Evaluating the Blackhawks last-minute forward line changes headed into the 2026-27 season

Chicago Blackhawks’ head coach Jeff Blashill threw all of us a curve ball when he hit the lineblender on Monday (Sept. 28), the last practice before the team departed for Las Vegas and their opening night date with the Vegas Golden Knights. Because of these changes, my analysis of the top six forwards from a few days ago has become somewhat obsolete.

Or has it? It’s obvious the Blackhawks are still in a state of flux as they try to determine the best deployment of their forward group, among many other things. It was a shortened training camp, and Blashill indicated it’s going to take some time for this young team to get acclimated. It could lead to a rather rollercoaster start to the regular season.

Let’s take a quick look at the old and new line combinations.

Blackhawks Forward Line Changes

Here’s the forward lines that were run throughout most of training camp.

Roman Kantserov - Frank Nazar - Patrick Kane

Tyler Bertuzzi - Anton Frondell - Nick Lardis

Ryan Donato - Oliver Moore - Andrew Mangiapane/Teuvo Teräväinen

Jordan Greenway - Ryan Greene - Cole Smith

Now, we move on to the lines that were deployed during the Blackhawk’s first regular season game versus the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday (Sept. 29).

Moore - Kantserov - Kane

Donato - Nazar - Lardis

Bertuzzi - Frondell - Mangiapane

Smith - Greene - Greenway

Extra: Teravainen

For the Blackhawks final preseason game against the St. Louis Blues (Sept. 26), Coach Blashill experimented with putting Roman Kantserov at center. The Russian prospect showed well there, even winning 7-of-11 faceoffs for a 64% success rate (he also potted a power play goal). Blashill obviously likely what he saw, because it seemed to prompt the lineup changes. Here’s more on his thought process.

"I just felt ultimately we hadn't got enough out of the three lines with the combinations we had used. One, we got to see Roman (Kantserov) at center. I feel confident that he can play center in the NHL. Two, I think Frankie (Nazar) can carry his own line a little bit. So him, (Nick) Lardis and (Ryan) Donato could be a really, really dynamic line. So, if that is the case, if it worked out that way, I think you'd be looking at lines with kind of different pluses and minuses, but lines that could go out and win their match(es)."

Top line of Moore-Kantserov-Kane

While it might seem like everything has changed and the players now have to get re-acclimated, Kantserov and Kane remain together, now just with Kantserov playing center. The two have built up some great chemistry throughout training camp, with Kantserov asking tons of questions and Kane being more than happy to take him under his wing. Said Blashill,

“Patrick's probably one of those players that wants to talk through the different situations that happen … I think he recognizes the fact that Roman has a good IQ, and so if he talks through scenarios with him, he'll get it.”

On placing Moore on the top line, Blashill said he wants him to go win pucks, get to the net, and use his skill efficiently. He also mentioned playing on the top line could actually fit his skill set better than playing down the middle on the third line.

2nd Line of Donato-Nazar-Lardis

Disclaimer: One could argue that the line of Donato-Nazar-Lardis is the third line with Bertuzzi-Frondell-Mangiapane as the second line. Isn’t this a good dilemma to have?! But for the purposes of this article, I’m going to go with the latter as the third line, since their composition is more of a true shutdown line. More on that below.

Regarding this new “second” line, I would hazard a guess that Nazar isn’t too happy about being demoted and separated from Kane. But I believe it was more about Blashill wanting to see Kantersov at center than anything else. As Blashill said, Nazar can carry his own line, so let’s see if he can do that with Donato and Lardis.

Lardis obviously has an affinity for finding the back of the net, and he’s come into the season bulked up and more confident. Donato notched 31 goals in the 2024-25 season while being deployed among the top-six, so we know he has that capacity. I asked Donato recently about whether he preferred playing more of a scoring role versus more of a shutdown role.

“I think that you can go either way. I think I can, whatever the team needs, I'm ready to do. In saying that, I think I can be beneficial in both ways. I think I could help score whether it's even in the top nine. You know what I mean? It could be a guy that shuts down and scores, and then also if I need to be moved into those situations, I feel like I can do it. I've proven that I can do it.”

From a more general team perspective, he also talked about the balance of the lineup, and the options the team has.

“I think there's veterans on every line right now, and I think there's a there's a good dynamic we have going right now. A lot of young guys that want to score, and then a lot of guys that have been around that know how to score. I feel like it's nice. We're in a position now where guys are all competing for jobs and spots, but at the same time we're all trying to compete to win together. So it'll be interesting to see how it goes down. But we have a lot of guys that could score on each line, so it'll be fun to see how you know how it goes down this season.”

