Blackhawks Are Far Away From True Contention In Central Division

The Chicago Blackhawks came in last place in the NHL's Central Division in 2025-26. They had an 11-point improvement from the year prior, but their division is the best in the league. On Thursday night, Central Division rival Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars played the sixth game of their first-round series.

Going in, the series was the story of one team (Minnesota) dominating at 5-on-5, and the other (Dallas) owning the special teams battle. This had the Wild up 3-2 in the series with a chance to clinch at home. It was a back-and-forth affair throughout the first two and a half periods until Quinn Hughes gave the Wild a 3-2 lead at 10:38 of the final frame.

The Wild added two empty net goals and won 5-2. This earned them their first series win in 11 years. The Wild will move on to play the Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche, another Central Division squad.

These three teams, Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota, were all top 8 NHL teams, but one had to be eliminated after one round because of the playoff format. The truth of the matter is that the Blackhawks are nowhere near these teams as currently constructed. Watching the way the Wild dominated even-strength play against the Stars, who are still an elite team, showed just how far away the Blackhawks are.