3 Thoughts As Blackhawks Head Into Their Final 2 Games – Hockey Writers – Chicago Blackhawks
80 games are on the books for the Chicago Blackhawks. Their final two games of the 2025-26 season will be against the Buffalo Sabers and San Jose Sharks this Monday and Wednesday, respectively (April 13 and April 15). Instead of finishing on a high note, the team is limping to the finish line, having lost eight of its last nine games. It hasn’t been good since the trade deadline, really. The Blackhawks went 6-12-5 in those 23 games.
In their defense, the team lost their entire leadership team and one of their most physical players (Colton Dach) last season. In addition, they endured a number of injuries as the campaign ended. But it’s still disappointing to see the season end on such a low note. Here are three thoughts as the Blackhawks head into their final two games of the season.
Children Have Work To Do
Let’s just remember that this is what we all wanted. This season was supposed to focus on the growth and development of the children. Many fans were outraged when Jason Dickinson played in the third row instead of Oliver Moore. Why is Nick Foligno taking over on the fourth line when Dach and Landon Slaggert are regular healthy bruisers? Veterans Matt Grzelcyk and Connor Murphy have been marginalized defensively while the prospects of Sam Rinzel, Kevin Korchinski and Ethan Del Mastro have languished 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 released at the same time at the trade deadline. Grzelcyk suffered a season-ending injury on Mar. 22. Burakovsky has been healthy, and currently plays on the third line.
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All the children are left. The kids grew up a TON this year. But they are still ignorant children who have lost their mentors and leaders. They hit a wall, mostly in their first NHL season and faced the strain of a shortened schedule due to the Olympics.
It is true that this is a VERY small group.
Sacha Boisvert, Anton Frondell, Ryan Greene, Nick Lardis. All rookies. Moore, Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov are in their second season. But they played nine, nine and 18 games in the 2024-25 campaign, respectively.
Del Mastro only suited up for 43 NHL games. Korchinski recently passed 100 games (103 as of this writing). But those 76 games in the 2023-24 season were arguably more detrimental than beneficial to his overall development. This is Frank Nazar’s first full NHL season after playing in 56 games in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons combined.
So yes, the kids have a lot of work to do. But they are just children. Maybe it’s a good thing to shake off all these losses now, so that the team can come out stronger next season.
“I would argue that these are things you have to go through to grow,” head coach Jeff Blashill said after the Blackhawks’ 5-3 loss to St. Louis. Louis Blues on Saturday (April 11). “You don’t grow without some kind of failure. You don’t grow, and we’re dealing with that now.”
In other words, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The Blackhawks made a lot of mistakes, and the result was a big loss. But hopefully they learn from these mistakes, and this can give them a head start heading into the 2026-27 campaign.
“I think we’re all here, the second half of the season especially, and we’re going to go through it together. I think it’s going to make us stronger going into next year,” Greene said after the loss.
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Most of the current squad, give or take a few players, will make up next season’s roster as well. Going through everything together builds bonds both on and off the ice. The growing pains have certainly begun, but hopefully this young team will learn from it and use it for more success in the future.
Frondell is a Ray of Hope
Did anyone think Frondell would be this good out of the gate?! I mean, he came with the highest pedigree, the third overall pick in the 2025 Draft. He played two seasons for Durgardens IF, the top team of the Swedish Hockey League. Blashill felt that gave him a big head start, matching the men and learning how to play properly. The coach said before the start of the NHL at the age of 18 on March 24,
He played professional hockey for two years. So sometimes when guys come from junior college, they don’t have to defend because they have the puck all night. Not a knock at all, just the truth. For him, he had to defend, he had to be the fourth line, he had to do those kinds of things. And so I think it helps him grow. And I think learning how to be offensive while playing a two-sided game is a huge thing to be a winning hockey team. He already does. So the real good habits of professionals, that will allow him to be successful, for sure.
But this much success?! Frondell scored his first NHL point in his first NHL game, providing the first assist on Ilya Mikheyev’s goal. His second point came in his second game, an assist on Bedard (against the Philadelphia Flyers on Mar. 26). He notched his first multi-point game in just his fourth contest (against the New Jersey Devils on Mar. 29), providing an assist on Mikheyev and another assist on Nazar’s power play goal. In his fifth game, the Swedish native scored his first NHL goal, 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-point streak, with two goals and two assists in that span. Through his first 10 games, he has three goals and nine points. He’s been anchoring the Blackhawks’ second line since his fourth NHL game, and fired a one-timer from the right side at the top of the power play.
What a sequence from a high power play unit. Chance after chance: pic.twitter.com/Bsu2ZB9ZXO
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 7, 2026
It’s surprising that one of these hasn’t come in yet, but I predict it will before this season. It’s clear that the Blackhawks have a very special player on their hands, with a very high ceiling.
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If Frondell does what he’s doing just a few weeks into his NHL career, the sky’s the limit for this young man. It will be fun to watch him, and to see him contribute to the success of the Blackhawks, in the years to come.
Win One More at the United Center
So there are two games left, both at the United Center. It’s a tough game too. The Sabers currently lead the Atlantic Division with 106 points. But the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens are both breathing down their necks with 104 points. The Sabers will want to finish strong to stay in first place. Furthermore, the last time these two teams met on November 21, the Sabers beat the Blackhawks 9-3. This will be a tough competition, for sure.
The Sharks are currently outside the wild card spot with 82 points and three games. But even if they win, the LA Kings (currently with 87 points) will have to lose their last three contests. Both are highly unlikely. In addition, the Nashville Predators (86 points with two games remaining) and the Winnipeg Jets (82 points with three games remaining) are also in the mix.
Still, the rivalry between the Sharks and Blackhawks is always a fierce rivalry between two young teams, with young stars (and close friends) Macklin Celebrini and Bedard leading the way for their respective clubs. In the season series between these two teams, the Blackhawks won once (6-3 on Feb. 2) and the Sharks won once (3-2 on April 6). It should be an interesting game, but definitely not an easy one for the Blackhawks.
While the obvious goal is to win both of these tournaments, perhaps it would be a better expectation from the fans’ point of view to win at least one of them. And please don’t talk to me about loss; the Blackhawks are already guaranteed a top five draft pick. The Vancouver Canucks have only 54 points (to the Blackhawks’ 70 points) and the Calgary Flames have 73 points with three games remaining.
If the Blackhawks can win just one of these final two contests, they can use that as motivation heading into the offseason. If and it will be a good way to show United Center fans that they have what it takes to come out in the end, that they can give you that. Moreover, it will give players the much needed confidence. Blashill called the team “fragile” right now, and that they need to get their swagger back. A win would do that, and it would be a great way to enter the summer. Obviously two winners will do that again. But at this point we should not get too carried away.
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It’s been another long season for the Blackhawks, who may end up 31St in the league. There is still a lot of work to be done, but there are things to be optimistic about. The Blackhawks are almost at the finish line, and hopefully at least one solid performance (and win) will do the trick to enter the offseason on a high note.
