“Luke Richardson (and/or Kyle Davidson) should be on the hot seat.”

From day one, Luke Richardson had a tall task ahead. His job was to bring along the kids until they were ready to compete at the NHL level. He was brought in to keep a young, losing team from imploding. He knew this, Kyle Davidson knew this, but apparently, a large section of the fan base missed this detail. Now, a quarter of the way through his third season as Blackhawks head coach, the fans are starting to revolt. This is based on one major sports fan flaw: Impatience.

The Blackhawks are in this position because of the egos of their former team president, John McDonough, and their former general manager, Stan Bowman — neither of whom are here to answer for their mistakes. They felt that they were smarter than everyone else and thought they could rebuild around a quickly crumbling core that was declining fast. They were wrong. Someone in that front office needed to have a “come to Jesus” moment in the 2017–18 time period and start building for the future. They did not, and five more years of fans’ time was wasted.

None of this is Davidson’s or Richardson’s fault. They are simply trying to clean up an epic mess that was left behind and get the Blackhawks pointed in the right direction.

The first season of Richardson’s reign should not even be counted. It reeks of Jared Bednar’s first season in Colorado. Patrick Roy quit on the team and left the organization in a shambles. Bednar was never going to be successful that season. It was a lost cause.

The same could be said for Richardson. The Blackhawks were tanking for Bedard, and Richardson was marched out to be positive and teach the players the ways of the league.

Year two was to introduce the kids, including Bedard, to the grind of an NHL season. Due to the NHL/CHL transfer agreement restrictions, players like Kevin Korchinski, who was too good for the WHL but not ready for the NHL, could not go to the AHL or ECHL. Hence, he was forced to either go back and “bum slay” in juniors or get crushed nightly in the NHL, which is exactly what happened. Richardson was forced to put on a brave face and feed his kids to the lions. The result was predictable, which was another bottom-three finish, this time 31st out of 32 teams. This landed Davidson another high pick, which he used on polarizing Belarusian defenseman Artyom Levshunov.

Thankfully, Korchinski was old enough this season to send to the AHL and that is where he is playing. He is at a level where he can compete against professionals but not the best professionals in the world. The same can be said for players like Levshunov, Ethan Del Mastro, Gavin Hayes, Paul Ludwinski, Frank Nazar, Sam Savoie and Landon Slaggert. None of them have shown they are ready for the NHL yet, WHICH IS FINE. Not every player can go immediately from college or juniors to the NHL; in fact, most should not and do not, which is seemingly another fact many Blackhawks fans cannot comprehend.

Again, though, still not Richardson’s fault. Davidson brought a bunch of veterans in this summer to fill the roster specifically so the youngsters could all play and grow together in the AHL without the pressure and spotlight of the NHL every night. That said, the roster is now full of functional depth players and over-the-hill guys with experience. They were never going to be “good.” No one should have proclaimed otherwise.

They should be “better” than they were in the last two seasons. “Better,” however, is a relative term. “Better” also does not include making the playoffs, and it never did.

The #Blackhawks would have to improve FORTY points, minimum. Technically 46 in the Western Conf. Their point % would have to increase .281. The 7th best NHL improvement EVER. Just to squeak in

Be realistic. Not with a bunch of nice depth players and leftovers. https://t.co/c6iFKfJMDu

— Puckin Hostile (@PuckinHostile.bsky.social) (@PuckinHostile) August 22, 2024

Have the Blackhawks disappointed in their first 15 games? Certainly. But expecting much more than where they currently stand is, frankly, irrational. Anyone looking at the numbers could not reasonably predict a 45-plus point turnaround by adding the likes of Tyler Bertuzzi, Alec Martinez, TJ Brodie, Ilya Mikheyev, Pat Maroon, Craig Smith and Laurent Brossoit. Every one of those players is the definition of depth. And that does not even address the fact that it takes time for new players to gel with a new organization, city, teammates and system, which is again another fact many Blackhawks fans cannot comprehend. News flash: The real world does not work like NHL25; it does not all come together overnight simply because you want it to or think it should.

It is all fine and well to call for Richardson’s head, but to do that, you have to be able to answer question, “Who else can give you better production with this cast of misfit characters?”

The answer is, probably no one.

The post ANALYSIS: Should Luke Richardson (or Kyle Davidson) be on the hot seat? appeared first on The Rink.

