With the 2025-26 regular season now wrapped up for the Chicago Blackhawks, the final step before the offseason was to hold exit interviews on Thursday. Several Blackhawks players, along with head coach Jeff Blashill and GM Kyle Davidson, spoke with the media to reflect on the season, offer insight into individual plans for the upcoming summer, and discuss the future of the organization.
Blackhawks star forward Connor Bedard was among the first players to have their exit interview on Thursday, and he touched on several noteworthy topics. Perhaps the most signficant was Bedard’s assessment on where the franchise’s rebuild is heading, as he recognizes that another finish near the bottom of the standings in 2026-27 won’t be good enough. It’s time for the Blackhawks to become postseason contenders once again next year, and Bedard fully understands that.
“This kind of has to be the last year of, obviously the games aren’t meaningless, but not playing until the end of the year, playing for something in the playoff standings,” Bedard said. “That’s on us as individuals. I take a lot of responsibility for that and feel like we can all just pull with the same rope. You saw that for kind of the first half of the year. We were in that spot and then things kind of, we slid a little bit. As my production went down, I feel responsible for that, which adds motivation. I think all our guys are ready to make that push.
Defenseman Alex Vlasic, now the longest tenured member of the Blackhawks, despite being only 24 years old himself, said something similar when speaking with the media a little later in the day. Vlasic actually took it up a notch, as he believes the bar should be set at reaching the Stanley Cup Playoffs next year.
“Going into next season, playoffs are the expectation,” Vlasic said. “We’re not here to do this again, and we all know that in the locker room. We have confidence in our group. Going into the summer, we’re all excited about coming back here next year and really making a push.”
While Bedard and Vlasic were the only ones who explicity stated some sort of goals and/or standards for 2026-27, almost every player who spoke on Thursday reflected the same sentiment. Considering the amount of players set to return to the Blackhawks next season, there’s loads of belief within the young group that there can be a major turnaround.
It’s also abundantly clear the group has become very tight-knit, with most players on the roster now near the same age and still relatively new to the professional game. Nearly everyone mentioned how close the team has grown together and how much they are looking forward to coming back in the fall for training camp. Most brought up the summer trips and plans that have been discussed either in the team group chat or in the locker room.
While the 2025-26 season didn’t finish the way the Blackhawks had hoped, there didn’t seem to be any wavering confidence from the players about what’s being built here. If anything, it was the other way around. They all are chomping at the bit to get back next year and prove that there’s something special growing in Chicago.
Here are some other significant takeaways from the players exit interviews on Thursday.
Bedard Extension & Summer Plans
Back to Bedard, one of the first questions he was asked, naturally, was about his contract extension. Bedard and the Blackhawks decided to wait until after the 2025-26 season concluded to work on a new deal, and now is the time for the two sides to come to an agreement.
“I’m easy,” Bedard said with a laugh when asked about working out his next contract. “I think the thing is, we kind of just said, I’ll play and focus on the day by day. I didn’t think I needed to be talking about it in between games. I just wanted to play the year and I’m not worried for a second. Honestly, I haven’t thought about it once this year. I know I want to be here and we’ll get it done soon. I don’t think if it’s not done in a month, there’s any worry or anything. It’ll just get done when it’s get done.”
Bedard didn’t specifically mention whether he’s thinking about a long-term or short-term deal, but he stated that he’s willing to do whatever is best for the team and front office.
“At the end of the day, it’s just seeing what fits the team best, what fits me best and just going from there. I’m very open to however they see it and what they have to say.”
While the results haven’t been there for the Blackhawks in Bedard’s first three NHL seasons, he fully comprehends the situation and remains confident in the future of the team. He’s committed to the organization, but it will be fascinating to see the term on his next contract.
Moore Going To Worlds
Forward Oliver Moore’s rookie campaign was cut short due to a lower-body injury that he suffered on Mar. 8 against the Dallas Stars, but it’s not going to stop him from suiting up for the Red, White, & Blue during the summer. Moore is set to represent the United States at the World Championships in a few weeks, as he’s ready to return from his injury. He fully participated in the Blackhawks’ last two morning skates, despite being held out of the lineup in both games.
“I’m healthy, I could play tomorrow I feel like. I’m feeling good, injury-wise and mentally feeling great.”
Moore is looking forward to helping the United States try to successfully defend its Gold Medal in Switzerland. The tournament begins on May 15 and runs through May 31.
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. That’ll be huge as well. I have a month here to kind of get back into game shape and do all that but I think it’s special opportunity to go back to back there. I think we’re going to have a pretty good team, too. I know some guys going. I’m excited for that, for sure.”
Also wanted to share this quote from Moore when asked about his summer plans. Hopefully, every young Blackhawk carries this mentality into the offseason. After hearing this, fans should be excited to see how Moore looks when he comes back from his summer training.
“I think the greats in a lot of different sports don’t take summers off. It’s a time to get better, it’s a time to grow. I think if our team wants to be in a better position, we can’t just take three months off or whatever. We have to work extremely hard. Words are momentary, intent is momentous, I like to say. It’s going to be a big summer in that way.”
