Kyle Davidson confident in Blackhawks future, plus Bedard updates & line rushes from Day 1 of training camp

Day 1 of training camp commenced for the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, Sept. 17.  General manager Kyle Davidson met with the media to discuss the start of a brand-new campaign. He started the press conference expressing his sadness that the late Troy Murray wasn’t present. This is the first season the long-time radio personality won’t be part of the family, after succumbing to cancer in March of 2026.

Despite that, this is an exciting time of year in the hockey world. As Davidson put it, “the puck's ringing off the glass, and we're back in action.” Here’s more on the expectations for the Blackhawks this season.

Goals for this year’s team

Davidson was asked about his specific goals for the team this season. He mentioned the playoff aspirations the players had brought to their exit interviews last April, and the offseason additions as reasons for higher expectations are high this season for the Blackhawks.

“It's all about showing up and expecting something every night, and we should expect to arrive and win. And so, where that ends up at the end of the year, we'll see. But it's something that has to be an expectation from the player side. That is, as this group matures and as this group has additions to it, that their belief in what they need to accomplish, and should accomplish, is increasing every year. So I think you're hearing that from them and it’s shared organization-wide.”

This is super great to hear, and there are plenty of positive vibes heading into the season. But the players will need to execute. We’ll see if they can put their money where their mouth is.

On the excitement of so many young players on the roster

Looking at this year’s potential NHL team, there are a plethora of young players in the group (please see Day 1’s forward lines and pairings below). Davidson was asked what that felt like for him, seeing as he’s drafted most of them over the last few years.  

It's really exciting … (despite trying to stay dispassionate) you're invested in their development, you're invested in them as people as players, and then to see them breaking into the NHL. I'd be lying if you didn't feel like a little bit … that sort of paternal feel, right? It's certainly at play, and you get extra nervous for these guys at debuts, and you want to go well. Not only for your team and for the success of the organization, but just for them because you care about them. You like these people. I like them all. They're all great guys … You like seeing people you enjoy being around succeed, and that's certainly the case with a lot of players.”

There's no doubt this team is going to be fun to watch this season, although they might go through some growing pains with so much youth on the roster.

The strength down the middle without Bedard

Davidson was further asked about his confidence with the center group, specifically on the first three lines. For reference, this is Frank Nazar, Anton Frondell and Oliver Moore. He seemed happy with the potential and depth of these players, even without Bedard.

“I'm very confident. Obviously, you'd like Connor there. But, I feel really confident with the ability of those players to step in and do the job for us and execute what we need them to execute. So they've all played some time at the NHL level, Anton a little less, but some time at the NHL and certainly in pro at the center position … the reason we started this way is because we believe this alignment down the center ice position gives us the best chance at a good start, and those were the players that fit the roles and fit the spots best to get us off on the right foot.”

All three of these players have a great opportunity in front of them to step up and prove their worth while Bedard is out. This will be something to watch at the beginning of the season, as well as when Bedard returns.

Bedard’s progression plan

Obviously, everyone is super interested in new captain Connor Bedard and when he will return from injury. He’s been seen practicing for the past few weeks now, and he’s even been seen doing some light shooting. Davidson obviously didn’t share a specific timeline, but here’s what he had to say about his potential to return to the team.

“We've got a nice plan for him moving forward, and we're progressing through that plan over the next number of weeks. Ahead of schedule, behind schedule, all of that will be determined much further along in the process. The good thing and the positive thing is that he is out there. He is pushing every day. He feels great. But much like when he was going through his jaw injury, there's a healing component that's not necessarily visible on the ice that the doctors will have to sign off on. We want to make sure he goes through the proper steps. He's cleared every hurdle at this point, which is good. So that's a positive sign. But just in terms of an altered timeline, either positive or negative, we're not there yet. But he's checking every box so far.”

If we know anything about Bedard it’s that he’ll be pushing to return sooner rather than later. However, he won’t want to rush it and return before he’s fully healthy. Everyone involved will need to be patient. But the good news is he’s on track in his recovery.

Condensed schedule a disadvantage for the bubble players

Davidson was asked about defensemen Kevin Korchinski and Ethan Del Mastro, who are lower on the depth chart than six other defensemen (see defensive pairings below). It seems like the condensed training camp schedule could be a big deterrent for these players, and others like them in the forward group. Per the GM,

"As far as getting into camp, the way camp goes, and how short it is now, you almost have to set the roster beforehand, and then try and drive forward with that. It's their job to continue to grow, continue to get experience, and push their way into playing time when it becomes available or when it's necessitated. So, it's their job to keep trying every single day, working their way up, working their way in, and trying to become a better player day after day, week after week."

Head coach Jeff Blashill reiterated this when it was his turn at the podium. “My feeling is that we have to make decisions based on the information we have today, as to what we think it's going to be. And then you still take information in and you can change decisions as you go. But we don't have time to kind of feel it out and play with lines. We got to kind of make decisions, go with it."

This is not good news for Korchinski, Del Mastro and bubble forwards such as Andrew Mangiapane or Landon Slaggert. They will have to really prove their worth to crack a roster spot, and they won’t have as much time to do it.

Day 1 forward lines and defensive pairings

Based on what we’ve heard above, these could very easily be the forward lines and defensive pairings we see on opening night versus the Vegas Golden Knights (Sept. 29). But there’s still plenty of camp left; we’ll see if anything changes.

Roman Kantserov – Frank Nazar – Patrick Kane

Tyler Bertuzzi – Anton Frondell – Nick Lardis

Ryan Donato – Oliver Moore – Andrew Mangiapane/Teuvo Teravainen

Cole Smith – Ryan Greene – Jordan Greenway/Landon Slaggert

Alex Vlasic – Bowen Byram

Wyatt Kaiser – Artyom Levshunov

Ian Cole – Sam Rinzel

Kevin Korchinski – Ethan Del Mastro

Spencer Knight

Arvid Soderblom

Bubble players to watch here obviously include defensemen Korchinski and Del Mastro, as already discussed. Plus, it appears some decisions need to be made involving depth forwards Mangiapane, Teravainen, Greenway and Slaggert.

Teravainen is an interesting name to see “on the bubble” and perhaps this is just the way things went down on the first day of practice. But Teravainen did have a notoriously bad year last season. We’ll have to see how it plays out as camp continues.

The Blackhawks are on the ice again Friday and Saturday morning before heading up to Minnesota for the first exhibition game versus the Minnesota Wild. Keep it here at Blackhawk Up for all your training camp news and updates. We’ll have more from Coach Blashill as well as player interviews in the coming days.

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