The deal runs through the 2029–30 season and carries a $4.6 million salary cap hit, for a total of $27.6 million. Years five and six of the deal include a 10-team no-trade list.

The pending restricted free agent played only 21 NHL contests prior to this season, but solidified himself as the team’s most reliable defender in a season where there were few bright spots. While it is still early in his career, the 22-year-old Wilmette, Illinois, native ended the season with top-10 defensive metrics in almost all categories. Such production would have had him in the running for the Calder Trophy with teammate Connor Bedard, if he had played just 10 less games during the 2021–22 season, eclipsing Minnesota Wild golden boy Brock Faber significantly in a number of analytical metrics.

THE HOMETOWN KID

Alex Vlasic is staying, read all about it https://t.co/4q2vuJq5OE pic.twitter.com/TN3JgWzCid

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 25, 2024

“Alex made enormous strides this year and proved he is a legitimate top-four defenseman in the NHL,” said Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson in a press release. “In his first full season in the NHL, Alex established himself as an important piece of our young core, and we’re excited to have him with us for the next six years.”

Prior to this season, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound blueliner played 56 regular season and six playoff contests with the Rockford IceHogs during the 2022–23 season. During his time in Rockford, he posted 19 regular season points (two goals, 17 assists) and five playoff assists. Vlasic was originally drafted in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft by the Blackhawks and won a bronze medal in 2019 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship.

Alex Vlasic was incredible defensively this year on a bad Hawks team — while playing some of the toughest minutes in the league.
While $4.6M is fair for what he is now, a deal that covers his entire prime under a rising cap could make this one of the league’s best contracts. pic.twitter.com/MR8GFZjP5d

— dom (@domluszczyszyn) April 25, 2024

Vlasic will be suiting up for the United States at the upcoming World Championships, where he will also be joined by fellow Blackhawks rearguard Seth Jones.

Analysis

Reporters and fans alike had been speculating what Vlasic’s contract might look like in recent weeks, but few, if any, would have foreseen the contract coming in with this combination of term and value. Many felt this AAV would have been realistic on a shorter-term bridge deal, with a longer-term deal holding a higher value. For the Blackhawks to lock up Vlasic for six years at an incredibly team-friendly cap hit of $4.6 million is excellent work by Davidson.

As Luszczyszyn noted in his tweet linked above, that dollar value is an accurate value for Vlasic at current, but will provide the team with an average value savings of $3 million per season through the duration of the contract. To lock in Vlasic for six years at that figure is the type of deal that will allow the Blackhawks to maximize their money once the team is back in the playoffs, similarly to how Duncan Keith’s bargain contract helped construct the Cup-era teams. While this contract looks good today, it could very well prove to be a pivotal part in a return to glory for the Blackhawks in the not-too-distant future.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks sign Alex Vlasic to six-year contract appeared first on The Rink.

The first part of the tear-down rebuild is getting rid of the decaying remnants. Davidson started that process the day he took over for disgraced former general manager Stan Bowman. This was something Bowman should have started years before his demise, but I digress.

This is not to say that Davidson did not have some difficult moves to make. Saying goodbye to legendary beloved Blackhawks in Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews was met with a lot of pushback. Fans wanted to see Kane and Toews finish their careers as Blackhawks together. Toews may very well have ended his career as a Blackhawk, but Kane is with the Detroit Red Wings and is having a good year.

via GIPHY

The Kane trade was the correct one, however. He was not going to accept ending up in the basement for two of his final seasons, playing babysitter to the next great NHL phenom with very little opportunity to chase one last Stanley Cup before his productive days are over. If you recall, Kane also held the Blackhawks hostage and would only accept a trade to a small percentage of teams—ultimately landing on just one team—which led to a less than desired return. Davidson turned a pending free agent who was in need of hip surgery into Martin Misiak and another 2025 fourth-round pick—not an ideal return for a future Hockey Hall of Famer, but it was also better than Kane walking for free on July 1.

Draft and trades

Davidson’s first big assignment was to build draft capital and replenish a barren prospect pool. His first big move was trading Brandon Hagel to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Taylor Raddysh, Boris Katchouk, a first-round draft pick that turned into Oliver Moore and a first-round draft pick in this June’s NHL Entry Draft. For the most part, Kyle from Chicago put on a master class in flipping players for draft capital.

Not only did Davidson stockpile draft picks, but he also used his plethora of salary cap space to take on some bad contacts that included sweeteners.

