the team had the players who could make their system successful. But with any new scheme, the players have to buy in. In December of last year, head coach Jeff Blashill credited them for doing just that.

“I think anytime on any special team’s unit, it starts with players. You have to have really good players that are good at what they do. And I think we have some really, really good penalty killers, starting with Spencer (Knight) and the D-core. You look at Murph (Connor Murphy) and Crevier (Louis Crevier), they're so long, they know how to kill. On the left side Vlas (Alex Vlasic) and Kais (Wyatt Kaiser) do a great job up front. You just got a number of really good killers. You know, sometimes (Ilya) Mikheyev is like a one-man machine out there, just disrupting plays. So we've got really good penalty killers that have bought into the system. But the system is less important than the buy in. They've bought in, and they're doing a really good job.”

You may notice Blashill mentioned Murphy, Crevier and Mikheyev. All three of these players are no longer with the Blackhawks. Count Jason Dickinson in this mix as well. Mikheyev and Murphy were second and third in PK ice time, respectively. Crevier was fifth and Dickinson eighth. That leaves some tough shoes to fill.

New additions should help the Blackhawk's penalty kill

But all is not lost! General manager Kyle Davidson addressed these subtractions in the offseason, adding a different set of four players who should be able to aid on the penalty kill. These are defensemen Ian Cole and Bowen Byram, plus depth forwards Cole Smith and Jordan Greenway. Here’s a little more on how each of them can contribute.

Cole’s heavy PK minutes

When Cole was acquired by the Blackhawks on the first day of free agency, Davidson brought up a very good point. He said of the 37-year-old, “That veteran understanding of the game allows him to be effective, specifically in the defensive zone, and he's a great penalty killer. What he did on average in Utah would have been our highest average penalty killer in time on ice on our team last year. Even ahead of Murph and Vlas. So that's one of his calling cards.”

Cole logged 248:26 total minutes on the penalty kill with the Mammoth, which was the most on the team. Utah, by the way, ranked 19th on the PK last season. Right in the middle of the pack. Cole’s ice time in this department was over 17 minutes more than Vlasic (230:52), who led the Blackhawks.

In Cole’s introductory press conference on July 8, he acknowledged this is an area of strength for him. “I think it's something that I've been very good at for a long time. The penalty kills tough, just kind of philosophically, right? You're outnumbered against other team’s five best players. You start in your D-zone. So certainly the cards are stacked against you. But being able to iron out those reads and figure out how to solve those problems you're confronted with on the ice. It’s something that I think I'm pretty good at.”

Cole will now be bringing his extensive experience and savvy to the Blackhawks.

Byram & Greenway bring experience from Buffalo

While the Blackhawks ranked second (83.6%) on the PK last season, the Colorado Avalanche were first (84.6%) and the Tampa Lightning third (82.6%). Fourth place was none other than the Buffalo Sabres (81.9%), which included now new Blackhawks Byram and Greenway.

Byram is touted for what he’ll bring to the power play, but the blueliner logged 133:06 minutes on the PK last season; good for sixth on the team. Greenway registered 73:57 total minutes. This was eighth on the team, despite him playing in just 40 games. If you double that, it would be closer to 148 minutes, which would’ve been sixth among the Blackhawks. Obviously Byram and Greenway will be welcome additions on the Blackhawk’s penalty kill.

Smith adds value as well

Finally, Smith is another veteran that can be trusted to help out on the PK. Between the Nashville Predators and the Vegas Golden Knights, the depth forward contributed 123:19 minutes on the penalty kill last season.

When discussing the additions of both Smith and Greenway, Davidson indicated they were definitely looking to take some of the pressure off the younger Blackhawks. After all, many of them don’t have a whole lot of NHL experience. They’re still just getting acclimated to the league.

“We want some guys that have had some success in the league on special teams in those specialty roles, like penalty killing, just to make sure we've got people that can do that; that kind of lifting, and not have to throw that onto the shoulders of young players that might be trying to find their way.”

Blackhawks penalty kill should still be strong

Even so, the Blackhawks still have a number of players with experience on the penalty kill, both new and old. Players such as Vlasic, Teuvo Teravainen, Kaiser, Ryan Greene, Frank Nazar and Slaggert all contributed to a strong PK last season. Let’s also not forget goaltender Spencer Knight will continue his work as the last line of defense. These "killers" already know the system and have bought into it. Headed into the second season using this approach, they will be that much more comfortable with it.

There’s also a few players who were exposed to the penalty kill a little more after the trade deadline, after Murphy and Dickinson left. Artyom Levshunov, Ethan Del Mastro, Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel are all young players who could potentially add their contributions.

All in all, the Blackhawks still look to be in a good spot in this area of special teams. They have the tools in place to continue to excel and hopefully continue to lead the league on the penalty kill. If they can do that, and improve their power play, it could spell a much more successful 2026-27 campaign.

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