Blackhawks News & Rumors: World Championship Rosters & 4th Overall Pick Thoughts – Hockey Writers – Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are almost a month into the offseason, and things are starting to take shape. The world championships begin on May 15 in Switzerland, and the Blackhawks will be well represented.
On top of that, after the Blackhawks were awarded the fourth overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft in the draft lottery, discussions continue about what the team will do, and the mock draft continues to run.
Here are the latest news and rumours.
World Championship roster updates
Last year at the World Championships, there were only three Blackhawks representatives, two from Team USA: Frank Nazar and Alex Vlasic. Goalkeeper Arvid Söderblom represented Sweden.
This year, the Blackhawks roster grew to seven names. On Team USA, they have Wyatt Kaiser, Sam Lafferty, Oliver Moore, and Drew Commesso.
In the Swedish team, they have Söderblom and Anton Frondell.
Finally, in Team Finland, they have Teuvo Teräväinen.
All this is a good experience for the players. Teräväinen won a bronze medal with Team Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and this will be his third time at the World Championships. So, the 31-year-old brings a lot of experience to the show. Anton Frondell won gold at the World Juniors in January, and this will be another Team Sweden appearance for Söderblom.
Team USA has a new face on the Blackhawks team this year. Kaiser has had an outstanding year on defense, and this will be his first World Series appearance. Oliver Moore won back-to-back gold medals with Team USA, the U18 Men’s World Championship team, and two at the World Juniors. Commesso ended up on the World Championship team in 2023, and finally, Sam Lafferty. He was on the 2022 World Championship team, where he last played defense (with Jeff Blashill as defense coach)
Lafferty and Team USA got off to a good start with a 5-2 victory over Germany in an exhibition game on May 10, with a goal.
The tournament, which will be held on the 15th, starts with Finland facing Germany, Sweden facing Canada, and the USA facing Switzerland.
2026 Speech Draft Continues
It’s been almost a week since the Blackhawks heard they were going to pick fourth overall in this draft. It was strange on the other side, because they had a good second chance to get the first pick. But now that the dust has settled, something still sticks with me. General manager Kyle Davidson, in his presser after the May 5 draft lottery, seemed to agree. Maybe it’s a general manager thing. After all, general managers are very good at keeping things close to the vest.
Perhaps it was also because their fourth discovery did not scare them. Davidson said, “I think we expected, based on the odds, it would be three or four, and there were four…”
If the Blackhawks expected that result, you have to believe they prepared for it in the back of their minds. They likely won’t get Gavin McKenna, the first draft pick. But as Davidson said, “We’re going to get a really good player.” Perhaps that influenced Davidson’s response, too.
Ultimately, a top five draft pick should not be discounted for value and talent.
As of now, we have to assume the Blackhawks will stick with their pick until proven otherwise. And the mock drafts that appear Corey Pronman of Athletic The Blackhawks took Ivar Stenberg in the fourth round.
Could it be that the Blackhawks are preparing for those things? strength should they leave if someone like Stenberg falls to them with a four?
Or do they think they might not want to live with maybe (unless they have inside information), and try to be aggressive in getting scoring help elsewhere?
It’s a tough place to be, given the unknowns of how the draft could play out.
The point is, it was difficult for them to slide down the draft board. But since this wasn’t shocking news for the Blackhawks, it does raise some curiosity…
There should have been a plan A, B, C, and D, for that matter, due to the results of the draft lottery. How they adapt in the off-season is worth watching.
After all, Davidson knows very well that his team wants to start winning. They want the development of the players to continue to grow, but in the exit talks, he said he heard again – that the players are motivated to push for the playoffs next year.
They will be re-signing Connor Bedard. And things look to be on track for forward Roman Kantserov to sign his entry-level deal with the Blackhawks, as he opts out of his KHL contract. (from ‘Roman Kantserov terminates KHL contract, opens door to sign with Blackhawks’ – The Athletic -05/08/2026)
But they have a lot of options available this summer. It’s too early to tell what Davidson will do, and there are still more questions than answers right now. But it’s an important summer for him, and a lot starts with the fourth pick.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated on ‘Blackhawks news and rumors’ throughout the season!
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