The Chicago Blackhawks have missed the boat to the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs in each season since 2020. At some point, they will turn things around and become a playoff contender again, but it's not likely to happen in the 2025-26 NHL season, considering that they just went 25-46-11 for 61 points in the 2024-25 campaign.

While that's a nine-point improvement in the standings, the Blackhawks still don't have the roster that can be considered a serious threat to the rest of the league. That being said, Chicago can grab attention by making a big offseason splash by acquiring a top-tier free agent. But because other teams can also match the spending power of the Blackhawks on potential free agent moves, Scott Powers of The Athletic seemingly sees that Chicago could likely just take the trade route in the offseason.

“If another team is looking to move a young restricted free agent because they’re struggling to work out a deal, that’s where the Blackhawks could be aggressive,” said Powers. “Someone like Buffalo Sabres winger JJ Peterka could intrigue the Blackhawks. They have draft picks they could trade. It wouldn’t be shocking to see someone like Lukas Reichel involved in that type of scenario.”

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The timing of when to go all out on a big free agent appears to be a tricky part of the business for the Blackhawks' front office, as highlighted by what an Eastern Conference executive said (via Powers): ““They might be hard to hold off the dogs, but I think the Blackhawks need to stay out of that game for another two to three years. To have players declining on huge tickets when your core is about to break out is a fool’s errand.”

The Blackhawks have a sizeable projected cap space of $29.2 million for the 2025-26 season.

With Pat Maroon already retired, Chicago only has Ryan Donato as a pending unrestricted free agent among the team's forwards. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks have young blueliners Wyatt Kaiser and Louis Crevier as looming restricted free agents.