I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a chance any of those players would be dealt this season. For one, there\u2019s probably not much of a market because they\u2019re not on expiring deals. Maybe Bertuzzi, but he has another two years after this. I doubt anyone is looking to add someone like that. Two, the Blackhawks are banking on all those players\u2019 cap hits to get them to the salary-cap floor next season. Acquiring Burakovsky was about his potential to play with Bedard but also about having his cap hit on their payroll for two seasons. I don\u2019t think the Blackhawks will prioritize playing those players over prospects, but they do serve a role in the short term.<\/p>\n
![\"When](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2254116201-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n When will Anton Frondell arrive with the Blackhawks? (Nick Wosika \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re Kyle Davidson, what position group are you most looking to address with this year\u2019s first-round pick(s)? Or has the prospect pool reached a point where best player available is the approach? \u2014 Jake A.<\/p>\n
I believe the Blackhawks will approach this draft thinking best player available. If that\u2019s a defenseman with their first pick, I don\u2019t think they\u2019ll shy away from that. There are a lot of defensemen projected in the top 10.<\/p>\n
I think the Blackhawks should seek another high-end forward with that first pick. Frondell and Kantserov might be elite players to go along with Bedard. It\u2019s possible to connect those dots based on what Frondell and Kantserov have produced in Sweden and Russia. Nazar has shown positive signs in the NHL and just needs more consistency. Lardis seems like he\u2019ll figure out goal scoring in the NHL as he did elsewhere. We\u2019ll see to what extent. Moore and Greene look like they\u2019ll be NHLers, but we\u2019ll see what their roles are. Maybe a bunch of those other forwards hit, too. That\u2019s not a real problem. You don\u2019t hear many GMs complaining about having too many talented forwards. But what if not enough hit? That has to be the fear. This is a once-in-a-lifetime-type rebuild where Davidson has a massive runway to execute his plan. He\u2019s already the 12th-longest-tenured NHL general manager and continues to have the trust and patience of Blackhawks chairman Danny Wirtz. With another possible top-six pick, Davidson can add another player who can be a big part of the future.<\/p>\n
Something that will be interesting in the next few years: The Blackhawks\u2019 early-round pick will be joining a different team than Bedard did. Bedard didn\u2019t have a ton of skill around him early on. This next wave of prospects will have that. For one, they\u2019ll have Bedard. He\u2019ll undoubtedly be able to elevate his teammates to even higher places in the coming years. That could be the case for Nazar and others, too, as they get more comfortable in the NHL. That could be an exciting environment to add young, skilled forwards to and see who fits where.<\/p>\n
I think the Blackhawks will want to draft at least a few defensemen to build up prospect depth. So far, Davidson has selected defensemen really high or really low in the draft. It probably wouldn\u2019t hurt to draft a few in the second and third rounds and give them a bunch of time to develop. There just aren\u2019t a lot of defensemen coming behind the current group.<\/p>\n
I was wondering what it would take to pry Alex Tuch from the Sabres or Quinton Byfield (disappointing season so far, I know) from L.A. Both are big wings that would fit well with Bedard, etc. \u2014 Anonymous U.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an interesting thought, partly because of what I just mentioned about how the Blackhawks will be a more suitable team for skilled players to join. Not that Tuch falls under this category, but there are likely players around the league who could use a change of scenery and would thrive with Bedard. You see what Egor Chinakhov has done since going to the Pittsburgh Penguins. I just don\u2019t get the sense they\u2019re looking outside the organization for players. They want to give those opportunities to Frondell, Kantserov and the other prospects coming. They believe their draft picks can fill those spots.<\/p>\n
ETA for Anton Frondell? \u2014 Daniel G.<\/p>\n
It all depends on how far Djurg\u00e5rdens and Frondell go in the SHL playoffs. It looks like Djurg\u00e5rdens will finish somewhere between seventh and 10th in the standings. That will put it in a best-of-three playoff series for the opening round. The SHL regular season ends on March 13, and those best-of-three series will likely start a few days later. At the earliest, Frondell could be available to the Blackhawks around the third week of March. If Djurg\u00e5rdens advances a round into the quarterfinals, that series is a best-of-seven, so that would push his arrival back closer to April. If Djurg\u00e5rdens advances to the semifinals or final, it\u2019s less likely Frondell plays for the Blackhawks this season.<\/p>\n
What do you think are the main reasons the Blackhawks don\u2019t like Gavin McKenna as a top pick? Considering they badly have a need for elite offensive IQ, playmaking and play driving, all of which McKenna projects to be a star in.<\/p>\n
I think it all depends on where the Blackhawks draft. I don\u2019t think they\u2019re sold on McKenna as the top pick in 2026. They\u2019re not the only ones who think that. McKenna\u2019s game has shown some flaws in college. If they\u2019re drafting further down the top 10 and he\u2019s still on the board, they\u2019d have to consider him. His offensive ability can\u2019t be ignored. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s certain that they won\u2019t draft him. Of course, how everything plays out in court<\/a> will factor into everything, too. The Blackhawks won\u2019t be making any decisions based solely on on-ice performance. It\u2019s also really early: There are still five months until the draft. So much can change, including how the Blackhawks view McKenna. Let\u2019s discuss again down the road.<\/p>\n Kantserov\u2019s numbers are extraordinary \u2014 comparable to Kirill Kaprizov, Ivan Demidov and Nikita Kucherov. Yet, I don\u2019t hear much hype around him. What is a realistic assessment of his floor and ceiling? And where do you think he slots into the lineup next year? \u2014 Erik B.<\/p>\n I was just talking to someone about this the other day. I\u2019m not sure why Kantserov doesn\u2019t have as much hype. Kaprizov is the closest comparable to what Kantserov has done this season as a 21-year-old in the KHL. Kaprizov left the KHL in 2020. It\u2019s been a while. Maybe it\u2019s Kantserov\u2019s size, being a second-round pick, or non-NHL Russian players being off the radar without international competitions in recent years. An NHL team might have a Russia-based scout see draft-eligibles in person, but there aren\u2019t many NHL people beyond that seeing them live. If you recall, there were questions about Demidov heading into the draft because people weren\u2019t even sure how tall he was.<\/p>\n With 29 goals and 53 points in 49 games, Kantserov might be the playmaker Bedard needs on his wing. Kantserov\u2019s vision and passing are elite. He may not be big, but he has a strong build and doesn\u2019t shy away from contact. He\u2019s taken on major minutes as a center against older veterans in Russia. The goal scoring does help. He doesn\u2019t need quantity. He understands how to get quality and has scored a lot of goals around the net this season. We\u2019ll see how he adapts, but Bedard and Kantserov with one of the larger wings, maybe Frondell or Boisvert, could make sense in time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I hope everyone is enjoying the Olympic break. The Chicago Blackhawks will resume practicing next week. Until then,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,7520,575,85],"class_list":["post-473156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-chicago-blackhawks","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}