80 games are in the books for the Chicago Blackhawks. Their final two contests of the 2025-26 season will be against the Buffalo Sabres and the San Jose Sharks this Monday and Wednesday, respectively (Apr. 13 and Apr. 15). Instead of ending on a high note, this team is limping to the finish line, having lost eight of their last nine games. It hasn’t been pretty since the trade deadline, actually. The Blackhawks have gone 6-12-5 in that 23-game stretch.
In their defense, the team lost their entire leadership group and one of their more physical players (Colton Dach) at the deadline. Plus, they’ve endured a plethora of injuries as the campaign winds down. But it’s still disheartening to see the season end on such a downswing. Here’s three thoughts as the Blackhawks head into their final two games of the season.
The Kids Have Work to Do
Let’s just remember that this is what we all wanted. This season was supposed to be all about the growth and development of the kids. Many fans were angry when Jason Dickinson was playing third line center instead of Oliver Moore. Why was Nick Foligno taking up a spot on the fourth line while Dach and Landon Slaggert were frequent healthy scratches? Veterans Matt Grzelcyk and Connor Murphy were constantly trotted out on defense while prospects Sam Rinzel, Kevin Korchinski and Ethan Del Mastro languished down with the Rockford IceHogs. And why the heck was Andre Burakovsky STILL playing on the top line with Connor Bedard?!
Well, be careful what you wish for. Dickinson, Foligno and Murphy were all ripped away in one fell swoop at the trade deadline. Grzelcyk sustained a season-ending injury on Mar. 22. Burakovsky has been a healthy scratch, and is currently playing on the third line.
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What’s left is all the kids. Kids that have grown a TON this year. But they’re still inexperienced kids who have lost their mentors and their leaders. They’re hitting a wall, most of them in their first NHL season and dealing with the rigors of the condensed schedule due to the Olympics.
It’s true that this is a VERY young team.
Sacha Boisvert, Anton Frondell, Ryan Greene, Nick Lardis. All rookies. Moore, Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov are technically all in their second season. But they only played nine, nine and 18 games in the 2024-25 campaign, respectively.
Del Mastro has suited up for just 43 NHL games. Korchinski just passed 100 games (103 as of this writing). But those 76 games in the 2023-24 season were arguably more detrimental than helpful to his overall development. This is Frank Nazar’s first full NHL season after playing in 56 contests in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons combined.
So yes, the kids have a lot of work to do. But they’re still just kids. Perhaps it’s a good thing to get all this losing out of the way now, so the team can come out stronger next season.
“I would argue these are the things you have to go through in order to grow,” said head coach Jeff Blashill after the Blackhawks’ 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday (Apr. 11). “You don’t grow without any kind of failure. You just don’t, & we’re experiencing that now.”
In other words, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The Blackhawks are making a lot of mistakes, and the result has been a lot of losing. But hopefully they’re learning from these mistakes, and this can give them a head start headed into the 2026-27 campaign.
“I think all of us being here, for the second half of the season especially, & kind of going through this together. I think it’s only going to make us stronger heading into next year,” said Greene after the loss.
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The majority of the current team, give or take a few players, will comprise the roster next season as well. Going through it all together is building bonds both on and off the ice. The growing pains have certainly begun, but hopefully this young team will learn from it and apply it towards more success in the future.
Frondell Is a Ray of Hope
Did anyone think Frondell was going to be this good right out of the gate?! I mean sure, he came with a very high pedigree, being the third overall selection in the 2025 Draft. He played for two seasons for Durgardens IF, a team in the top tier of the Swedish Hockey League. Blashill felt that gave him a huge head start, matching up against men and learning to play the right way. Said the coach ahead of the 18-year-old’s NHL debut on Mar. 24,
He’s played pro hockey really for two years. So sometimes when guys come from junior college, they never have to defend because they have the puck the whole night. It’s not a knock on any, it’s just reality. For him, he’s had to defend, he’s had to be a fourth liner, he’s had to do those kind of things. And so I think it helps him grow. And I think learning how to produce offense while playing a two-way game is the biggest thing to become a winning hockey team. He already kind of does that. So real good pro habits, that’s gonna allow him to have success, for sure.
But this much success?! Frondell earned his first NHL point in his first NHL game, providing the primary assist on a goal by Ilya Mikheyev. His second point came in his second game, a primary assist to Bedard (against the Philadelphia Flyers on Mar. 26). He notched his first multi-point game in just his fourth contest (versus the New Jersey Devils on Mar. 29), providing an assist to Mikheyev and then another helper on a power play goal by Nazar. In his fifth game, the Swedish native earned his first NHL goal, scored against the Winnipeg Jets (Mar. 31).
FIRST GOAL AS A HAWK 🥹❤️‼️ pic.twitter.com/zzZBgb7hKu
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 1, 2026
Frondell is currently on a three-game point streak, having amassed two goals and two assists in that span. Through his first 10 games, he’s logged an impressive three goals and nine points. He’s also been centering the Blackhawks’ second line since his fourth NHL game, and firing off one-timers from the right flank on the top power play unit.
What a sequence from the top power-play unit. Chance after chance: pic.twitter.com/Bsu2ZB9ZXO
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 7, 2026
It’s amazing that one of these hasn’t gone in yet, but I’m predicting one will before this season is said and done. It’s clear the Blackhawks have a very special player on their hands, with a super high ceiling.
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If Frondell is doing what he’s doing just a few weeks into his NHL career, the sky is the limit for this young man. It’s going to be fun to watch him, and see him contribute to the Blackhawks’ success, for years to come.
Win One More at the United Center
So there’s two more games to go, both at the United Center. They’re tough games, too. The Sabres are currently leading the Atlantic Division with 106 points. But the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens are both breathing down their necks with 104 points. The Sabres will want to finish strong to remain in first place. Plus, when these two teams last met on Nov. 21, the Sabres pummeled the Blackhawks by a score of 9-3. This will be a tough contest, for sure.
The Sharks are currently right outside of a wildcard spot with 82 points and three games to go. But even if they won out, the LA Kings (currently at 87 points) would have to lose their final three contests. Both are highly unlikely. Plus, the Nashville Predators (86 points and two games to go) and the Winnipeg Jets (82 points and three games to go) are in the mix as well.
Even so, a contest between the Sharks and the Blackhawks is always a heated rivalry between two young teams on the rise, with young superstars (and close friends) Macklin Celebrini and Bedard leading the way for their respective clubs. In the season series between these two teams, the Blackhawks have won once (6-3 on Feb. 2) and the Sharks have won once (3-2 on Apr. 6). It should be an entertaining game, but definitely not an easy one for the Blackhawks.
While the obvious goal is to win both these contests, perhaps it would be a better expectation from a fan perspective to win at least one of them. And please don’t talk to me about losing out; the Blackhawks are already guaranteed to top-five draft pick. The Vancouver Canucks only have 54 points (to the Blackhawks’ 70 points) and the Calgary Flames have 73 points with three more games to go.
If the Blackhawks can win just one of these last two contests, they can use that as motivation headed into the offseason. If will also be a nice way to show the United Center fans they have it in them to come out on the winning end, that they can provide that finish. Plus, it would give the players some much needed confidence. Blashill referred to the team as “fragile” right now, and that they needed to get their swagger back. A win could certainly do that, and would be a good way to head into the summer. Obviously two wins would do that too. But at this point we shouldn’t get too carried away.
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It’s been another long season for the Blackhawks, who will likely finish 31st in the league. There’s still lots of work to be done, but there’s also things to be hopeful about. The Blackhawks are almost to the finish line, and hopefully at least one more strong performance (and win) will do the trick to enter the offseason on a high note.