The shutdown line of Bertuzzi-Frondell-Mangiapane

On the first day of training camp, Blashill was asked who he had in mind to replace the very solid shutdown line that included the now departed Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev. He mentioned that he had used Tyler Bertuzzi, Anton Frondell and Mikheyev in that role towards the end of the 2025-26 season with some success.  

As you can see above, Blashill originally employed Bertuzzi and Frondell as more of a scoring line, with Lardis on the right wing. But he’s since changed tactics, going with more of a north-south player in Mangiapane to create more of a shutdown trio. “A year ago, I thought when Frondell-Bertuzzi with Mikheyev was really good,” said the coach. “So I want to see what it looks like with a puck pursuit type player in Mangiapane, similar to Mikheyev.”

The trio played well together in the last preseason game against the St. Louis Blues on Sept. 26, with Frondell potting a goal and Bertuzzi credited with two primary assists. Said Blashill of Mangiapane after the game,

“I thought it was his best game. He's only played two (preseason games), but honestly, it's probably the best for me that he's looked. So is that is that because of the combination? Is it just because he played well? I'm not sure, but I thought the line, you know, that Frondell had his best game. I thought Bert had his best game. Like those guys all played well. So when the three guys in your line all play well, it's a good thing. So we'll see. Again, we got some decisions to how we shape the lines, but I thought that one looked good.”

Unfortunately, this line didn’t have much of a chance to show whether they worked well together during the first regular season game against the Golden Knights. Mangiapane left the game early in the second period with a lower body injury. He only logged 5:23 minutes of ice time, and coach said after the game he definitely won’t play for the remaining two games of the current road trip.

This opens up the door for Teravainen, who’s been on the outside looking in for most of training camp. Will Blashill simply plug Teravainen in to replace Mangiapane? It’s tough to say. Mangiapane's absence obviously interfered with the line combinations against Vegas, and the Blackhawks had very little cohesion in the 5-2 loss on Tuesday (Sept. 29). All of the above line combinations could get thrown into the blender yet again. Or, the coaching staff might want to stick with the existing combinations to see how they fare in a second game.

But one line I can almost guarantee will stick is the fourth line.

The grind line of Smith-Greene-Greenway

Despite a sloppy outing against the Golden Knights to start out the season, one positive was the fourth line of Smith, Greene and Greenway. Before we continue, let’s just establish that this trio could inspire a band name. I’d listen to a band called, “Smitty and the Greeners” anytime!

But seriously folks, as Blashill stated on Sept. 28 at practice, “I think we’re in a really good spot with our so-called fourth line, because they can go out and play against anybody.” Here’s more from the coach on what this line can bring to the table.

“Grind. And I think they can produce offense. It’s not going to be maybe as flashy as like a Kaner-type line. But I think they can produce the kind of offense that is consistent in a sense; grinding the O-zone, gets to the net, big bodies at the net. It gives us the opportunity to put them out in a lot of situations where they have to face other team’s really good players, and be able to win that shift. And if you have that, man it’s a huge bonus as a coach. And you’re not hiding that line. You’re actually fine with them going out against anybody, and that’s how I feel as we sit here today.”

That’s some high praise for this trio. They certainly lived up to this sentiment against the Golden Knights. Greenway scored the first goal of the season for the Blackhawks, with Greene providing the primary assist.

Greenway led all Blackhawks with five shots on goal and was second only to Kane (who also scored) with seven shot attempts. Plus, he added three hits in a healthy 14:08 minutes of ice time. Greene ended the night with 14:43 minutes and Smith logged 15:16 minutes. Granted, all three player’s minutes were padded because they spent ample time on the penalty kill, but they all logged well over 12 minutes of time at even strength.

Greene is someone who played mostly on the top line with Connor Bedard last season, so his role has greatly changed. I asked him recently how he felt about his changed deployment.

“Yeah, I mean I'm just somebody who, wherever I'm put, I want to be the best I can be in that role. And whether I get top minutes or bottom minutes, as long as I'm putting my best foot forward, and we're winning games as a hockey team. It's the most important thing. So I would ride or die for all these guys in here. So I'm gonna make sure I give it my all for them, no matter what role I'm in.”

That’s a great attitude and one that hopefully the rest of the team can emulate. They didn’t win their first contest, but they can learn from it and continue to put their best foot forward.

Will these forward lines stick over the next handful of games? Are they the best combinations, or do they need to be adjusted? Beyond the fourth line, there’s certainly plenty of room for improvement as the Blackhawks try to find their way. It will definitely be something to monitor as the season unfolds.

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