There are 33 games left in the Chicago Blackhawks’ season, and they sit six points out of the playoffs in a congested Western Conference.
I previously wrote that the Blackhawks had a challenging-yet-realistic chance of making the playoffs. However, the recent three-game losing streak the Blackhawks had, which they snapped in the 2-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday, has put Chicago in a tough spot.
Related: Blackhawks Have a Realistic Chance at Making the 2026 Playoffs
Although they’re hanging on in wild-card race by a thread, I don’t want to Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson (GM) sell off pieces at the 2026 Trade Deadline.
Why Shouldn’t They Sell?
Now, it might be an odd way of looking at this situation. When a team is out of the playoffs, typically, they try to load up on picks and prospects to prop up the team for the future.
To me, I don’t see the appeal in getting more draft picks for Chicago. They’ve gone through Connor Bedard’s entry-level contract (ELC) without being close to making the playoffs, and the core of their roster is full of young players. Now should be the time for Davidson to try and add to the roster.
With the young core developing, and guys like Nick Lardis starting to gain his first bit of NHL experience, plus Anton Frondell still in the system, they need to start pushing towards grabbing a wild-card spot.
With this upcoming free agent class looking weak, I’d actually be in on trying to add some players. The acquisitions have to have term on their contracts, as rentals are not useful for this roster, but Davidson needs to start getting aggressive.
We just saw the San Jose Sharks do it, trading for Kiefer Sherwood from the Vancouver Canucks, and there are many parallels between the Blackhawks and the Sharks. They are two young teams with young studs in the forward core, high draft picks on the back end, and young, highly-touted goaltenders.
It’s funny to say, but I think Bedard got to the organization a little bit early. They didn’t have the roster for him to be competitive throughout his ELC. The reason why it’s so important for teams to be competitive when they have their core on entry-level deals is that in a league with a salary cap, elite talent at a low cost is a rarity.
When teams have that, it allows the GM to add pieces to strengthen the depth of the squad. When the time comes to extend their superstars out of their entry-level deals, sometimes changes need to be made, but until then, they try to win.
The Sherwood to the Sharks trade is GM Mike Grier trying his best to speed up their rebuild because they have guys like Macklin Celebrini on their ELCs.
The trade market isn’t that clear with so many teams still in the race for a wild-card spot, but slowly, teams are starting to separate. The Canucks have already begun their fire sale, the New York Rangers have said they’re going to sell, the Columbus Blue Jackets have already fired a head coach, the St.Louis Blues have struggled all season, and the Winnipeg Jets have had a brutal campaign.
As the trade market begins to take shape, we should get a better idea of what is actually out there for GMs trying to make deals.
The Blackhawks’ Salary Cap Situation
When looking into the trade market, the salary cap is always a limit on what certain teams can do. The Blackhawks have all the flexibility in the world. Currently, their projected cap space for this season stands at $13.4 million and will rise next season.
According to PuckPedia, the salary cap is projected to increase to $104 million for the upcoming season. The Blackhawks’ projected cap space for next season is $47.58 million.
That number is skewed because Davidson has important business to take care of this offseason. Bedard is a restricted free agent this offseason, so we’ll have to wait to see what that extension looks like, and the other restricted free agent this offseason is Colton Dach. Nick Foligno, Jason Dickinson, Ilya Mikheyev, Sam Lafferty, Connor Murphy, and Matt Grzelcyk are all unrestricted free agents.
So, although there is one huge deal he needs to get done and other decisions he needs to make, they should still have a boatload of cap space to use.
They also have a ton of picks they could use in a trade. They have five picks in the first two rounds of this year’s draft. This year, they have their own and the Florida Panthers’ first-round pick, and their their own, the Toronto Maple Leafs’, and the New York Islanders’ second-round picks.
With all those picks, Davidson can trade for a good piece and still keep Chicago’s own first-rounder and potentially the second-rounder.
Davidson has all the pieces and cap space to make a swing. It’s time for the Blackhawks to add a big piece to the roster and make them a threat for the playoffs next season and a Stanley Cup contender for seasons to come.
