The Chicago Blackhawks are coming into the 2026-27 season with mixed expectations. They made some significant additions to their roster through their farm system, trades, and free agency. They are also depending on the development of many young players who already have NHL experience.
Will it be enough to make them a playoff team? That remains to be seen. If they do end up in the dance, it is likely to be helped by players unexpectedly exceeding expectations.
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There are plenty of players on the roster with pressure to be one of those players. If they don’t, their trajectory going into future years will trend down. Of all the rostered Blackhawks, these four are facing the most pressure:
Artyom Levshunov
The Chicago Blackhawks have a lot of faith in Artyom Levshunov. They selected him with the second overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. With that comes a lot of pressure, especially when you look at some of the names selected after him.
Levshunov isn’t unlike other first- or second-year defensemen to come before him. There is a lot of skill, especially in terms of skating and overall strength, but there have been issues in the decision-making area of his game.
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It is one thing to have all of the talent that earned Levshunov that second overall pick; it is another to use those skills to become a winning player. He is still working on the latter. It isn’t like Levshunov will have no future if 2026-27 isn’t a great year, but there is pressure on him to show improvement.
There are a lot of young players in the organization, or even in future drafts, who will pass him up on the depth chart if he doesn’t take steps in his development.
Bowen Byram
Bowen Byram is coming to the Chicago Blackhawks with a chance to be their number one defenseman. This comes after years of playing in the shadow of elite players like Cale Makar and Rasmus Dahlin.
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Now, he has the pressure of being a team’s top option in all situations. He should have no problem getting his points on the power play, but impacting the game at even strength from a defensive perspective will be part of his responsibilities as well.
Byram has one year left on his deal that will carry a cap hit of $6.25 million. After that, it jumps to $12.5 million, which is currently slated to be the highest AAV for a defenseman in the league. Others will pass it soon, but it doesn’t take away from the financial commitment that the Blackhawks have to him.
With big contracts come expectations to live up to them. The Hawks don’t need him to be Quinn Hughes or Cale Makar, but they need him to be a winning player who leads what should eventually be a great young defense.
Teuvo Teravainen
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Teuvo Teravainen saw a drop in production last season. Part of that was less ice time as a result of more talent being inserted into the top six, but he mostly didn’t play up to par.
His ice time is not going to increase, and he’s not getting any younger, but he can be much better in a supporting offensive role.
With one year left on his contract with the Blackhawks, he must have a good year if he wants his next contract (with the Hawks or someone else) to be more lucrative with good length.
Arvid Soderblom
Arvid Soderblom has one year left on his contract. It also lines up with Drew Commesso’s deal going from a two-way deal to a one-way deal. If he wants to maintain his spot with the Blackhawks beyond 2026-27, he must take a step.
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Even if he does take a step, Spencer Knight is the long-term starter, so they may let him walk if they want Commesso in the NHL.
With that, Soderblom wants to come off a good year so he can use that to get himself another job in 2027-28 with another team. Most of the league is often looking for backup goalies, and sometimes a string of luck can land one of them a starting position. The pressure is on Soderblom to be good for his future’s sake.
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