The Chicago Blackhawks are in the middle of a long rebuild as they try to retool their team in hopes of being back in contention as early as the 2025-26 season. With the addition of superstar forward Connor Bedard, their team is set up for success as they build around their new franchise player. He is currently surrounded by some strong depth pieces but their team isn’t close to being ready to contend just yet.
As they try to find a way to start winning games again, a couple of insiders have hinted at the idea of the Blackhawks targeting one, or both of, Mikko Rantanen and Mitchell Marner. Rantanen was recently traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in a shocking blockbuster deal between three teams, and Marner has been on the Toronto Maple Leafs for his entire career. Both players are pending unrestricted free agents.
Related: Taylor Hall Trade Another Example of Mismanagement From Blackhawks
In a recent column from The Athletic, Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus spoke about targeting the two. They explained:
“Davidson will be more aggressive in his pursuit of that high-end type of player come July. He’s gotten a good look at how far the Blackhawks still are from being a competitive team, despite last season’s offseason additions, and has to see the Blackhawks need a major upgrade while the prospects develop, particularly among his forward group… With most of the replacements for any departing players coming from within, there’ll be plenty of cap space to make a serious run at Rantanen, Marner or anyone else.”
source – ‘Why the Blackhawks could be major players for Mikko Rantanen, others this NHL offseason’ – Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus – The Athletic – 01/26/2025
They added in the article that the Hurricanes will have first dibs on signing Rantanen as they will have the benefit of being able to offer him an eighth year, same with the Maple Leafs and Marner, but the Blackhawks can sell the idea of playing with Bedard.
Blackhawks Have Money to Spend Big Next Summer
As of right now, the Blackhawks are projected to have $28 million in cap space going into the 2025-26 season and will likely be looking to spend some of that money if they think have any chance of making the playoffs.
Getting both Marner and Rantanen is likely off the table considering they could both be looking at massive pay raises in the range of $12-14 million annually. While they could fit them both in, it doesn’t make sense to bring them both in with no money left over to fill out the rest of their roster.
Trusted insider Elliotte Friedman also commented on the potential fit of Rantanen to the Blackhawks, mentioning that he wouldn’t be surprised if they took a run at him.
????#Blackhawks https://t.co/6EZnIHgG71 pic.twitter.com/MHutw3DA8j
— Tab Bamford (@The1Tab) January 25, 2025
At the end of the day, the Blackhawks making a run at either Marner or Rantanen makes sense, and they could be set up well if they can find a way to sign one of them. They are both elite players at both ends of the ice and could take the Blackhawks from rebuilders to contenders immediately. They would have to try and fill out the rest of their roster with the money left over to surround Bedard with even more weapons if they want to be considered true championship favorites, but time will tell what they end up choosing to do with the significant amount of money they’ll have before the next campaign.
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