Blackhawks Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Byram Update, Youth Core Spark & More

The Chicago Blackhawks are halfway through their seven-game homestand with a 2-2-0 record thus far. They got captain Connor Bedard back against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 13 and had a thrilling overtime win against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 15.

With five days off, here’s what to look out for this week in Chicago.

Update on Byram

Defenseman Bowen Byram remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Ethan Del Mastro has been in the lineup for the past two games in his place.

With there being five days off for Chicago, it’s likely he returns at the end of the week. The team hasn’t released explicit details on what the injury is for Byram.

Del Mastro played on the top line with Artyom Levshunov against the Jets and with Sam Rinzel against the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

Bedard’s Return Was Much Needed

It’s no surprise that there has been more life on this young Hawks team since Bedard made his return against Pittsburgh. A shutout loss to Dallas on Saturday isn’t all surprising when you look at their team stats to start the year. But Bedard still took accountability.

“I don’t think we were in the right spots for each other as much as we’d like, giving the guy an easy play. We want to play fast and fly the zone, but we’ve got to make sure guys have an easy out,” he said. “We just weren’t getting the puck out of our end tonight, and that’s on the five-man unit; that’s not on the D-men. That’s on us to be in a good spot for them” (from ‘Connor Bedard gets first chance as captain to keep Blackhawks accountable after loss,’ New York Times, Oct. 18, 2026).

“To start the year, we gave up a lot of chances and didn’t create much,” head coach Jeff Blashill said. “Now we’re creating way more but still giving up too much” (from ‘Stars hand Blackhawks first loss with Connor Bedard this season,’ Chicago Sun-Times, Oct. 17, 2026).

The two wins against the Penguins and Jets were all on the youth core. Roman Kantserov scored twice against Pittsburgh, and Levshunov, along with Spencer Knight, were the stars of the night on Thursday. Frank Nazar scored his first game back from suspension.

The young talent is still present, but if the Blackhawks want to contend against teams who are playoff contenders, especially division rivals, they need to find answers defensively more than anything. A lot of turnovers on Saturday cost them the game. Both teams had 19 giveaways, but Dallas had the offense to back it up. That’s what the Hawks need to incorporate sooner rather than later.

Schedule This Week

A rare five-day stretch where Chicago doesn’t have any games. Good news: they stay in front of their home fans. They welcome the Montreal Canadiens, another young team, on Friday. If Chicago addresses its early defensive problems in the off days, there’s a chance it can really make its game against the Habs more competitive.