The Blackhawks wake up on Wednesday morning 11 points behind Seattle for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. There will be fans who immediately point to the fact that they’re almost that close to last in the conference (13 better than Friday night’s opponent from Vancouver), but the reality since the start of December has been pretty clear: if the Blackhawks can finish games in which they are either tied or have the lead late in the third period, they could be in the playoff race.
As Ben Pope pointed out below, the Blackhawks have left potentially 18 points on the table. That’s a lot of close games to frustrate players. Yes, these close losses are learning experiences for a young team. And yes, they should be better in the future because of them. But this list from Ben is a painful reminder of just how close the Blackhawks are to being in the playoff conversation and not the lottery chase again.
On the flip side, they’ve only done this once themselves:10/23 at TB: winning goal with 0:54 leftThe 11/15 win vs TOR (4:25 left) almost counts
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 4, 2026 Speaking of closers, if you paid specific attention to Jonathan Toews last night there was a lot to unpack. He only skated 13:34 with one shot on net and he got chased down from behind and had his pocket picked by Landon Slaggert a couple times. The Blackhawks were clearly the faster team on the ice last night, but the veteran Jets got to their spots when they needed to and ultimately won the game… … but Toews also won 9 of 16 faceoffs — including one that set up the game-tying goal. For nearly two decades we watched and appreciated Toews winning a faceoff and going straight to the front of the net. He did precisely that last night. Connor Bedard picked up two assists last night, giving him 115 in his young career. That total ties Eddie Olczyk for the most in Blackhawks history by a player before turning 21. With those two helpers last night, Bedard recorded his 16th multi-point game of the season. That’s the most by a Blackhawks player in a season since Patrick Kane (27) and Alex DeBrincat (22) in 2021-22. After the game last night, head coach Jeff Blashill confirmed Bedard will keep the A on his chest for the rest of the regular season.Connor Bedard is wearing an ‘A’ tonight after the Blackhawks traded Connor Murphy pic.twitter.com/fYL8m8KMy3
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 4, 2026 An interesting note from Pierre LeBrun in his trade rumor column at The Athletic on Tuesday about the Connor Murphy deal. Apparently he was a more popular trade piece than some Blackhawks fans would be willing to admit.According to league sources, seven playoff teams over the past week showed interest in Murphy. The Blackhawks wanted to do Murphy a solid to show how much they respect the veteran, so they made sure Edmonton was of interest to Murphy — especially since Murphy is still looking for his first taste of a normal playoffs (he played his only playoff games in the Edmonton bubble with no fans in 2020). So good on the Hawks for finding him a good landing spot.
Chicago told teams on Monday that it wanted to act quickly, so whichever team was ready to pay the second-round price and be a good fit for Murphy was going to get him. The Oilers stepped up quickly.
Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill spoke with the media after the morning skate in Winnipeg for the first time since Murphy was traded to Edmonton. He indicated Artyom Levshunov will see more time on the penalty kill (Levshunov was the second RHD on the PK last night). If that is indeed the case, and Sam Rinzel is going to run the top power play unit, I’m going to continue advocating for Kevin Korchinski to see increased ice time and get a shot to run the second power play unit. Circling back to LeBrun’s trade rumors piece, one guy I was intrigued by when he was a healthy scratch recently is apparently not going anywhere.Teams have called on Columbus Blue Jackets center Kent Johnson after his recent scratch, but the answer from the Blue Jackets has been that they’re not interested in moving him.
And one final note from LeBrun’s piece that got my attention after Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson was at the Kings-Avs game on Monday night:I don’t think the Kings will do a whole lot more before Friday’s deadline, but if anything, it could be a soft deal for a rental costing a mid-round pick.
I could see both Jason Dickinson and/or Ilya Mikheyev fitting well in LA, but I’m not sure the Hawks are necessarily looking for “a soft deal for a rental costing a mid-round pick.” Speaking of Dickinson, Ben Pope write about him now being the “next” in line to potentially be traded out of Chicago.The spotlight of Blackhawks trade speculation shifts onto Jason Dickinson now, and he knows it.He also understands why a contender might want him: "My game is well-built for playoffs."New story: t.co/anR0hkr07x
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 3, 2026 Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus dropped their annual Blackhawks’ player poll on Tuesday. To me, the best part of the poll is Tyler Bertuzzi getting four votes as the best dressed player on the team — and a team-leading eight votes for the worst dressed. Bertuzzi also got the most votes (five) as the best chirper on the roster. But the votes for who doesn’t get enough credit for their role on the team were interesting as we sprint to the trade deadline. Here are the guys who got more than one vote in that category: Source: The Athletic Nathan Behm had an assist on Kamloops’ only goal in a 4-1 loss last night. How about Roman Kantserov‘s KHL-leading 33rd goal from Tuesday? He also picked up an assist in the game. Another moment to remind Blackhawks fans hoping to see overall lineup improvement that Kantserov — and Anton Frondell — could/should be in the lineup in September when training camp opens.Секунда до перерыва? Для лучшего снайпера Лиги это даже много.#Металлург #Магнитогорск #ММК #Братьяпоогню pic.twitter.com/CF7FZEYUCn
— ХК «Металлург» (@MetallurgMgn) March 3, 2026 The Minnesota Wild acquired center Michael McCarron from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft. McCarron, 31, is a 6-foot-6 beast who wins over 50 percent of his faceoffs and has a cap hit of only $900,000. The Vegas Golden Knights acquired winger Cole Smith from the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenseman Christoffer Sedoff and a third-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft. Smith actually dressed for the Preds’ game last night and skated one, three-second shift in the game before being sent to the room to pack his belongings. There was a ton of smoke on Tuesday that the Sabres were going to make the blockbuster play of the deadline, sending a haul to St. Louis for center Robert Thomas. Early this morning, Darren Dreger is reporting the deal isn’t happening because Buffalo isn’t going to give up everything the Blues want. I saw some wild speculation about the players potentially included in a Sabres-Blues trade here. The next few days could be crazy around the league…Up It’s believed St Louis/Buffalo went the distance on Thomas trade talks. Sounds like the Sabres aren’t willing to part with the necessary pieces. (Prospects, Player, 1st). Still teams nibbling, but the Blues are firm in what the return needs to be for the young center.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) March 4, 2026BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter
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