Blackhawks 2025-26 Report Cards: Defensemen & Goaltenders

The 2025-26 Chicago Blackhawks finished as the 31st-ranked team in the league for the third year in a row, while also becoming the first club since the 1998-2001 Tampa Bay Lightning to finish in the bottom three of the NHL standings in three consecutive seasons. As a group, the Blackhawks perhaps didn’t make the strides the organization was hoping for, especially considering the 10-5-4 start through the first 19 games. Finishing with a 29-39-14 record did result in the first 70-plus point campaign since 2019-20, but it still wasn’t enough to get Chicago out of the basement.

Expectations weren’t through the roof entering the season by any means, but there was a belief that this Blackhawks squad featured much more talent, with a slew of GM Kyle Davidson’s first-round picks on the roster. A couple of those first-rounders were on the blue line, which was among the youngest in the entire NHL this year. Because of all the youth and inexperience on the back end, there was sure to be peaks and valleys throughout the course of an 82-game schedule.

That was to be expected, and it’s precisely how it played out. But with the belief that defensive struggles would be inevitable, it does make grading each player and their respective seasons a little challenging. Here’s Part 1 of Chicago Hockey Now’s report card grades for the 2025-26 Blackhawks, starting with eight defensemen and two goaltenders.

Preseason expectations were considered for each player. Defensemen Alex Vlasic Following the departures of Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson at the trade deadline, Alex Vlasic, still only 24 years old, is now the longest-tenured member of the Blackhawks. The 2025-26 season was just his third as a full-time NHLer, where he officially eclipsed the 200-game plateau.