Blackhawks Locker Cleanout Part 2: Appreciating Teammates, Summer Plans, Playoff Expectations & More – The Hockey Writers – Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks had their exit interviews last Thursday (Apr. 16). While the playoffs are just getting started for 16 other teams, the Hawks are once again on the outside looking in. But there was a prevailing sense of positivity with the group as they met with the coaching staff, management and the media. In Part 2 of our locker cleanout coverage, let’s check in with the players as they reflect their season, the strengths of their teammates, summer plans and playoff expectations.

Player Strengths: When They’re at Their Best

Obviously it’s necessary to look at both the good and the bad when you evaluate your game. Mistakes are going to be made, and it’s essential to learn from them in order to improve. But focusing on the positives is important too, especially as a way to build confidence moving forward. Here’s some personal player assessments about what they did right this season.  

Nazar on What Worked

Center Frank Nazar endured a lot of ups and downs this season. He started the year strong, but then went through a stretch of 21 games in November and December without a goal. He missed 14 games with a fractured jaw he sustained in late December, but ended his campaign with relatively solid and consistent contributions. I asked the 22-year-old what he felt he was doing right when things were clicking.

Sometimes it’s just the puck going in the back of the net, and getting that feeling and that boost of what it feels like to score. Or make a nice play and score off that. Honestly, I thought that there were times throughout the season where I wasn’t scoring or maybe wasn’t producing, but I was getting tons of chances and loads of opportunities. It was just the execution part of it, of the puck not going in, or something like that. But I do think winning more stick and puck battles was a key towards the end of the year, doing better in those opportunities.

It’s true that even during his 21-game goal-drought Nazar was still get chances and creating opportunities for himself and his linemates. We should also remember he was a point-per-game producer in March, with seven goals and 14 points in a 14-game stretch.

Head coach Jeff Blashill always gave Nazar credit for his compete level, and it’s great to hear Nazar talk about winning more puck battles. Overall, he had a solid campaign. But I’m sure he wants to have a stronger season next year.

Lardis Learning From Different Roles

We all know rookie forward Nick Lardis came into the league knowing how to score at the junior level, notching 71 goals last season with the OHL Brantford Bulldogs. Once it was all said and done, this translated pretty well for him; Lardis contributed 18 goals with the Rockford IceHogs (in 35 games) and 10 goals with the Blackhawks (41 games). His 10 tallies in Chicago were also accomplished while playing bottom-six minutes much of the time. He did also end the season playing on the top line with Connor Bedard. Lardis felt like he learned from these different experiences.

I thought I learned a lot playing in different roles, whether it’s being more responsible, being more of a two-way player. I think that helped my game a lot, just be more consistent at that…If it’s a different role, I think the important thing for me is to understand my role and make sure I’m doing everything I can to help the team win.

He might not always be called upon to score goals, so Lardis understands he needs to become a better all-around player. He mentioned he wants to work on his strength in the offseason, which makes sense since he’s rather undersized at 5-foot-11, 165 pounds. That said, it’s impressive Lardis wasn’t afraid to back down from contact this season. Even playing just 41 games, he ranked fifth among forwards with 57 hits.  

Kaiser on a Breakout Season

It’s safe to say defenseman Wyatt Kaiser had a breakout 2025-26 campaign. After three seasons with the organization, this was the first year he didn’t spend time back and forth between the Blackhawks and the IceHogs. Instead, he played in 77 games and contributed six goals and 17 points. His ice time also increased substantially, averaging 19:37 minutes a night.

Coach Blashill trusted him down the stretch to go up against the opponent’s top lines. I asked Kaiser if there was anything specific he could attribute to his success. Instead, he pointed to a lot of little things adding up.

I’d just say, like over time experiences. I think it’s kind of a lot of little things that build on each other. There’s not one thing I can necessarily point to, but the experiences over the last couple years just, away from the rink, at the rink, kind of slowly building up to where I find that with the ups and downs of the season, you can kind of manage them a little bit better.

Just slowly accumulate experience playing games, get a little bit more mature, more strong mentally. You’ve been through ups and downs, different things, gain some confidence in yourself, understand who you are as a player a little bit more. There’s a lot of little things that contribute to it.

