Kyle Davidson running out of time with to end the Blackhawks endless rebuild

For the fifth consecutive season, the Chicago Blackhawks are projected to finish in the bottom five in the NHL standings. In that time, they've selected the following players in the first round:

• 2022: Kevin Korchinski (7th overall), Frank Nazar (13th overall), Sam Rinzel (25th overall)
• 2023: Connor Bedard (1st overall), Oliver Moore (19th overall)
• 2024: Artyom Levshunov (2nd overall), Sacha Boisvert (18th overall), Marek Vanacker (27th overall)
• 2025: Anton Frondell (3rd overall), Vaclav Nestrasil (25th overall), Mason West (29th overall)

Those 11 first-round picks have combined for 647 games and 373 points. 203 of those 373 points - a staggering 54% - have come from Connor Bedard. Whether that's a ringing endorsement of Bedard or a staggering indictment of Davidson's drafting is up to interpretation.

To be fair, many of the draft picks like Nestrasil and Boisvert are still too young to be judged properly. Players like Vanacker and West have never set foot on NHL ice, while others like Boisvert have just started their careers. That said, 11 first-round picks and a handful of other NHL-ready talent throughout the span of general manager Kyle Davidson's career should result in more than this lackluster result.

With the team projected to finish in the bottom five yet again, questions begin to arise on Davidson's runway with the organization -- and how much time the general manager has left.

Current direction of Blackhawks unclear under Davidson

As of right now, there's no clear path on where the Blackhawks proceed from here. They just traded an arm and a leg for defenseman Bowen Byram and made him the highest-paid defenseman in the NHL. They signed marginal-at-best free agent players like Ian Cole and Cole Smith. Despite years of tanking and selecting in the top three every year since 2024, the team is no better off than they were last season or the season before.

What, then, is the goal of this season?

The Blackhawks, to put it simply, just aren't talented enough to compete in the Central Division. Tanking for another high draft pick seems like a fruitless endeavor, as well. Sooner or later, players (and fans, for that matter) grow impatient -- especially after five consecutive years among the NHL's worst.

Eventually, low morale hits a breaking point.

Davidson still has a lot of work to do

If Kyle Davidson's goal this offseason was to make the Blackhawks better, he has thus far failed. Byram is, objectively, the best defenseman on the roster, but that speaks to a much bigger problem with the way the Blackhawks are built. Sure, he's got the potential to score high, but he's only broken the 40-point plateau once. Paying him more than any NHL defenseman in history is a massive gamble no matter how you look at it.

Right now, Davidson's top potential should be finding Connor Bedard a high-end winger. That player could come in the form of Anton Frondell, certainly, but right now, the Blackhawks need a known commodity to elevate Bedard's game. What they need is a proven NHL wing with several years of experience. Some have pointed to Matthew Knies of the Toronto Maple Leafs as a potential replacement, while others have hinted at Kirill Marchenko of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

There are plenty of options, but, until Davidson pulls the trigger on one, the outlook on this next season is bleak for the Blackhawks.

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