Top 5 game-changing free agents the Blackhawks can take from the Eastern Conference

With so much cap space for the 2024 offseason, Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson could surprise everyone and make a few blockbuster signings to catapult this team’s rebuild. It’s not likely, but like all ideas in the early stages of the organization’s offseason, it’s another stone we need to turn over. 

This article is also not endorsing the signing of any of the five free agents in this article who are currently residing in the Eastern Conference. My personal style and recommendation for Davidson is simple: Refrain from adding big-time talent from the outside at the moment and keep building from within. If you need to make some signings, go with more low-cost names in the short run until you’re in a position to make acquisitions otherwise. 

But, I also understand the final say rests with Davidson, and the way he builds the Blackhawks is up to him and him only. If he wants to bring in a prize free agent, he can afford it right now before he signs any of the youngsters to long-term extensions. 

Blackhawks have a few game-changing free agents to choose from this summer

Just because we’re talking about game-changing free agents, let’s not confuse it with the notion that all of the names you will see in the following slides are star players. You can make the case for a couple of them, but at least two names are solid complementary scorers who can quickly grasp any system. 

That said, there are also at least two listed who would immediately not just get the Blackhawks light years closer to becoming a relevant team again. But they may also bring even more interest to one of the NHL’s most storied franchises. 

The fifth and first names mentioned in this piece will be the wild card. Some of you may think of them as a good, solid player, and others will call them great.