Kaiser said he’s happy with his season as a whole, and that he’s taking strides in the direction he wants to go. But obviously it’s just the beginning of trying to get better for next season. He feels he has a good foundation to build from.

Players Discuss Their Teammates

Obviously, hockey is a team sport. But when one individual excels, that’s obviously going to help the team overall. Players want to support each other with the overall goal of finding success together. Here are some thoughts from the Blackhawks on their teammates.

Bertuzzi on Playing With Frondell

Veteran Tyler Bertuzzi is a man of few words; that’s just his style. He doesn’t show much emotion either. But his demeanor changed visibly when asked about playing with 18-year-old Anton Frondell, who joined the team down the stretch.

Yeah, I really enjoyed it, honestly. He’s a really good kid too, off the ice. That’s very important. And on the ice he worked so hard. He’s skilled, and I thought our line with Mickey (Ilya Mikheyev) did a pretty good job at the end of competing and being on the forecheck and creating turnovers.

Frondell centered the second line with Bertuzzi and Mikheyev for the last nine games of the season. This line was arguably the most successful combination during the time. For Frondell’s part, he contributed three goals and nine points in 12 games played, and looked like the real deal. It will be exciting to see what kind of an impact he will make in a full season next year.  

Vlasic Touts Defensive Partner Crevier

We already touched on Kaiser up above. But another defenseman who had a breakout campaign was Louis Crevier. Like Kaiser, Crevier has been back and forth between the Blackhawks and the IceHogs the last few years. But this former seventh-round draft pick played in 78 games this season, contributing seven goals and 25 points, both team-highs among defensemen. The 24-year-old also spent most of the season on the top defensive pairing alongside Alex Vlasic. Who better to evaluate him than his defensive partner?! Said Vlasic on Crevier,

He’s such a good guy and really happy for how he’s played this year. Everybody was fired up last night (season finale on Apr. 15) with his two goals. He’s such a good player, when he’s playing with confidence, when he’s playing with some swagger. He’s such a big guy out there, great skater, and he brings so much to our team when he’s playing at his best. So I was really happy for him this year, and he made it easy for me to play alongside him.

Crevier agreed that he’s most certainly gained confidence this season, and he’s proud of his performance. He says mentally he’s been able to feel more free out on the ice, and isn’t as scared of making mistakes.

By the way, there was a friendly rivalry between Crevier and Kaiser about who scored the most goals on the season. Since Crevier notched seven goals to Kaiser’s six, he felt Kaiser owed him dinner. Kaiser took a different viewpoint, saying Crevier should treat dinner since he beat him.

However the dinner plans play out in the offseason, these two blueliners should be super happy with their seasons.  

Moore & Greene on Bedard as Future Captain

We already talked in Part 1 of this series about Bedard very likely being named the Blackhawks’ captain next season. He also said he’d be honored, and that he felt he was ready. But let’s hear from a few of Bedard’s teammates on why they think he’s already a great leader. Said Oliver Moore,

I think he stayed steady to who he was. I think that’s what makes him a great leader. He continues to bring consistency, I think, on and off the ice. So just with the guy he is, and with the work he puts in. I think it can go unnoticed sometimes. Just culturally, having your best player be your hardest worker is something that’s just going to drive guys like me and young guys. I think he continued to bring that every day, and that’s just going to make him a special leader…He brings it every day, and he hates being here more than anyone else, in the position we’re at. So, yeah, he’s going to drive us forward.

Moore is obviously a young player that looks up to Bedard. He mentioned his work ethic and him leading by example. Fellow rookie Ryan Greene touched on an off-ice component.

Yeah, I mean you guys don’t really see kind of what goes on behind the scenes. I think he’s the perfect guy for it. He cares about his teammates; he checks in on everybody all the time. And you know, he’s our guy. So he’s leading the way, in a lot of different ways. And yeah, I think he’s more than ready.

Well said, and simply put by Greene. I’m sure it’s just a matter of when, not if, Bedard is appointed with the honor of the captaincy.

Summer Plans for the Blackhawks

Most of the Blackhawks were asked about their summer plans during exit interviews. But it was Moore that gave up the most information about the players getting together in the offseason.

