The assumption has been since the Blackhawks won the right to select Connor Bedard in the draft lottery that he is the heir to the captaincy in Chicago. In our bullets yesterday I shared a comment from Jonathan Toews when he was asked about Bedard’s maturation and growth as the face of the Blackhawks.
So this really good read from Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus at The Athletic about the future of the Blackhawks’ captaincy resonates. This quote from Nick Foligno is very on-brand for Foligno — and also incredibly true.
“You don’t really know what it means until you actually get in that role,” Foligno said. “So no one’s going to prepare any one of these guys for that role. I’m still learning it at 38. So I think it’s a farce when you say, ‘Yeah, I’m ready to be captain.’ It’s just, do you have it in you?”
The good news is, like when Toews was named the captain, there are other leaders in the room now with Bedard. Toews had guys like Seabrook and Sharp and Keith with him. Bedard has done nothing to change anyone’s mind about him having the qualities a team looks for in a captain, but he’s far from alone. We’ve talked a lot here about the number of Blackhawks players/prospects who have been a captain or assistant/alternate captain somewhere in their journey to the NHL.
Connor Bedard: "I don’t think the letter makes you act different or anything. It’s an honor, and it’s something you want, for sure. But it’s not going to change who I am.”On the likely future Blackhawks captain, and what he can learn from Jonathan Toews: t.co/bbwF4qFBDH
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) January 20, 2026 Side note: Bedard’s empty net goal on Monday night was his 20th of the season. He joins Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Denis Savard and Darcy Rota as just the fifth player in Blackhawks history to score 20 goals in each of his first three NHL seasons. The Blackhawks were off yesterday after their big win (plus the emotions of the Toews ceremony plus the excitement in the room after the game). They earned a day off. But they’ll be back on the ice at the artist formerly known as Fifth Third Arena this morning. We’ll see if Frank Nazar, André Burakovsky and/or Teuvo Teräväinen is a full participant with the Hawks heading to Carolina after the skate today. Good discussion here from Ben Pope about the Blackhawks’ goaltending situation. Arvid Söderblom‘s numbers aren’t great, and head coach Jeff Blashill didn’t exactly give a strong endorsement when asked about that after Saturday night’s loss. After Drew Commesso pitched a shutout in his second start (in as many days) when he was called up to cover the sick depth chart, there have been questions about his future timeline. The only two cents I’ll add here: if the Blackhawks warm up and are at least in an interesting position relative to the wild card race, it’s harder to imaging carrying/finding ice time for three goalies in the NHL. They didn’t do it with Laurent Brossoit. However, Brossoit is a veteran who was leaving at the end of the year. Commesso is young, the organization has invested in his development and he’s an RFA this summer. I can understand the front office wanting to have a bigger sample size when making a decision about next year’s depth chart; Söderblom is signed thru next year. This is probably something worth watching in the coming weeks.Arvid Soderblom ranks 62nd out of 64 NHL goalies with an .868 save percentage.Could his struggles open a door for Drew Commesso after the Olympic break?New Blackhawks story: t.co/hegbHS1UD4
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 20, 2026 Scott Wheeler at The Athletic released his midseason 2026 NHL Draft rankings on Tuesday. Mitchell Brown at Elite Prospects released his midseason 2026 NHL Draft rankings on Tuesday as well. Darcy Kuemper left last night’s Kings game because of an upper-body injury. We had a trade on Tuesday! The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired defenseman Ilya Solovyov from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Valtteri Puustinen and a 2026 seventh-round draft pick. The Tampa Bay Lightning won for the 13th time in 14 games last night (13-0-1). But they finished the game without forward Anthony Cirelli, who left the bench in the third. His coach didn’t sound confident in the situation after the game. This is something to keep an eye on with the Bolts in Chicago on Friday night.Jon Cooper on Anthony Cirelli, who left in the third period:“I don't know. I don't want to say anything. He's a tough kid, so I'm hoping he'll be okay. We'll see tomorrow.” #GoBolts
— Diandra Loux (@Diandra_loux) January 21, 2026BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter
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