Chicago Blackhawks

Central Division, Western Conference · 21 reports in the 2026-27 edition.

The club

2025-26 · 82 games · 195 for, 237 against

How it played

Shot attempts share, five-on-five: 45.6% 30th of 32
Expected goals share, five-on-five: 43.2% 32nd of 32
Power play expected goals per sixty: 6.28 31st of 32
Penalty kill expected goals allowed per sixty: 7.72 24th of 32

Where the record lies

Finishing goals scored above what the chances were worth: +4.7 14th of 32
Goaltending goals prevented beyond what the chances allowed were worth: -6.0 21st of 32

Chicago Blackhawks finished close to the chances underneath them at both ends. The record is roughly what the play deserved.

Roster shape

Points-weighted, so these are the ages and origins of the production rather than of the sweaters.

Average age: 26.8; weighted by points
From 33 and up: 14.8%; of skater points
From under 26: 56.2%; of skater points
Homegrown: 65.4%; drafted by this club
Continuity: 65.4%; of last season's five-on-five minutes

The read

the numbers, and the eye

Last in the league at creating chances, 31st at preventing them, and 32nd in chance share — with Connor Bedard putting up 75 points on top of it.

The eye and the numbers

Sighted

The book

31st of 32

The numbers

31st of 32

The two place this roster in the same spot. Every report underneath was written with these numbers on screen, so the agreement is not corroboration — the arithmetic is on both sides of it.

Both bars rank this club among the 32 in the edition. The report bar is the mean of its players' grades, weighted by the five-on-five minutes each of them played; the numbers bar is their expected-goal share on the same weighting. It counts 19 of the 21 reports on this roster — the rest have no five-on-five record long enough to weigh — and it reads the roster as it stands rather than the club's own last season.

Who the words reach 20 of 21 · 97% of the five-on-five minutes who is left out (1)

The bars above counted every man on the roster with enough ice time to weigh. The paragraphs name whoever they name, and no rule says who that should be — so this says who it was, over the write-up as a whole. Each section below reaches far fewer than this, which is the figure that matters: the section is where the selection happens, and the count sits under each one. The share is of the five-on-five minutes played by the 19 men on this roster who have a measured record.

Not named: Landon Slaggert.

Who this names 7 of 21 on the roster · 33% of their five-on-five minutes details

Both columns above are searched, and a name counts on the same terms the page links it: in full always, by surname only when one man in the edition wears it. Nothing here says who ought to be named — only who was, so the weighting can be seen rather than guessed at.

Not named here: Connor Bedard, Bowen Byram, Ryan Donato, Ryan Greene, Jordan Greenway, Wyatt Kaiser, Spencer Knight, Artyom Levshunov, Andrew Mangiapane, Sam Rinzel, Landon Slaggert, Arvid Soderblom, Teuvo Teravainen, Alex Vlasic.

What the Quant Says

The worst underlying team in the league. Chicago was 32nd in even-strength expected goals per 60, 32nd in chance share at 43.2 per cent, and 31st at preventing chances. It scored 213 and allowed 275, and needed to finish 4.7 goals above expectation to manage even that.

Not 1 defenceman on the roster cleared the 15th percentile in chance share. The goaltending was 6 goals worse than the chances it faced, 21st — comfortably the least of this club's problems. Continuity is 65.4 per cent, 29th. Everything here is a construction site, and the 2 things worth keeping are a 20-year-old centre and a 25-year-old goaltender.

What the Scout Says

A very young club with one star, 1 goaltender, and no support structure around either. Connor Bedard's release is already among the best in the sport — he changes the angle and the speed of the puck in the same motion — and he shoots from distance because there is nobody to give it to and nobody screening. His 50 penalty minutes are a young star who has worked out that nobody is going to protect him, and he gets hit constantly and keeps coming back.

The 1 forward who has solved the problem for himself is Tyler Bertuzzi, who scored 32 on the league's worst offensive club by standing in the blue paint and taking whatever came. Everything else is speed without weight: Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore both skate as well as anyone in the league and neither wins a wall battle; Nick Lardis is removed from pucks by anyone who reaches him. The additions — Ian Cole, Patrick Kane, Cole Smith — are there to show a very young room how the job is done.

Who this names 9 of 13 forwards · 73% of their five-on-five minutes details

Not named here: Ryan Greene, Oliver Moore, Landon Slaggert, Cole Smith.

What the Quant Says

The worst offensive team in the league by the underlying measure. Chicago generated 2.40 expected goals per 60 at even strength — 32nd of 32 — and took 43.2 per cent of the chances, also last. It scored 213 goals, which required finishing 4.7 above expectation to manage.

Connor Bedard put up 75 points in 69 games at 20, and was on the ice for 34 5-on-5 goals for and 53 against. His chance share was 42.8 per cent, 6th percentile — a number that describes the team, not the player, and one no 20-year-old should have to carry. Tyler Bertuzzi scored 32 goals from a median of 13 feet, the shortest of any regular in this edition, and Ryan Donato had a career year on the worst possible team. Frank Nazar's 41 points in 66 games at 21 is the second real thing here. Patrick Kane, at 37 and in his nineteenth season, is still the best passer on the ice most nights.

What the Scout Says

One shooter of genuine class and a group that cannot manufacture him a look. Connor Bedard's passing has caught up faster than expected, and goaltenders have to respect a shot from ice where nobody else on this roster is a threat. Patrick Kane's hands and head have not gone anywhere and they were the only 2 things that ever mattered — he was never fast and is now slow, and it has cost him less than it would cost anybody else, because his game was always played in the half-second before the check arrives.

