Chicago Blackhawks aren’t rushing it and that patience might finally pay off

The Chicago Blackhawks entered free agency among the teams with the most cap space; however, they didn't really make any notable moves. The ability to bring back Ryan Donato is a win on a four-year deal worth $16 million, but the patience and commitment to their plan are what stood out.

The Blackhawks are clearly building this team through the draft and with their young players. It is certainly challenging for fans as they have only one playoff appearance in the past eight seasons.

They could have undone all the work to get to this point by spending all their cap space on players that won't have as much of an impact just to get back to the playoffs. However, what Chicago is trying to build is a roster that can have sustained success and make deep playoff runs on a consistent basis.

Connor Bedard is the key to all of this for the Chicago Blackhawks

The success of the youth movement really hinges on Connor Bedard, and the Blackhawks are going to need him to take that next step this season. He is going to be only 20 this season, but already has 150 games with 45 goals and 83 assists. The Blackhawks are going to need him to get back to close to being a point-per-game player like he was as a rookie for all this to work.

However, if he does, then the Blackhawks are going to gain some serious momentum this season. They have players like Frank Nazar, Sam Rinzel, and Artyom Levshunov, who were all first-round picks and got their first taste of the NHL last season.

The big question is whether the third overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, Anton Frondell, will be joining this core this season. He is going to have to prove he is ready during training camp, but if he makes the roster this season, it will only speed up the process of getting the Blackhawks back in playoff contention.

It has been a long drought for Blackhawks' fans but better days are on the horizion due to the patience the franchise has shown as of late.

More from Blackhawk Up