Trade Partner	Acquired Asset	Outgoing Asset
	2022 2nd round pick (MIN - #57 - Ryan Greene)	Marc-André Fleury (Salary retained - 50%)
	2024 5th round pick	Ryan Carpenter
	2022 1st round pick (#7 - Kevin Korchinski) 2022 2nd round pick (#39 - Paul Ludwinski) 2024 3rd round pick	Alex Debrincat
	2022 1st round pick (#13 - Frank Nazar) 2022 3rd round pick (#66 - Gavin Hayes)	Kirby Dach
	Goaltender Petr Mrázek 2022 1st round pick (#25 - Sam Rinzel)	2022 2nd round pick (#38 - Fraser Minten)
	Forward Jason Dickinson 2024 2nd round pick	Riley Stillman
	Nikita Zaitsev 2023 2nd round pick (#44 - Roman Kantserov) 2026 4th round pick	Future Consideration
	Joey Anderson Pavel Gogolev 2025 1st round pick 2026 2nd round pick	Jake McCabe (50% retained) Sam Lafferty 2024 5th round pick 2025 5th round pick
	From ARI: Vili Saarijärvi From NYR: Andy Welinski 2023 2nd round pick (#55 - Martin Misiak) 2025 4th round pick	To NYR: Patrick Kane (50% retained) Cooper Zech To ARI: 2025 3rd round pick (from NYR)
	Anton Khudobin 2025 2nd round pick	Max Domi Dylan Wells
	Josh Bailey 2026 2nd round pick	Future Consideration
	2023 6th round pick (#167 - Milton Oscarson) 2024 2nd round pick	2023 2nd round pick (#51 - Carson Bjarnason)

It is pretty universally understood that Davidson did the best he could in breaking down an aging team that had been losing momentum for years. The teardown eventually paid off big, when the Blackhawks won the 2023 draft lottery and selected prized prospect Connor Bedard. The work has only begun, though. What does the Blackhawks general manager have ahead of himself?

Trade deadline

Taking on bad contracts to open up cap space for competing teams is not over. He should (and probably will) be taking calls from anyone and everyone who is looking to dump bad contracts before tomorrow’s trade deadline. Desperate teams will do just about anything to “right” a previous “wrong.”

Free agency

This might be the biggest point of contention in the rebuild process. When should Davidson go on the offensive in free agency? I am here to tell you that this summer is not it. It is too early.

Fourteen players on the current NHL roster will either fall off the roster or need to be re-signed this summer. Tyler Johnson, Colin Blackwell, Zach Sanford, Nikita Zaitsev, Jarred Tinordi, Jaycob Megna, MacKenzie Entwistle (RFA), Joey Anderson (RFA), Reese Johnson (RFA), Boris Katchouk (RFA), Taylor Raddysh (RFA), Alex Vlasic (RFA), Isaak Phillips (RFA) and Louis Crevier (RFA) will all become free agents on July 1. Ten other players who are currently with the Rockford IceHogs will also become either unrestricted or restricted free agents.

Also, almost $8 million in retained or recapture dollars will drop down to just over $3 million.

This will give Davidson more than $40 million in cap space, which has the casual fan’s eyes lit up like the Vegas strip. Do not fall into this trap. While they will need to re-sign some restricted free agents, namely Vlasic, most of the names on the list fail to move the needle but will be brought back simply to hit the salary cap floor and have enough to ice a full team.

Looking at the free agency list, there are definitely names that fans would recognize, but you have to keep some things in mind. Almost all of the players are in their very late 20s or early 30s and want long-term deals. That is an option that should absolutely not be on the table for Davidson. Tying up large amounts of money in older players for long periods of time rarely works out. The player has the advantage and the team will almost always overpay and overextend the term, in turn handcuffing their flexibility. Simply put, dumping your money into older 30-ish players who have already peaked is a recipe for disaster and does not fit the Blackhawks’ timeline.

Are there exceptions to the rule? Absolutely. He has to pick his spots, though. Focus on younger talent about to peak, or potentially an offer-sheet situation. A deal will take more work because you will likely have to trade for negotiating rights, but these younger players fit the timeline of the rest of your organization. This is where Davidson earns his salary.

This is the list that Davidson and the Blackhawks’ brass should be targeting. Targeting teams that have cap problems already like Vegas, Toronto, Colorado, Boston, Vancouver, St. Louis, Los Angeles or Philadelphia. If you are willing to overpay, do it for youth and hope, not memories.