Tyler Bertuzzi is the instructive page. He is not fast, does not beat anybody wide, and gets to the best ice of any forward covered here by refusing to leave it, at the cost of 42 penalty minutes and a great many cross-checks taken. Against that, Teuvo Teravainen plays entirely in space and is a passenger when the space is gone; Andrew Mangiapane and Ryan Donato are useful third-line wingers being asked to be more. Frank Nazar has explosive first 3 strides and gets to the middle, which most of this group does not. Nick Lardis scores from the middle distance on a team with no screens, which is the harder version. Jordan Greenway is the only forward here over 6-4 and cannot forecheck at this pace.

Who this names 6 of 6 defencemen · 100% of their five-on-five minutes details

What the Quant Says

31st in even-strength expected goals against at 2.91 per 60, and every defenceman on the roster posted a bottom-fifteenth-percentile chance share. Alex Vlasic took 1,440 5-on-5 minutes at the 3rd percentile, with the expected goals running 48.8 to 70.4 against him. Wyatt Kaiser was 10th percentile across 1,340.

The honest reading is that this tells you far more about Chicago than about the defencemen, because somebody had to play those minutes and there was nobody to share them with. Artyom Levshunov, 2nd overall in 2024, was minus-41 at 20. Bowen Byram arrives from Buffalo as the only defenceman here whose numbers are merely average, which on this blue line makes him the best of them by a distance, and Ian Cole at 37 posted an 82nd percentile shot share. Neither is a solution; both are relief.

What the Scout Says

3 defencemen under 23, and one veteran hired to teach them where to stand. Alex Vlasic is 6-6 with a functional first pass and nothing at the offensive line, and he carried the hardest minutes on the roster with nobody to share them. Bowen Byram is the addition that changes the group: he is among the better skating defencemen in the league and uses it to leave his own zone with the puck rather than hand it over, and he is not clearing the crease and can be outmuscled in front, which is why his best seasons have come beside a heavier partner.

Artyom Levshunov skates genuinely well for his size and — the harder half to teach — wants the puck. Sam Rinzel is long, mobile and unfinished, and 44 penalty minutes say he competes while the strength to finish those battles has not arrived. Wyatt Kaiser is outmuscled at his own net front routinely and the club has no bigger option to move him for. Ian Cole is the counterweight and the instructor: the first pass after 16 seasons is a reflex rather than a skill, the skating went years ago, and he survives by never being in a race.

The roster

Evidence 19 Full 2 Light 0 No record

Connor Bedard

#98

C · Chicago Blackhawks

75 points at 20, on the worst offensive team in the league.

Tyler Bertuzzi

#59

LW · Chicago Blackhawks

32 goals from a median of 13 feet, which is the shortest in this book.

Bowen Byram

#24

D · Chicago Blackhawks

22 minutes a night, 42 points, and the only defenceman here whose numbers are average.

Ian Cole

#28

D · Chicago Blackhawks

990 games, 37 years old, and the 82nd percentile.

Ryan Donato

C · Chicago Blackhawks

565 games, and a career year that landed on the worst possible team.

Ryan Greene

C · Chicago Blackhawks

29 points as a rookie, and 49 per cent of his shots from inside 20 feet.

Jordan Greenway

#12

LW · Chicago Blackhawks

6-6, 231 pounds, and 1 goal in 40 games.

Wyatt Kaiser

#44

D · Chicago Blackhawks

19 and a half minutes a night, and the 13th percentile in both columns.

Patrick Kane

#88

RW · Chicago Blackhawks

19 seasons, 1,400 points, and he is still the best passer on the ice most nights.

Spencer Knight

#30

G · Chicago Blackhawks

19 wins in 55 starts behind the worst team in the league, at .902.

Nick Lardis

LW · Chicago Blackhawks

10 goals in 41 games at 20, and 165 pounds to carry into next season.

Artyom Levshunov

#55

D · Chicago Blackhawks

The second pick in 2024, minus 41, and 24 points to show for it.

Andrew Mangiapane

#26

LW · Chicago Blackhawks

131 career goals, 8 of them last season.

Oliver Moore

#11

C · Chicago Blackhawks

The only Chicago skater whose on-ice numbers were merely below average.

Frank Nazar

#91

C · Chicago Blackhawks

41 points in 66 games at 21, and nothing underneath it that agrees.

Sam Rinzel

D · Chicago Blackhawks

6-4 at 21, 18 minutes a night, and no evidence yet in either direction.

Landon Slaggert

#84

LW · Chicago Blackhawks

2nd percentile in expected goals, and half his shots from the right place.

Cole Smith

RW · Chicago Blackhawks

55 per cent of his shots from inside 20 feet, from a fourth-liner.

Arvid Soderblom

#40

G · Chicago Blackhawks

A .880 in 26 games, and the reason the starter played 55.

Teuvo Teravainen

#86

C · Chicago Blackhawks

Minus 30, 6 penalty minutes, and 827 games of doing it the same quiet way.

Alex Vlasic

#72

D · Chicago Blackhawks

6-6, 21 minutes a night, and the 3rd percentile in expected goals.

How they were used

2025-26 · 82 games

Measured from shift charts at five-on-five, not projected. Units are built from the strongest partnership outward and ordered by how much they were used; the percentage is the share of the first player’s five-on-five ice time spent alongside each linemate. A low number means the club never settled on a combination. Players who have gone are marked — either to another club, or off an NHL roster altogether, which covers retirement and an unsigned summer alike.