The Chicago Blackhawks’ 2025-26 schedule is out, so you can start planning your trips to the United Center. They also added another goaltender to the organizational depth chart. A former Blackhawk finds a new home, one of the top college coaches got some new paper, and an offer sheet candidate is still on the market.

Blackhawks Chirps

The 2025-26 regular season schedule was released yesterday, and we broke it down for you. What game are you most excited about this season?

The other big piece of news was the signing of Russian goaltender Stanislav Berezhnoy, who inked a two-year, entry-level contract with a $975,000 salary cap hit. The 22-year-old netminder will likely play for the Rockford IceHogs, backing up Drew Commesso. This is a low-risk, high-reward deal that doesn’t hurt anything if he doesn’t work out.

On this date in 2023, Connor Bedard celebrated his 18th birthday by signing his NHL entry-level contract. He won the Calder Trophy for being the best rookie of the 2023-24 season, by scoring 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games. He followed that up with 23 goals and 67 points in his sophomore season. Bedard has been training hard this summer to put up even bigger numbers in his third NHL season.

Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, July 17: Jason Strudwick

NHL Chirps

Former Blackhawks center Joe Veleno has signed a one-year, $900,000 contract with the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs are his fourth team in less than a year. The Blackhawks acquired him from the Detroit Red Wings last March for Petr Mrazek and Craig Smith. He was traded last month to the Seattle Kraken for Andre Burakovsky, and the Kraken then bought out the final year of his contract.

The Red Wings signed their top 2025 draft pick, Carter Bear, to his entry-level contract. The left winger was taken with the 13th overall pick in last month’s NHL Entry Draft. He scored 40 goals and 82 points in 40 WHL games with the Everett Silvertips.

Boston University signed head coach Jay Pandolfo to a multi-year contract extension. His name was attached to a few of the NHL job openings this offseason, but he wasn’t interviewed. Boston didn’t want to risk losing Pandolfo any time soon, so they locked him up. He’s been the Terriers’ head coach since 2022. Blackhawks prospects Ryan Greene and Commesso played under him, and 2024 first-round pick Sacha Boisvert transferred to Boston for the upcoming season.

Jeff Marek was asked about Anaheim Ducks forward Mason McTavish during his appearance on the Sekeres & Price Show. He stated that McTavish is “more available now than he’s ever been.” Blackhawks fans would feel a whole lot better about this offseason if they could find a way to bring him in, but it’s unlikely that they have what the Ducks are looking for in any trade scenario. So, offer sheet the heck out of him!

NHL Birthday Roll Call, July 17: Jack Laviolette, Shorty Green, Bryan Trottier, Marc Savard, Loui Eriksson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and  Marat Khusnutdinov.