Red Wings And Blackhawks Could Struggle In NHL Free Agency

The Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings share many similarities ahead of NHL free agency.

The Original Six squads went from being gold-standard franchises in hockey's top league to teams struggling mightily to improve on the ice.

Each team has won at least three Stanley Cups since 1996-97. Each team has had a slew of Hockey Hall of Famers to build a roster around. And unfortunately for them, each team doesn't look like an especially attractive destination for players seeking a championship right now.

Top 50 NHL UFAs: Andersson, Carlson, Bobrovsky Lead 2026 Free Agency Class

The 2026 UFA class isn't the strongest, but make no mistake – there are needle-moving players who will reach NHL free agency.

What the Blackhawks and Red Wings do have are some star-caliber core players or youngsters with that potential, even if they haven't completed their cores yet.

Chicago has Connor Bedard, Anton Frondell, Frank Nazar, Artyom Levshunov and Spencer Knight. Although their Bowen Byram trade drew criticism from fans and pundits for including the fourth overall pick, the Blackhawks also have a new No. 1 defenseman who's reportedly interested in re-signing.

Detroit has Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat, captain Dylan Larkin for now, and Moritz Seider.

Both teams have done a lot of the hard work in rebuilding and crafting most of a core that's supposed to drive them to the playoffs.

And yet, they're far from assured of being in the playoffs next spring, and the shine is still off the bumper for the Blackhawks and Red Wings.

NHL Rumor Roundup: Latest On Dylan Larkin, Darnell Nurse And Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Is Dylan Larkin any closer to getting traded by the Detroit Red Wings? Could a Southern California team be interested in Darnell Nurse? Will the Carolina Hurricanes buy out Jesperi Kotkaniemi?

Chicago arguably needs another veteran defenseman and lots of scoring help on the wings. The Red Wings need another high-caliber defenseman, but most importantly, they need two top two centers to replace Larkin and then improve their center depth.

Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman and Blackhawks counterpart Kyle Davidson have to figure out how to make their current squad and long-term future enticing for free agents and any trade targets.

They have cap space to potentially overpay on some free agents, but that could backfire when it comes time to compete.

Even still, a boatload of money might not be enough to remove the stink of a long playoff drought. The Red Wings have the longest active post-season drought at 10 seasons, while the Blackhawks have the third-longest drought at six seasons.

Chicago and Detroit are both wonderful cities, and the Hawks and Wings are two of the most successful franchises in the history of the league. But once things went off the rails for them, they've been unable to truly get back on track.

Once free agency kicks off, it will be time to see whether they can wriggle back to prominence. But until they actually make the playoffs, it might be too tall a task to be attractive enough for the top talent available.

See more of The Hockey News on Google and save us as a preferred source. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

Copyright The Hockey News, Roustan Media Ltd.

This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 5:52 PM.