The Chicago Blackhawks are in the home stretch of their 2025-26 season, and they’re trying to make the most of the time they have left. Head coach Jeff Blashill indicated most of the current players will be on the team next season, so they’re working hard to ingrain their systems and winning habits in preparation for a strong 2026-27 campaign. They also have a few prospects joining them now that their junior seasons are complete.
There’s lots of activity surrounding the Blackhawks, despite them being well out of a playoff spot. Let’s empty out the notebook after their 3-2 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators on Mar. 22.
Blackhawks’ Overtime Woes
The Blackhawks lost another overtime heartbreaker against the Predators Sunday afternoon (Mar. 22) at the United Center. Chicago was ahead twice before letting Nashville back into the game, and they eventually lost 3-2 in OT.
This has been an ongoing theme this season for the Blackhawks. They’ve gone to overtime or a shootout 20 times, winning only seven games and losing 13. If they had won those 13 games and gotten two points in each game instead of one, they’d be in the 78 points right now. This is where the Utah Mammoth currently sit, in the top wildcard spot in the Western Conference. Coach Blashill was asked if that was frustrating for them.
It’s frustrating in that we haven’t been better at it … It sucks for us that we haven’t been better at it. So is it a point of something that we need to get better at? Yes. We’ll see as we go through and guys get more experience in these situations, hopefully we continue to get better at it.
Blashill acknowledged that the format is what it is, and he wasn’t going to use that as an excuse. He’s just focusing on the team getting better at it as they continue to gain experience in overtime and shootout situations. Something to keep an eye on next season.
Lardis Takes Advantage of 2nd Line Opportunity
Since being called back up to the Blackhawks on Mar. 7, Nick Lardis has struggled to find his place in the lineup. He’s been mostly deployed on the fourth line, averaging just 9:39 minutes of ice time in his first six games back.
But versus the Avalanche this past Friday (Mar. 20), Coach Blashill put Blashill on the second line with Frank Nazar and Tyler Bertuzzi, in an attempt to shake things up. He stuck with this trio against the Predators, and it paid off. Lardis got the Blackhawks on the score sheet with his sixth goal of the season, while also logging an increased 13:28 minutes of ice time.
the goal, the replay, the celly… we’ve got it all ❤️ pic.twitter.com/XRcwCZLcSO
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 22, 2026
“This was the best he’s played because he skated,” said Blashill. “So I thought he did a good job that way.”
It’s clear Lardis has been waiting for this opportunity, and he wanted to make the most of it. “I just want to show my strengths when I get that opportunity. I thought I was skating pretty well tonight. We thought we generated a decent amount of chances.”
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Lardis-Nazar-Bertuzzi line was ahead of their opponent 1-0 in goals, 6-2 in shots & 8-3 in scoring chances in this game. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Blashill runs with this line moving forward. Lardis will likely have a chance to showcase his skills as he guns for a spot among the top-six forwards in the 2026-27 season.
Bedard Hits 29 Goals
Connor Bedard scored the second goal of the night, to gain the team-lead again with 29 goals. He and Bertuzzi (28 goals) have been going back and forth for the lead all season, and I expect that will continue.
GOAL: Connor Bedard with a beautiful move on a breakaway. Silky smooth. pic.twitter.com/GG9Fi6mEav
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) March 22, 2026
Bedard has already surpassed his previous career high of 23 goals, and he’s just one point shy of matching a career high of 67 points, despite missing 13 games this season with a shoulder injury. He’s also just six points away from 200 career NHL points, with 12 games to go.
Related – Bedard & Nazar Leading the Way in Late Season Success
Bedard is wearing the “A” on his chest for the remainder of the season, and it’s a foregone conclusion he’ll be appointed as Blackhawk’s captain next season. The future looks bright for Bedard, and the Blackhawks, with him at the helm.
Greene’s Growing Game
Rookie Ryan Greene provided the primary assist on Bedard’s goal, and it was his second primary helper in the last two contests (he assisted on Wyatt Kaiser’s goal on Mar. 20 versus the Colorado Avalanche). The 22-year-old was supposed to join the Rockford IceHogs to start the season. But due to injuries he started with the Blackhawks and never looked back. Not only that, he’s played on the top line with Bedard for the majority of the campaign. He’s currently sitting at nine goals and 26 points, having contributed two goals and an assist in the last three games. Said Blashill of Greene’s success,
You get a chance every day to build your resume, and he’s done a good job of building that in a positive fashion. You know what he is; he’s not chaotic in his game. His game’s pretty calm, and he’s pretty smart. So I think that helps him play with a guy like Connor (Bedard), because he can kind of read off him, and he doesn’t have a lot of, just crazy moments. He just plays a pretty, I don’t want to say simple game, but it’s simple enough, but yet can make a pass and can make a good feed in those situations. He’s pretty good defensively … He’s done a good job of being a good, complementary player in the top line.