Conclusion

Throwing away dollars for jersey sales or fake public relations stunts cannot be on the plate for the Blackhawks.

• Believe in the process, and stick to being focused, calculated and shrewd
• Take advantage of other team’s mistakes
• Build around young talent
• Avoid the long-term free agency traps on aging players until your timelines are aligned

This is where the young Blackhawks general manager makes a name for himself by either building a future dynasty through patience and focus, or falling short by getting lured into traps by impatience.  Your move, Kyle.

via GIPHY

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The Blackhawks have named Kyle Davidson the 10th General Manager in franchise history. pic.twitter.com/40p8uRTrsS

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 1, 2022

Davidson had been serving as the team’s interim general manager since October in light of Stan Bowman’s departure from the organization following the findings of the Kyle Beach allegations independent investigation.

Davidson has held various roles with the Blackhawks since joining the franchise in 2010 as a video analyst intern. From 2011 to 2018, Davidson served in hockey operations before being appointed as the organization’s assistant general manager in 2018.

“We have a vision here for the future of Blackhawks hockey and today we are a step closer to that coming together,” said Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz in a press release. “As an organization, we know we have a lot of work to do on and off the ice and Kyle is the leader we trust to oversee our hockey operations. The thorough process we undertook affirmed much of what we believed we had in Kyle and he stepped up to lead and make tough decisions during his time in the interim role. He without a doubt met every qualification we were looking for, is passionate about the game and represents the high character across everything we do.”

The decision to remove Davidson’s interim tag hardly comes as a surprise to most, as Davidson appeared to have the inside track on the job from day one. While many fans assume Davidson is just a “mini” Bowman, Davidson’s brief workload does provide optimism for a changing of the guard for how the franchise will operate moving forward. Perhaps the two biggest accomplishments during Davidson’s time as the interim general manager were the much-needed firing of former head coach Jeremy Colliton and the deliberate focus on patiently developing top prospect Lukas Reichel with the Rockford IceHogs, whereas the Bowman trend would have been to rush Reichel into a full-time NHL role sooner rather than later.

Davidson’s selection also makes sense in relation to the team’s outlook approaching the NHL’s trade deadline on March 21. With the franchise in desperate need of a rebuild, asking an external hire to come in and accurately assess the organization’s situation and assets and then turn around and move the organization forward via trades in a span of less than three weeks would have been an exceptionally tall task. With Davidson, the decisions will come easier, as he has extensive knowledge of the organization’s assets and needs.

On the flip side, one could certainly view Davidson’s selection as a missed opportunity to bring desperately needed fresh eyes into the organization, as it had been established Davidson would be staying with the Blackhawks if he was not named as the general manager. With the likes of Mathieu Darche and Eric Tulsky—both qualified executives from elite NHL franchises—available to the Blackhawks in the interview process, adding their expertise alongside Davidson in the front office would have maximized the organization’s front office capabilities and likely would have provided a better opportunity for the long-term growth of the franchise, taking advantage of the opportunity to add to the front office instead of simply promoting from within.

With the decision made, Davidson and the Blackhawks are now officially on the clock for the trade deadline, and Davidson will have plenty of work to do. The team has a number of potential trade chips to offload, and Davidson will be tasked with maximizing those assets in order to replenish Chicago’s pipeline of both draft picks and prospects. With the likes of Ryan Carpenter, Calvin de Haan, Marc-Andre Fleury, Brandon Hagel and Dominik Kubalik all viewed as players potentially being on the move ahead of the deadline—to varying degrees, of course—Davidson’s focus needs to be on asset maximization more than anything else.

Of course, it would be hugely beneficial to recoup a first-round pick in this year’s draft, as Bowman infamously dealt a mountain of valuable assets to acquire Seth Jones last summer. However, regardless of if he can accomplish that, Davidson needs to maintain an outlook on the future—and a successful one, at that. Again, to Davidson’s advantage, he has had the opportunity to thoroughly assess the state of the franchise, so no one should be more qualified to make the correct long-term decisions than him, whatever those may be—popular or unpopular. The next 20 days will be very telling about Davidson’s outlook on the franchise’s future.

Unsurprisingly, Davidson is certainly up for the task of building the Blackhawks back up to being an elite franchise yet again and is excited for what lies ahead.

