Cross another to-do off the “Summer 2026” list for Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson. On Saturday morning, the Blackhawks announced a three-year, $5.83M AAV contract extension with goaltender Spencer Knight, adding to the growing list of in-house contract extensions done by Davidson.
After acquiring Knight and a first round pick from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Seth Jones back in March, Knight played in 15 games with the Blackhawks, going 5-8-2 with a .893 save-percentage. Nothing jumps off the page there, but much like Davidson has done with contract extensions with Alex Vlasic and Frank Nazar, he’s paying for what the player can become.
Knight — a former first-round pick by the Panthers back in 2019 — already had 80 NHL games under his belt when coming to Chicago. He’s just turned 24 in April and is still just scratching the surface of what he can become as a starter in the league.
Davidson is betting that Knight can become a 60-game starter and eventually transition into the elite starting goaltender for this next generation of the Blackhawks trying to climb the contention ladder. It won’t be easy for Knight, playing behind one of the youngest and inexperienced defensive groups in the NHL this season, but he has expressed he is up for the challenge.
In recent weeks, two long-term starting goaltenders around the same age and experience of Knight signed contract extensions: Lukas Dostal of the Anaheim Ducks signed a 5-year, $6.5M AAV extension, and Dustin Wolf signed a 7-year, $7.5M AAV extension with the Calgary Flames. Given the comps to Knight’s deal, it looks like another great piece of work done by Davidson.
And with Vlasic, Nazar and Knight now signed as long-term pieces of the future, the Blackhawks have spent just over $17M per year on three core contracts once all the deals are active. Kyle Davidson will still have to get a deal done with Connor Bedard, but that has felt like a matter of “when” and not “if” it gets done.
It’s good business so far from Davidson getting his in-house talent on friendly deals that benefit both the team and the player. Add in the fact that players like Anton Frondell and Sacha Boisvert could sign entry-level deals by the end of this season, and next summer could shape up to give the Blackhawks a lot of flexibility when looking at the trade or free agent market for any big swings to improve the young blossoming core of players coming through the organization.
