Projecting the Blackhawks' Bottom-Six Forwards Ahead of the 2025–26 Season

The Chicago Blackhawks announced their schedule on Tuesday, July 16 .

A reminder that projecting the Blackhawks' opening night roster is a much too early exercise.

A lot can change between now and October 7th.

We've looked at the top six already.

Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar are the only players we know for sure slotting into the first and second lines.

The bottom six, well, we have a lot of players that can fit.

The biggest question will be whether some of the rookies earn a spot out of training camp.

Let's establish who I'm projecting to play in the top-six first: Donato-Bedard-(Mikheyev/Burakovsky) Teravainen-Nazar-Bertuzzi That projection assumes no other additions are made.

Let's dive into the bottom six.

The Third Line Jason Dickinson centering the third line is nearly a given, especially now that we know the Blackhawks' first game is against the Florida Panthers .

Dickinson is a decent two-way player for the Blackhawks.

While his offense and production dropped last season, that's not his role.

He'll be a solid defensive player on a shut-down line.

The Blackhawks, with Dickinson on the ice, had an expected goals against rate (xGA/60) of 2.36 at 5-on-5.

Without Dickinson, they had a 2.80 xGA/60.

The above chart from All Three Zones highlights Dickinson's effectiveness with puck retrievals in the DZ.

It's not perfect, but he's above league average in retrievals per 60, retrievals that lead to exits, and exits with possession per 60.

If we're projecting this line to be a shut-down line, especially against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champs, who fits on Dickinson's wing? Whether you like it or not, Nick Foligno will more than likely play on Dickinson's wing, at least to start.

The Blackhawks had a 2.53 xGA/60 with Foligno on the ice, and a 2.78 xGA/60 without.

The other winger depends on who ends up on Connor Bedard's line or Frank Nazar's.

Andre Burokovsky could start here, depending on how he plays during preseason.

Ilya Mikheyev makes more sense.

He injects speed on an already slow line and was one of the Blackhawks' better defenders last year (2.24 xGA/60 with, 2.88 xGA/60 without).

The Fourth Line This is the line that sees some of the younger players start on, depending on how they perform in training camp.

If Oliver Moore impresses, I could see him centering the fourth line.

Sam Lafferty also fits here.

He could work on the third line, but with Dickinson and Foligno already there, I would put Lafferty on the fourth line.

Landon Slaggert also fits here if he doesn't play on the third line.

Together with Moore, this would be a fast fourth line that creates havoc.

Will it produce scoring? Who knows.

It won't be defensively sound, but that's what the third line is for.

What's On Tap Next? It bears repeating that this is still too early.

Trades could happen, signings might take place, and we're not even at training camp yet.

A shut-down third line gives the Blackhawks some breathing room for the top-six, although it's questionable how effective they'll be.

The fourth line is a great opportunity to see how some of the younger players play in the NHL.

Up next, we'll look at the defensive pairings.

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