Blackhawks youth movement, 6 forwards to watch in 2026-27

Will the Chicago Blackhawks be better this season than they were in the 2025-26 campaign? They finished 31st in the league last season, so there’s plenty of room for improvement. We recently covered the plethora of offseason moves the organization made, which hopefully will translate to more success. But some people feel that’s still not enough to significantly move the needle. Plus, their best player on the team, Connor Bedard, will be out until early November after having offseason shoulder surgery.

Let’s face it; in order to make any significant strides, the team is counting on incremental improvement from the young players who’ve graduated to the NHL level over the past few seasons. General manager Kyle Davidson is attempting to build a contending team mostly through the draft. He’s made numerous draft picks over the last handful of years, and now many of them are coming into the league together. It’s their time to shine.

In this mini series, I’ll discuss some key forwards and defensemen whose success is essential to making Davidson’s vision a reality. Let’s start with the forwards.

*Note: I’ve purposely left Bedard out of this exercise, since we already know the team revolves around him. Where Bedard goes, the Blackhawks go. But he can’t do it all alone. Which of the below young players can make a case for themselves?

Nick Lardis

Lardis was a rookie last year, so he was just getting his feet wet in the league. He also spent almost as much time with the Rockford IceHogs (35 games) as he did with the Blackhawks (41 games). He’s known for his goal-scoring prowess from his OHL days; he famously scored 71 goals in 65 games with the Brantford Bulldogs in 2024-25. But that hasn’t exactly translated yet to the pro level.

Granted, Lardis fared pretty well with the IceHogs with 18 goals and 32 points, mostly playing on the top line. But he was eased in a little bit more with the Blackhawks. He started playing on the third and fourth lines, and received limited minutes. Many thought this didn’t fit his skill set, but head coach Jeff Blashill ultimately wanted Lardis to round out his game. He wanted him to work on his physicality and battling harder for the puck.

On the offensive side, Lardis worked all season on trying to find space and getting to the right areas to get his shot off. He talked about needing to have a skate-first mentality and a quicker release.

Lardis earned himself a promotion in the lineup; he ended the season playing on Bedard’s wing. But with the additions of Patrick Kane and Roman Kantserov, that spot might not be guaranteed anymore. However, look for Lardis to play among the top-six forwards in some capacity. Having Bedard out to start the season could be an opportunity for Lardis to hit the ground running and prove he belongs. He’ll need to play the right way, create scoring opportunities, and capitalize on them.

Oliver Moore

Moore is known for his elite speed, and that will certainly be something he’ll want to capitalize on this season. He started last year playing on the wing, but when both Bedard and Frank Nazar were out with injuries, Coach Blashill tried playing Moore at center. It was a gamechanger. Coach gave his assessment ahead of a game on Jan. 7,

“Ollie, without question, knows how to utilize his speed better in the middle than as a winger. He's more natural as a center that way … As a center, you got to slow yourself down a little bit and then hit the hole with speed. Where as a winger, he was kind of skating so fast all the time that he wasn't able to hit those holes.”

“I think he's highly competitive. He's strong down low. Obviously, he's fast and quick enough to play with any other center, or play against any other center … But he definitely looks like somebody who, so far, for me, has been exponentially better at center.”

Jason Dickinson served as the Blackhawks’ third line shutdown center for most of the season. He’s actually considered one of the best in the league in this role. But when he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in March, Moore took over in that spot. Unfortunately, he sustained a lower body injury shortly thereafter that ended his 2025-26 campaign.  

Moore also plays a very intense game and has a high compete level. He’s responsible defensively. These should all be assets in a shutdown role. If he can find success there this season, it will be incredibly advantageous for himself and for the Blackhawks to fill this much-needed role.

Ryan Greene

Greene was a super fun success story last year in his rookie season. He wasn’t expected to make the team out of training camp. But when he did, he hit the ground running and never looked back. He impressed Coach Blashill with his two-way game, his smarts and his consistency. Greene is also versatile in that he can play center or wing, as well as up and down in the lineup.

He built some chemistry with Bedard, and ended up playing most of the season alongside him on the top line. He not only survived, but thrived, contributing an impressive 12 goals and 29 points while playing in 81 games (it could’ve been 82 if not for a slightly controversial healthy scratch).

