Right Wing Was a Problem Last Season. It Still Is.

Chicago's right side was a ghost position for most of last season, and training camp cuts this week have not changed the picture much. Anthony Spellacy is listed as the starter at right wing. Martin Misiak and Cole Smith follow him on the depth chart. None of the three produced at a meaningful rate last season, and nothing in the recent roster moves suggests that changes heading into 2026-27.

The Blackhawks spent a busy offseason addressing real needs — Bowen Byram to anchor the blue line, Jordan Greenway for forward depth, Patrick Kane back in the fold. Those were defensible priorities. But right wing was left largely untouched, and the position remains a hole. When the top three options at a spot are all producing at essentially nothing, that is not a depth question. That is a structural one.

The broader roster has enough interesting pieces that the problem can get lost. Bedard is a genuine franchise center. Bertuzzi and Burakovsky give the left side some credibility. Kane, whatever he has left, adds a name. But a forward group needs production from all three zones of the ice, and right now the right side is asking Bedard's line to carry weight it should not have to carry alone. My read is that this is the quietest unresolved issue on the roster — not the flashiest, but the kind that shows up in the standings by November.