“Today is another step not just for me, but for my Blackhawks teammates within the organization and Blackhawks fans across the world,” Davidson said in the release. “I’m committed to building a winning team on and off the ice the right way — improving our internal framework and processes and working closely with a strong team of people to make decisions. I share the vision of the leadership team to create a positive culture throughout the organization and the game of hockey and promise to uphold our values in everything we do.”

Time will tell if Davidson can accomplish these motives, and, if you listen closely—or not so closely—the clock is already ticking.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks name Kyle Davidson general manager appeared first on The Rink.

While Rocky Wirtz’s comments in the town hall might have torpedoed the Blackhawks’ chance of getting an exciting external candidate, let’s review the process thus far.

Waiting game

After former general manager Stan Bowman resigned, several reports came out that the Blackhawks were “in no rush” to find a permanent replacement. Instead, they were interested in contacting another Chicago sports teams to find out how they conduct their own front office searches. They reached out to the Cubs’ Jed Hoyer for consultation on how they pick front office members. Hoyer was brought in by Theo Epstein. Epstein was brought in to run the Cubs because Tom Ricketts met with A’s President Billy Beane and picked his brain the process. Epstein resigned in 2020 when Hoyer was promoted to the President of Baseball operations. The Cubs’ front office under Epstein and Hoyer have multiple promotions through baseball, the headliner being Scott Harris, who is the current manager of the San Francisco Giants.

In addition to the Cubs and Blackhawks both residing in the same city, both franchises are connected via their front offices, as Jamie Faulkner serves as the President of Business Operations for the Blackhawks, while her husband, Colin Faulkner, works for the Chicago Cubs as the Executive VP of Sales and Marketing.

While the Blackhawks were biding their time with Interim General Manager Kyle Davidson at the helm, other organizations were hiring their new general manager. The Montreal Canadiens hired Jeff Gorton, the former New York Rangers general manager who helped rebuild the Blue Shirts, while the Vancouver Canucks brought in longtime NHL executive Jim Rutherford to help stabilize their organization.

The announcement

In January, Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz announced that the team plans to hire a full-time general manager, who will be the highest ranking hockey official. Davidson will be interviewed for the job and has full autonomy in hockey moves until a full-time general manager is named. The Blackhawks are very high on Davidson, and the plan is for him to remain as a part of the organization even if he is not named the GM.

Danny Wirtz also announced that the search committee will be led by himself and Jamie Faulkner. The plan is to have the GM hired before the March 21 trade deadline.

Later in January, we learned the search committee would consist of former Blackhawks players Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp and TV color commentator Eddie Olczyk. Mike Forde and his group, Sportsology, have been working with the Blackhawks since Bowman resigned. Sportsology is a firm that helps franchises evaluate their organizations and find areas of improvement. Sportsology has worked with the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA, San Francisco 49ers of the NFL and Los Angeles Football Club of the MLS.

Analysis

Danny Wirtz and Jamie Faulkner came up with process that worked for them in trying to find the next GM of the Blackhawks. In my opinion, their are two questionable parts of the process. The first is not having a former executive involved in the selection process, although Elliotte Friedman reported that the Blackhawks might be trying to bring in Epstein to consult on the hiring process. Epstein makes sense in that he had to change a toxic culture in Chicago, one that was once led by John McDonough, and has hired front office officials before. The Blackhawks should also look to bring in a former general manager or front office executive from the hockey world.

The second part is having Rocky Wirtz involved with the process. Now, Rocky is not listed in the search committee or said to have any involvement in the hiring of a new GM, but, after the town hall fiasco, we know he still wields immense power in the organization being the chairman.

Rocky Wirtz being a part of the process is very reminiscent of the 2013 Buffalo Sabres’ front office process. In case you forgot, in 2013, the Sabres in fired longtime general manager Darcy Regier and head coach Ron Rolston after a 4–15–1 to start the season. The Sabres then decided to bring in former Sabres great Pat LaFontaine to be the president of hockey operations. LaFontaine had been working for the NHL on player safety issues. When LaFontaine was brought in, he was hired by owner Terry Regula to bring stability to the organization. LaFontaine resigned less than a year later because their was no apparent chain of command in the organization. While the Blackhawks have stated that Danny Wirtz is the CEO of the Blackhawks, Rocky’s conduct at the Blackhawks’ town hall showed that if Rocky wants something done with the Blackhawks, he is going to have the final say in it.