There are two lines of thought with Greene. One is that he benefited greatly from being deployed with Bedard, and he’s not really a top-six player. Many feel he’s not much more than a bottom-six depth player if he played on a better team than last year’s Blackhawks.

Well, I guess we’ll find out. Because this 2026-27 team is better than last year’s team. So, will Greene be deployed as more of a depth player this season? He’s certainly capable in that he’s very responsible defensively.

However, let’s consider that second line of thought. The 22-year-old obviously surprised many by tapping into his offensive game last year. He’s shown he’s a smart player that can keep up with other elite players. He also adds some size (6’1”, 195 pounds) to an otherwise rather small group of top-six forwards (Bedard, Kane, Kantserov, Nazar, Lardis). And I believe I already mentioned the two-way aspect of his game. He could cover for some of the others who don’t necessarily possess that strength.   

I pegged Greene as “underrated” in my recent piece where I assigned each player one descriptive word. No matter where he ends up being deployed, he should be a huge asset.  

Frank Nazar

It’s safe to say expectations were higher for Nazar last season. His 41 points was third on the team, but Tyler Bertuzzi (58 points) and Bedard (75 points) far exceeded him. With his pedigree (selected 13th overall in 2022), one would expect at least 20 goals. Nazar only scored 15.

Granted, he missed some time with a broken jaw (14 games) and this was technically only his second full NHL season. Even so, consistency was an issue for Nazar. There was a stretch of 21 game in November and December where he didn’t score a goal. He did end the season relatively strong, registering eight goals and 17 points from March 3rd to April 6th.

When Nazar is on his game, his speed, skating and play-making abilities are his biggest assets. He’s strong on the puck and attacks the game. He just has to do this more consistently, and then learn to finish on his opportunities. As Nazar himself said in early March, “It's all been there; it’s just a matter of if that puck crossed the line. So I’ll keep my head high and stay humble and just continue to work and get better each day is the key.”

A lot of pieces are in place for Nazar to have a breakout campaign this season.  

Anton Frondell

It’s really quite amazing how impressive Frondell was right off the bat, despite being only 18 years old. Coach Blashill gave kudos to the Swedish league where Frondell had played previously, saying they “don’t cheat on offense” and teach a very responsible all-around game.

This served Frondell well. He earned a primary assist in his NHL debut, added another in his second game and scored his first goal in his fifth game. Blashill moved him to second-line center in his fourth game, hinting that’s where he sees him playing in the future.

We've moved him to center last game, and will play him at center again today. I just think, long term, when you have that ability to kind of defend the ice 200 feet and bring his offense … I want to do it now instead of wait till next year. And I thought he did a good job with it.

In the middle of that quote Blashill compared Frondell to one of the best two-way centers in the game, Jonathan Toews. That’s pretty high praise. “He's got great pro habits,” continued Blashill. “He's got a really, really strong stick. He's strong on his skates. He's intelligent. He's a good player.

It was only 12 games, but it certainly doesn’t seem like a fluke. Frondell’s skills are elite, and his ceiling looks super high. It should be fun to watch his progression.

Roman Kantserov

Last but not least, we highlight Roman Kantserov as a young player to watch. The 21-year-old is the most unknown of the listed players since he’s from Russia. But his success in the KHL is highly encouraging, with him amassing 36 goals and 64 points in 63 games last season. Most pundits believe this will translate well to the NHL.

He was drafted in the second round (44th overall) in 2023, which isn’t that high of a pick. He also wasn’t a high-profile free agent signing, so he’s flown a bit under the radar. People have been complaining since Bedard was drafted that he needs a high-profile sidekick to play alongside him. The Blackhawks went out and got Kane this offseason, but is he too old to keep up?  

Long story short, perhaps Kantserov could be Bedard’s sidekick. He has a lot of good tools in his toolkit; he can play center or wing and he’s been playing against men for the last three seasons (with Magnitogorsk Metallurg). At the recent NHLPA Rookie Showcase in Chicago, the Russian prospect appeared confident and excited to join the Blackhawks. He also looked bulked up, notably bigger than his listed weight of 176 pounds. There’s currently lots of excitement surrounding Kantserov’s first season in the NHL.

The six forwards highlighted above all have tons of potential and will be young players to watch this coming season. Their progression and impact could highly affect the Blackhawk’s overall success.

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