Kane, Byram, and a Thin Blue Line

Chicago opens 2026–27 without Bedard, without Levshunov, without Ellis, without Grzelcyk — four players who were supposed to be part of the answer. I've written this injury list twice already this month and it hasn't gotten shorter. The defense that allowed 4.2 goals per game over the final stretch of last season now heads into October missing three of its most meaningful contributors before a puck drops.

Bowen Byram is the load-bearing wall here. The front office gave him a six-year, $75 million commitment for exactly this kind of moment — to be the defenseman who steadies a back end when everything else is unsettled. Louis Crevier logged real minutes last season and will be asked for more. Beyond that, the blue line gets thin quickly.

Up front, the math is simpler if not easier. Bertuzzi led the returning group with 40 points last season, and he and Burakovsky will need to produce early and often. Patrick Kane's return adds something harder to quantify — a three-time champion who knows what a functional Blackhawks team looks like and can model it for a young group that has never seen one. That matters in October when the losses come and Bedard is still in street clothes.

The honest version of this team's early season is: survive, stay competitive enough to keep the room together, and get Bedard back healthy. That's not a championship posture. It's a reasonable one.