In other words, Greene is steady and predictable, and it’s certainly serving him well. He could very easily be the Blackhawk’s biggest success story of the season.
Frondell Coming to Chicago
In other news, top prospect Anton Frondell was selected by the Blackhawks third overall in the 2025 NHL Draft. He signed a three-year, entry-level contract in July of 2025, with an annual cap hit of $975,000. The Trangsund, Sweden native attended Blackhawks development camp last July following the draft, but then returned to Sweden to play the 2025-26 season with Djurgardens IF of the Swedish Hockey League.
Frondell had a strong season with Djurgardens, Sweden’s top league, scoring 20 goals and 28 points in 43 games. But the team was recently eliminated in the playoffs, meaning the 18-year-old is headed to Chicago to finish out the season with the Blackhawks.
Blashill didn’t mince words when asked where Frondell will fit in the lineup.
Probably in his situation, based on the level of play he’s had all year, where, how well he’s played the last part of the year, the fact there’s zero practice time at this time of year, I’m gonna throw him into the fire kind of coach. But not always. It’s all situational. But in this one, he’s gonna get thrown into the fire.
When Blashill was pushed as to where he’ll fit in the lineup, he said, “He’ll be with a good player, for sure.”
Going back to when Blashill was discussing Greene, he did say he wants to try the rookie out at center as the season winds down. If you read between the lines, that likely means Frondell will be deployed with Bedard and Andre Burakovsky on the top line, while Greene may center the third line instead of veteran Ryan Donato. I’m sure we’ll find out over the next handful of games once Frondell joins the lineup.
Related – Sacha Boisvert Signs Entry Level Contract With Blackhawks
On a related note, Blackhawks’ prospect Sacha Boisvert is still awaiting his visa clearance. He’s expected, same as Frondell, to make his NHL debut at some point on the team’s upcoming four-game road trip.
Blackhawks’ Defensive News & Notes
The Blackhawks are also dealing with deploying a very young defensive corps to end the season. Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk hurt what looked like either his hand or shoulder in a post-whistle scrum early in the game versus the Predators. He only logged 1:52 minutes. Blashill said the veteran will definitely miss the Blackhawks’ upcoming four-game road trip. While this is unfortunate, Ethan Del Mastro will have an opportunity to play some valuable minutes in his absence. I wonder if the Blackhawks might also call up Kevin Korchinski for some insurance on the road.
Coach Blashill was complimentary of the remaining five young defensemen who had to play a lot of minutes against the Predators; i.e. Sam Rinzel, Kaiser, Louis Crevier, Artyom Levshunov & Alex Vlasic. “I thought they played pretty good. We had a few moments where we kind of had self-errors that we didn’t need to have. But overall, it’s a lot of minutes and a lot of young D. I think overall they did a good job and continued another opportunity to grow.”
Vlasic logged the most minutes (26:34), with Levshunov (24:27) not far behind him. Levshunov has recently been promoted to the top defensive pairing alongside Vlasic, and he’s responded quite well. Said Vlasic on Levshunov, “Yeah, he’s been great. I think he’s been playing some really good hockey. I think he’s been playing hard, playing good defense-first, and we’ve been having some success. So it’s been fun. And he’s full of energy. He’s a great person. So for me, it’s been a fun opportunity to play with him.”
Crevier registered four shots on goal to lead all defensemen against the Predators, and his seven shot attempts led the entire team. He’s really been finding his offensive game recently, having scored his fifth goal of the season (along with an assist) on Mar. 17 versus the Minnesota Wild.
Kaiser currently leads all defensemen with six goals, having most recently scored the Blackhawks’ lone goal in their 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Mar. 20.
Related – Blackhawks Benefiting From Burakovsky Despite Scoring Struggles
The Blackhawks will now head out on a four-game East coast road trip to face the New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils over the next week. No matter where they sit in the standings, these Blackhawks want to win. They’ll also be having some new blood added to the team in Frondell and Boisvert.
It should make for an exciting week ahead.
