CHICAGO — A year from now, this Chicago Blackhawks offseason will be considered either a massive success or failure.It’s not likely to be in between.Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson bet this offseason and the coming season on 1) Bowen Byram evolving into an elite No. 1 defenseman, and 2) a number of the organization’s young players developing into legitimate and productive NHLers. Those two things have to happen for the Blackhawks to improve. Davidson’s offseason has consisted of paying a ton to acquire Byram, then a ton to extend Byram and finally adding an assortment of role players. Those role players, which include Ian Cole, Cole Smith and Jordan Greenway, fill important holes, but none of them is expected to be a miracle fix.Byram is carrying that expectation, at least to a degree. The Blackhawks haven’t had a definitive No. 1 defenseman since Duncan Keith. That’s not to say Byram is Keith. Byram’s game is different. But the Blackhawks are anticipating Byram to become, next season and beyond, his own version of an elite No. 1 defenseman. The Blackhawks put up the trade pieces and then the contract to pay Byram as if he’s soon going to join the conversation of the league’s top defensemen. That’s where they firmly set the bar.While many outsiders have cast doubt on Byram meeting that potential based on what he’s done so far in his career, Davidson has expressed unapologetic certainty that Byram will be just that once given the opportunity as a No. 1 defenseman with the Blackhawks and put alongside Davidson’s group of promising youth. On Wednesday, neither Byram nor Davidson shied away from the questions and expectations that come with a blockbuster trade and a $12.5 million cap hit on a six-year contract extension.“The traits that Bo possesses are, in our opinion, elite ones,” Davidson said on Wednesday afternoon. “They’re ones that are in high, high demand around the league and they are ones that we believe when put into the position we’re going to put him in this year, demand a significant reward and compensation. So, that’s something we believe he’s going to step into. He’s going to own it, he’s going to prove it and be worth the investment we’re placing in him. We’ve known and watched Bo for a long time, and he’s someone we believe in a great, great deal. It’s obvious through what we traded for him and what we’ve given in the extension. So, we have all the confidence in the world that he’s going to live up to that and be a difference maker for us for a long time.”Byram doesn’t lack confidence. He believes he can be what Davidson expects. It’s why Byram didn’t settle for a contract extension with the Buffalo Sabres. It’s why he wasn’t just going to sign a long-term deal with any team the Sabres traded him to. It’s why he asked for so much money from the Blackhawks. Byram thinks the Blackhawks paid the price for what they’re going to get.“I think the reason I’m standing in front of you guys in Chicago today is because they believe in me and how I play, the player I am,” Byram said on Wednesday. “So, I don’t think I necessarily need to change anything. Do I think I can be better and evolve? One hundred percent. I think I’m going to get the opportunity to do so here, and I’m super excited for that. But I also think I’m ready for it physically, mentally, on the ice, off the ice, whatever it might be to do so. I’m just super excited.”