Blackhawks revealing championship timeline with recent extensions

The Chicago Blackhawks announced Wednesday morning that goaltender Petr Mrazek would be receiving an extension and he’s only the latest in a string of veterans getting paydays to stick around. Last week, Nick Foligno was the first experienced skater to do so, signing a two-year, $4.5 million AAV contract. Just a few days later, Jason Dickinson signed a similar deal, counting $4.25 million against the cap for two years. With Mrazek getting the same contract to stick around between the pipes, general manager Kyle Davidson is clearly making deals happen with a theme in mind.

As the Blackhawks continue to build their 2024-25 roster from the ground up, the abundance of two-year contracts is much more than just a coincidence. Chicago is a rebuilding team, but with star rookies like Connor Bedard and Kevin Korchinski, they are beginning to work back toward championship contention. Additionally, the pipeline is bursting with talent and many of the Blackhawks’ top prospects aren’t more than a year or two away from significant NHL production.

Therefore, it’s clear that a realistic timeline for significant change to happen is the summer of 2026. The contracts of star veterans like Foligno, Dickinson and Mrazek will be expiring and it’s extremely unlikely that the Blackhawks will aim to re-sign them at that point. Not coincidentally, Chicago’s young skaters like Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore will finally be ready to transition to the NHL full-time (if they aren’t there already). The Blackhawks will be able to substitute aging veterans with young stars ready and able to lead the team back to a championship. 

With the recent two-year deals signed by the Blackhawks and their veteran players, it’s safe to deduce that the team won’t be ready to compete for a Stanley Cup until those contracts expire. While these players are certainly talented, they are being kept around as much for their locker-room presence as their on-ice talent, ushering in a new era of leaders and excellent players. Davidson and the Blackhawks front office seem to believe the job of these veterans will be done by 2026, providing a reasonable timeline for Chicago to get back into contention.