Frondell WC Plans TBD
While Moore will play for Team USA in Switzerland, fellow rookie Anton Frondell still isn’t sure of whether or not he’ll represent Sweden at the World Championships.
“No idea,” Frondell said. “There’s some training camps or pre-tournaments before that, I don’t know what’s happening. If I make it, fun, but I guess it’s pretty hard, so we’ll see.”
Frondell has played a ton of hockey this season, from a full regular season plus one playoff round with Djurgardens in the SHL to his first 12 NHL appearances with the Blackhawks. Not to mention seven games at the World Junior Championship stuffed in between, where he led Sweden to its first Gold Medal in the tournament since 2012. But Frondell didn’t appear exhausted or ready for a break by any means during his exit interview, as his love of the game has him ready to play at all times.
“It’s been a lot of hockey. Long year. First exhibition game was in first week of August. We’ve been playing for a long time, but hockey is what I love to do. I just want to play games, I just want to be on the ice. My season, I don’t know if it’s over yet, but we’ll see.”
As far as Frondell’s self-reflection on his first taste of NHL action, he thought it was an up-and-down start with plenty of learning lessons in the process. He specifically mentioned the pace giving his some trouble at times, although you wouldn’t have noticed it based on him producing nine points in 12 games.
“I just felt like the game overall was so fast. For me, it was a wakeup call, knowing how good people are, really. This year, I’ve been competing with some of the best players in Sweden, and now playing against the best players in the whole world. It was cool to see how high-level some players are and that I’m still far away from being my best.”
The same workhorse demenanor that Frondell carries with him on the ice was also apparent in his mentality when asked about what he needs to improve going into the 2026-27 campaign, which will be his first as a full-time NHLer.
“I always want to improve my game, work hard and get better. IT’s the same feeling every year. but of course now, I feel like I got a couple games here, knowing what it feels like and what to work on. I would say, playing as a center now for a couple games was new for me, because I didn’t play center for almost the whole year. I feel like if I want to play center next year or whenever, keep working on that game.”
Lardis’ Learning Lessons
Nick Lardis appeared in 41 of the Blackhawks’ 82 games this season, scoring 10 goals and adding five assists for 15 points. Not too shabby, considering he was held to a bottom-six role for most of his time with the NHL club until the end of the year.
Lardis was asked having to earn his stripes in terms of a late-season top-six promotion, as he wasn’t just handed a top-line role by head coach Jeff Blashill. Even though he was surely frustrated by the lack of ice time, Lardis said he learned a lot from being put in that spot.
“I think it helps. It obviously motivated me to want to play up in the lineup. I learned a lot playing in different roles. Whether it’s being more responsible or being more of a two-way player. I think that helped my game a lot.”
While Lardis likely won’t ever be best known for his defensive play, it’s still an important aspect that he cannot ignore at the highest level in order to have success. His time down in the bottom six helped him better develop that part of his game, and he also mentioned how playing strong defensive hockey helps create more on the other end of the ice.
“I think a lot of it starts in the D-zone,” Lardis said when asked about the differences in goal scoring in the NHL compared to other leagues. “If you play well defensively, you’re going to get chances the other way. As a winger, making sure I’m being consistent and making good plays on the wall. I think the little details too with the systems that we play. Making sure I’m in the right spots and anticipating pucks when I can. I think all of that leads to offense.”
Lastly, Lardis was asked about whether he’s been keeping up with his Brantford Bulldogs teammates and keeping up with their OHL postseason run. Lardis is actually going to visit his good buddies in the near future, as it’s a quick trip from his hometown.
“I will be, yes. I’m going down (up?). I’ve talked to a bunch of the guys on the team. I’m like their No. 1 fan right now. I watch all of their games. I love it. When I get back home, it’s only about a 45-minute drive. So I’m going to drive up there and see as many games as I can.”
Nazar’s Season Assessment
It was a rollercoaster ride of a first full season with the Blackhawks for Frank Nazar, and he kind of said the same during his exit interview. He started off the year with a blazing start, but that momentum seemed to be halted by an injury he suffered against the Calgary Flames in early November.
Once Nazar returned, he wasn’t producing at the same rate and wasn’t impacting the game nearly as often. As he was just starting to find his footing again in mid-December, that’s when he took a puck to the face against the Ottawa Senators, forcing him to miss over one month of action.
“The [injury] in Calgary, coming back and just wanting to play hockey, so eager to get back on the ice. It’s different than the jaw thing. Honestly I felt good coming back from getting hit in the face, surprisingly. I thought I was playing some of my best hockey when I first came back,
To his credit, Nazar stuck with all the bad breaks, including taking another puck to the face during the home stretch, which knocked out two of his front teeth. He closed out the season strong, with 17 points over his final 22 games, including seven multi-point outings. All together, Nazar amassed 41 points (15G, 26A) in 66 games, putting him on pace for close to 60 points over an 82-game pace.
Despite all the turmoil, it was still a pretty effective season for the 22-year-old.
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