We continue to talk our way thru the Blackhawks’ building process, and the progress we’re starting to see on the NHL ice with younger players beginning to impact the top-level product has started to provide some confidence that the draft-and-develop route the Blackhawks have taken is bearing fruit.
But there are still consistent, constant conversations all over Blackhawks nation about how — and with whom — the organization can bolster their roster to go from nice to seriously dangerous. Patience is a virtue, but it’s rarely practiced by sports fans. Especially during a lengthy rebuild.
With the Blackhawks having a truckload of cap space to play with in coming summers — as they had this past summer — there are some expectations that they can and will spend that money to improve the club. This past summer, to the dismay of many in this space, the Blackhawks were not extremely aggressive
One frustration point for many Blackhawks fans has been the lack of elite players ever hitting the market. Mitch Marner was never available in 2025. And, as we look ahead to 2026, I have already spent time here sharing the potential big-ticket players who won’t be hitting the market. Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Kirill Kaprizov and Kyle Connor have already signed extensions with their current clubs.
Big names rarely hit the market. And, with the NHL’s salary cap continuing to go up aggressively in the coming years, that reality is going to be increasingly rare.
So how are teams getting their best players?
Talia Sprague-Imagn ImagesHow NHL Teams Are Building
On Tuesday, Shayna Goldman at The Athletic took the publication’s Player Tiers project that ranks the top 150 players and did some in-depth digging to discuss how those players arrived at their current locations.
This is an especially important exercise for fans of teams like the Blackhawks that have been focused on building thru the draft. Because what Goldman provides gives us some very real data from which we can realistically project how the next steps are taken by franchises.
While we might disagree on how and where they ranked the top 150 players in the game, how they got to their current teams is important context.
This specific graph in the piece feels especially important for some in the Blackhawks’ fan base who still believe free agency is going to supply the magic pill that turns the team into a championship roster overnight. Here’s a breakdown of how the current employers of the top 150 players acquired said players:
Source: The AthleticYes, 60 (sixty) percent of their top 150 players are still with the team that drafted them. If we include trades, 129 of the top 150 — 86 percent — were not added to their current roster via free agency.
The point being: assuming another Marian Hossa will appear like manna from heaven right when the Chicago Blackhawks have the right amount of cap space and the perfect situation to sign that player is, sadly, the same logic we employ when we buy a single ticket for the Powerball. Is there a chance? Sure. Are the odds good? Hell no.
Obviously, the outlier in this discussion is the team that’s won the last two Stanley Cup championships: the Florida Panthers. They have been fortunate to make some brilliant trades (Matthew Tkachuk) and one incredible waiver claim (Gustav Forsling) to supplement really good drafting.
As we look into the future of the Blackhawks, the fact that they’ve had as many first-round picks as they have (like Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Sam Rinzel, Artyom Levshunov) and picks in the later rounds who are starting to turn pro and make an impact (like Landon Slaggert, Ryan Greene, Nick Lardis, Oliver Moore), bodes well for the Blackhawks to not only have internal options to build around, but also the ability to trade for the right pieces if/when the opportunities present themselves.
How do teams get their best players? Using Player Tiers to learn about roster building around the NHL t.co/ttfOAmpOTz
— Shayna (@shaynagoldman_) October 28, 2025Hence then, the article about blackhawks draft and develop roster building approach increasingly the nhl reality was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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