The Blackhawks first priority heading into the 2025-26 NHL Season

The 2025-26 season will be here before we know it, and the Chicago Blackhawks are making it clear that this is the last year they want to be in the top 5 in the NHL draft. They have filled in the role of the franchise goalie in Spencer Knight, and the young guns look to be ready to take over the team. However, with training camp in mind—and the Rockford IceHogs having guys ready to make the jump— there's a clear need to cover:

The Blackhawks need to establish some roles going into the 2025-26 NHL Season.

Who will play on the energy line, shutdown line, and the skill lines. The top-six looks to be locked up with Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, and the third overall pick, and the defense looks to take steps forward in development with Alex Vlasic, Sam Rinzel, and Artyom Levshunov leading the way.

The Blackhawks are stacked with young defensemen who look to be ready for the show, which is also something to keep watch over. Will they trade Kevin Korchinski for an NHL-ready forward prospect? Will they move Connor Murphy, the lone regular veteran left on the blueline? Who knows.

With the other Rockford guys who look to be ready for the show, such as Ryan Greene, Colton Dach, Wyatt Kaiser, and Louis Crevier to name a few, their roles are still undetermined. The only spots seemingly available, unless they show immense improvement to reach the top-six or top-four, are the bottom six and third pairing.

On a winning team, these lines seem to be the energy lines or shutdown lines. The third pairing generally contain guys who are generally used on the penalty kill and defensive defensemen rather than two-way or offensive-d guys.

The third line is generally a checking line, one that is trusted against the top guys on the other team. Defensive-minded forwards who are dependable in the d-zone, make life miserable for the stars on the other team.

Fourth line guys are really those who forecheck aggressively and crash the net. They're not out there to score very much, rather get momentum back through their physicality. These types of forwards are the ones the Blackhawks should focus on bringing in and/or developing. Guys I can see in this role would be Colton Dach, Marek Vanacker, and Sasha Boisvert, energy guys who can put the puck in the net.

On the defense, Ethan Del Mastro is well-versed, able to play a two-way game so I can see him on the third pairing as well, however Kevin Korchinski is difficult to predict. He has not been able to show his best in the NHL and time is starting to run out for him on the Blackhawks. Trade rumors have begun such as a trade package including him and the third overall, with another first and other assets for the first overall selection. Korchinski may have played himself out of the lineup as he doesn't show much of a shutdown game.

Roles are extremely important for any NHL team, and young guys coming into the NHL need to internalize what is expected of them to succeed in the NHL and maintain a roster spot. You can't win with four lines who all try to do the same thing, there has to be dimensions to the team.

The defending Stanley Cup Champions show how important roles can be.

The Florida Panthers are a great example where they play to their identity blueprint of being fast, physical, and relentless, but each line plays with a different level. A.J. Greer and Tomas Nosek hit everything in sight while Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk do the same, but focus on offense (most of the time).

Teams who are relentless and don't stop getting in your face and making every game difficult is clearly the winning strategy as of late.

Physicality has come back in the game as a winning strategy as well when it was more speed and skill in 2013-2022, which was more puck control and skill focused. Even if the Blackhawks do not decide on two checking lines, they must find a way to utilize their young guys in roles they can realistically achieve and excel in rather than just "seeing what they have".