Chicago Blackhawks 2025-26 Player Grades: Forwards

Head coach Jeff Blashill on Connor Bedard‘s commitment to being a leader for the team:

He’s earned it with his commitment to winning hockey … He’s very, very competitive. He works hard every day. He’s got to continue being committed to winning hockey. And those are the ways that you lead.

Tyler Bertuzzi

Tyler Bertuzzi’s 2025-26 Player Grade

Coach Blashill on Tyler Bertuzzi:

Tyler is a foxhole guy, man. I’ll take him all day, every day, on any team I’ve ever coached. He’s a foxhole guy, and you want him in your foxhole. And he’ll stick up for himself, stick up for his teammates. He kind of embodies what we want to be as a group…He’s a big piece of what we want to be here.

Sacha Boisvert

Sacha Boisvert’s 2025-26 Player Grade

Blashill on Boisvert:

I think he’s a guy who can bring up physicality, he can bring an edge to our team. But with skill; he’s not void of that. He’s got good hands, he’s got a really good shot. So he can be a power forward with skill. If that’s what he becomes, he’s a commodity on our team, within our young prospects, and he’s a commodity in the league.

Andre Burakovsky

Andre Burakovsky’s 2025-26 Player Grade

There’s been a lot of times where maybe I could have walked away with more, and I think I just look at it, as long as I create, I’m feeling good about myself. That is took this long, I don’t want that, for sure. That sucked for sure. But there’s been a lot of games where I felt really good. Creating a lot of chances, setting up my linemates and teammates.

Ryan Donato

Ryan Donato’s 2025-26 Player Grade

Donato on what he brings to the team:

I would say getting pucks to the net, winning faceoffs, blocking shots, winning boards battles, getting pucks deep at the right times, turnovers, that kind of thing…I think if we continue to be hungry and continue to get better, we’ll continue to make games hard for the other team.

Anton Frondell

Anton Frondell’s 2025-26 Player Grade

Coach Blashill on what Swedish prospect Anton Frondell brings to the table:

One of the things that I’ve been impressed with watching him on tape in the Swedish League, and I would say that Swedes are coached well this way; he doesn’t cheat for offense. He’s played pro hockey really for two years.

For him, he’s had to defend, he’s had to be a fourth liner, he’s had to do those kind of things. And so I think it helps him grow. And I think learning how to produce offense while playing a two-way game is the biggest thing to become a winning hockey team. He already kind of does that. So real good pro habits, that’s gonna allow him to have success, for sure.

Ryan Greene

Ryan Greene’s 2025-26 Player Grade

Blashill on Greene’s contributions:

He’s got a pretty good consistency about him defensively. With Greener, you don’t get any; and this is a coaching term, you don’t get any “batsh!t crazy”. You kind of always know what he’s going to do.

More Player Grades & Quotes

Sam Lafferty

Sam Lafferty’s 2025-26 Player Grade

Teammates Bedard and Landon Slaggert on Lafferty, respectively:

He’s one of the best people I’ve ever met.

Your day is better when Sam Lafferty’s a part of it.

Nick Lardis

Nick Lardis’ 2025-26 Player Grade

Assistant coach Mike Vellucci on Lardis:

You know what’s great about him? He’s getting better every day, and he wants to get better every day. That’s a big part of it. He’s a very intelligent player. He’s finding ways and areas to score here compared to in the OHL and in the American League, and that takes an adjustment. But what’s great about it is it hasn’t taken him that long to figure it out.

Andrew Mangiapane

Andrew Mangiapane’s 2025-26 Player Grade

Blashill on Mangiapane:

You know what Andrew’s done is he’s brought us into the fight a little bit … He competes hard. He plays north. He plays kind of straight ahead hockey, which sometimes we can get a little too east-west with some of our young skill. And he plays a very direct north game, and I think that helps our team a lot.

Ilya Mikheyev

Ilya Mikheyev’s 2025-26 Player Grade

Bedard on Ilya Mikheyev‘s contributions:

He doesn’t go under the radar in our dressing room. We understand how great he is. I think he’s the best penalty killer in the league, and it shows with our penalty kill right now. He’s the guy that’s hopping over the boards first every time. So, it’s unbelievable what he can do. His speed, his motor, the way he can get in the way of everything, and just cause havoc.

Oliver Moore

Oliver Moore’s 2025-26 Player Grade

Oliver Moore at the team’s exit interviews on Apr. 16:

Words are momentary, intent is momentous, I like to say. It’s going to be a big summer in that way.

Frank Nazar

Frank Nazar’s 2025-26 Player Grade

That can be life sometimes. But you gotta get up and punch it in the balls back … So I’ll keep my head high and stay humble and just continue to work and get better each day, is the key.

Landon Slaggert

Landon Slaggert’s 2025-26 Player Grade

I think my speed allows me to be tenacious on pucks, and then force some turnovers on the forecheck. Like I said, I think that’s something that I take pride in too. The puck is really valuable out there, and the more that we have it, the better chance we have to win the game. So the more that I can force some turnovers, get the puck for us, play some offense, the better.

Teuvo Teravainen

Teuvo Teravainen’s 2025-26 Player Grade

Nazar on linemate Teravainen:

I feel like he could play forever. It doesn’t matter if he can’t skate or he only has one leg. Like, I feel like he just reads the ice so well and has such a good touch that, he can play wherever, anywhere, anytime. And that’s a big thing. And learning to read off him, being predictable with him, it goes a long way.

Final Thoughts on Forward Grades for the Blackhawks

Connor Bedard from the team’s exit interviews on Apr. 16:

It’s been a lot of fun. It was a blast. I’m devastated the season’s over. I wish we could start next year tomorrow. But I think we’re excited to keep getting better together.

It was a rough season for the Blackhawks. But despite finishing 31st in the league, they improved with more wins and more points. They feel they’ve taken positive strides in their growth and development, and are excited for a more successful future.

Keep it here at The Hockey Writers for individual player grades on the Blackhawks’ defensemen and goaltenders, coming soon!