Can Chicago Blackhawks end playoff drought next year? GM calls goal realistic — but would require ‘major step.’

They were eliminated from playoff contention with six games to spare, a decrease of 13 games from last year. There are hopes for a postseason push in 2027, when Bedard enters his fourth NHL season, but general manager Kyle Davidson may be pumping the brakes — for now.

“The players are very motivated to make sure that we’re pushing for the playoffs next year, I think that’s realistically something that is a goal,” Davidson said. “It’s something that would require a major step forward, but the group is motivated and talented enough that we feel that it’s not unrealistic to expect that, so we need to take another step forward.”

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The Hawks on Wednesday announced a multiyear extension for Davidson before the season finale. His plan was to build the team from the ground up, and the front office remains on board five years in.

“We started this a couple years ago with a plan, and we’re starting on our end to see some of the fruits of that labor show up in the NHL and start to develop in big numbers,” Davidson, 37, said. “We’re going to keep building the way we have been and to keep the positive momentum going. I have a great deal of belief in this organization and the direction we’re going.”

They’re guaranteed a top-four pick in the NHL draft in June, with a 13.5% chance at the No. 1 pick. That’s a shot at Ivar Stenberg, Gavin McKenna or another top prospect to join the young Hawks core.

And a chance to draft the solution to not being in this position next year.

“If we’re fully healthy and we’re picking top three again (next year) — without a lottery win to put us there — we’ll probably be disappointed with that.” Davidson said.

The Hawks had 35 games decided by one goal, another increase from previous seasons. While almost winning isn’t going to get the Hawks into Stanley Cup contention, it’s a baby step in the process.

“I think it’s a privilege to be in those close games,” goaltender Spencer Knight said. “You want to win every game, but you just have to be in the game sometimes to get to that point.

“You can have that mindset (of) winning needs to happen next year, but it’s more or less like … let’s take steps. Let’s try to collectively buy into what it takes to win, not necessarily just focus on the outcome. That’s to me is the most important thing, and wins are probably a byproduct of that.”

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The Hawks last made the playoffs in 2020, when they fell to the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round. Their last non-pandemic postseason appearance was in 2016-17, which saw the same result at the hands of the Nashville Predators. They haven’t been close to making playoff noise in recent years, but that’s not stopping the players’ hopes of flipping their fortunes.

“Going into next season, playoffs are the expectation. We’re not here to do this again,” defenseman Alex Vlasic said. “We have confidence in our group and going into the summer, we’re all excited about coming back here next year and really making a push.”

Consistency is key — and it’s also the hard part. They need to be attentive for 84 games — the NHL is adding two games to its schedule next season.

“When we were on our game, we were a tough team to play, and even if you knew a guy on the team and talked to him after, they’d say the same thing,” Bedard, 20, said. “Some games when maybe we didn’t have our legs, it was tough.

“(We also need) consistency throughout the games. We have moments where we gave up chances that we maybe didn’t need to, and I think we’ll get better at that each and every game next year. It’s something we all know now going into the summer.”