2010–11 Chicago Blackhawks season

The 2010–11 Chicago Blackhawks season is the club's 84th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Blackhawks will be defending the Stanley Cup.

Off-season
Under pressure to fit the team's player salaries under the salary cap for the 2010-11 season, the team started making trades. On June 24, the club traded Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, Brent Sopel and Akim Aliu to the Atlanta Thrashers for Marty Reasoner, Joseph Crabb, Jeremy Morin, a first-round pick (#24 overall) in 2010 and a second-round pick (#54 overall) in 2010. Later that same day, restricted free agent Colin Fraser was traded to the Edmonton Oilers for a sixth-round pick in 2010. On June 30, 2010, the Toronto Maple Leafs also traded for right winger Kris Versteeg from Chicago in a five-player trade. The Maple Leafs gave up forwards Viktor Stalberg, Chris DiDomenico and Philippe Paradis. Toronto also acquired the rights to 21-year-old left winger Bill Sweatt, who was a second-round pick in 2007. On July 1, 2010, the Blackhawks traded Andrew Ladd to the Atlanta Thrashers for Ivan Vishnevskiy and a second-round draft pick in 2011. . On July 9, 2010 Niklas Hjalmarsson was signed to an offer sheet by the San Jose Sharks, however the Blackhawks matched the offer on July 12, 2010, thereby retaining his services and forgoing compensation from the Sharks for signing a restricted free agent. This signing again has put Chicago against the salary cap wall and will more than likely force Chicago to shed more salary.

Playoffs
The Blackhawks hope to return to the playoffs and defend their championship of the Stanley Cup.

Schedule and results
Legend:

Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games Played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA= Goals Against Average; SA= Shots Against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO= Shutouts

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Blackhawks. Stats reflect time with the Blackhawks only.

‡Traded mid-season

Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Transactions
The Blackhawks have been involved in the following transactions during the 2010–11 season.

Draft picks
The 2010 NHL Entry Draft was at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on June 25 and 26, 2010. The Blackhawks picked 30th in each round. The Blackhawks were active in trading, moving up from 30th in the draft to 24th to select Kevin Hayes. Through other trades, the Blackhawks picked up three selections in the second round, and had ten selections in the draft overall.