Going through a full year of adversity and time together, I think that it’s just going to help us in the summer. We don’t want to take three months off and not see each other. We’re all going to be getting together pretty frequently, I’d say. I think the big thing is this has to be together, and we have to go together. I think the other thing is too, like, we’re good buddies off the ice. So that kind of helps things in the summer as well.

There’s a golf trip coming up. We talked about going out to Vancouver a little bit, a couple of the guys. I know that I’m gonna go to Florida with Connor here and work on some stuff. But I mean, just kind of beginning of summer stuff, I think we’ll figure out the rest.

I’m not sure Bedard was too happy when he found out Moore had told the media about their planned trip to Florida. But he took it in stride, nonetheless.

We have such a close room. Everyone says that. But I think every single guy; I’ll be like, ‘Guys, you got to come to Van (Vancouver)’, and then someone from Toronto, ‘You got to come to Toronto’. So we got like 10 trips lined up (everyone laughs). I don’t know if we’ll make all of them. But we’ll definitely get together in the summer and keep growing that. But it’s a special group. I don’t think there was a day this year where we just left the rink and chilled alone. Our guys would always be getting together. Me and Mooresy (Oliver Moore) lived in the same building, so I think he’s got an imprint on my couch (more laughing). But it was just a lot of fun, every day at the rink it was a blast. So that’s kind of step one I feel like to being a really good team.

Many of the players are planning on spending at least part of their summer training in Chicago. Wilmette native Vlasic was especially happy about that.

Yeah, I’m excited. I’m not going to be the only guy. It’s been me and Murph (Connor Murphy) the last couple summers, just us two. I’m honestly really, really pumped to kind of get some more guys in here. I think it builds good team camaraderie, and we’re all going to have a good time training together. I feel like it pushes each other. When you have a core group of guys that are training all year round, especially in the summer, when things get pretty intense, it can be fun to kind of have that little friendly competition and go at it with one another.

It does seem like this is a very tight-knit group of guys that are coming up together, and all committed to each other. They want to go to battle with each other, and that should only add to their future success.

Playoff Expectations for Next Year

It’s obvious the players weren’t happy with another 31^st finish in the standings this season. Injuries to both Bedard and Nazar mid-season certainly didn’t help matters. Plus, losing their entire leadership group of three solid veterans at the trade deadline caused a lot of damage down the stretch.

However, Coach Blashill hinted this team might be better than their record indicates. He made an analogy of 100 steps forward and 20 steps back. Sure, you feel bad about those 20 steps back. But that doesn’t wipe out the 80 steps forward.

Many players made it pretty clear they’re coming into next season with the expectation of making the playoffs. I’m pretty sure goaltender Spencer Knight was a philosopher in a former life. He gave his insight on the subject.

We’re not just trying to be a collective group of players in the NHL. We’re trying to be a legitimate team in this league, and I think that’s probably going to start next year…I think you can have that mindset, like, winning needs to happen next year. But it’s more or less to have the mindset of like, okay, let’s take steps. Let’s try to collectively buy into what it takes to win, not necessarily just focus on just the outcome. But the process of what it takes to win, right? That’s, to me, I think the most important thing. And wins are probably gonna be a byproduct of that.

Vlasic was a lot more short-winded with his thoughts, but he made his point.  

Going into next season, playoffs is the expectation. We’re not here to do this again, and we all know that in the locker room. We have confidence in our group. So I think going into the summer, we’re all excited about coming back here next year and really making a push.

Bedard admitted their bottom-of-the-league finishes have been weighing heavily on him and the team.

At the end of the day, we gotta start winning. It’s been a while, and it takes a toll on you. You want to make that stop. We talk about it all the time. But it’s on us to go out there, have good summers, come back and take that lead.

Bedard further talked about the players all pulling on the same rope, and he stressed being more consistent as a team.  

Realistically, going from 31^st in the league to competing for the playoffs the next season is a bit of a stretch. But stranger things have happened! Knight referenced how quickly things can change sometimes, when really it might have been happening in little ways all along. Could those 80 steps forward come to fruition in the way of more success next season?

Who knows. I guess we’ll find out. But Bedard is certainly ready for what the future may bring. “It’s been a lot of fun. It was a blast. I’m devastated the season’s over. I wish we could start next year tomorrow. But I think we’re all excited to keep getting better together.”