If the Blackhawks want to recover from the Rocky Wirtz misstep, they need to get the general manager correct and have Danny Wirtz and Jamie Faulkner as the faces of the hiring. If Rocky is involved, the credibility and all the good-will with the hiring will be destroyed.

What do the Blackhawks need in their next GM?

The obvious answer to the question is that the Blackhawks are going to seek an individual who can draft well and knows how to develop prospects, however, with the state of the organization, the general manager is going to need to be more than just a great hockey mind. This person is going to need to be able to rebuild an organization mired in controversy. They are going to have to be of high moral character, personable and be inspirational to members of the organization and fanbase. Now, this might seem like an unrealistic list, but this is something the Blackhawks should strive for in people that represent their historic franchise and its fans. It is a very bleak time to be a Blackhawks fan and to cover this team. The general manager has to bring hope to an organization that is widely viewed as a hopeless situation.

Who are the candidates?

Since the town hall, six candidates have been interviewed for the general manager position: Davidson, St. Louis Blues VP of Hockey Operations Peter Chiarelli, Tampa Bay Lightning Director of Hockey Operations Mathieu Darche, Chicago Cubs Assistant General Manager Jeff Greenberg, former Montreal Canadiens Assistant General Manager Scott Mellanby and Carolina Hurricanes Assistant General Manager Eric Tulsky.

Kyle Davidson

Davidson is currently the Interim General Manager of the Blackhawks. He has been with the organization for 12 seasons and has made important personnel decisions since taking over for Bowman. He has held many titles inside the organization and would remain part of the Blackhawks’ front office if he was not offered the full-time GM job.

Davidson would be the safe pick with an organization mired in turmoil, but for optics and the need for change, he may be unlikely as the choice. Also, read into it what you will, but every time Danny Wirtz has commented on the future general manager, he has used to term “bringing in,” which could certainly indicate the plan is to hire an external candidate.

Peter Chiarelli

Chairelli is the current VP of Hockey Operations for the St. Louis Blues. Prior to joining the Blues, he was general manager of the Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers. While he did win a Stanley Cup with Boston, he is known for his horrendous trades in both stints. Chairelli is despised in Boston for trading Tyler Seguin for Loui Eriksson and in Edmonton for trading Taylor Hall for Adam Larrson straight up. His two tenures as a GM left both franchises with roster shortcomings that his successors had to fix.

Chiarelli is an old-school hockey guy and a recycled candidate. Despite his poor free agent contracts and bad trades, his biggest weakness is his way of thinking. If the Blackhawks are truly looking for a forward-thinking individual and an organization changing with the times, then Chiarelli is clearly not the right choice.

Mathieu Darche

Darche is the current the Director of Hockey Operations for Tampa Bay Lightning and was a finalist for the GM positions in Montreal and Vancouver. He joined the Lightning in May 2019 in his current role. He works with all aspects of player personnel decisions: Analytics, player development and contract negotiations. As a player, he played in 250 games between the Canadiens, Lightning, Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks. He also helped the Milwaukee Admirals win the Calder Cup in 2004. Before joining the Lighting front office, Darche worked for Delmar International, a Canadian customs broker and freight forwarder as Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Darche is a good, qualified candidate that would be a great fit for the Blackhawks. He comes from a quality organization and helped Tampa Bay win the Stanley Cup each of the last two seasons. In addition to working in all aspects of hockey operations with Tampa Bay, he worked on the NHLPA committee during the 2013 work stoppage, so he is well-versed in both sides of contract negotiations. Blackhawks fans will not be disappointed with Darche should he be appointed as Chicago’s next general manager.

Jeff Greenberg

Greenberg is the current assistant general manager for the Chicago Cubs. Before joining the Cubs, Greenberg graduated from Columbia Law School and the University of Pennsylvania. In baseball, Greenberg interned with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks before joining the Cubs in 2012. He has held titles such as Director of Pro Scouting and Baseball Operations, Director of Baseball Operations and Assistant to the General Manager. With Hoyer being asked to consult and the Blackhawks and Cubs having an obvious connection, it makes sense their out-of-the-hockey-industry interview would be someone from the Cubs. It also makes sense in that the Blackhawks are going to need someone who has seen how to structure and restructure a front office. Greenberg witnessed how the Cubs were structured when Epstein took over and how the Cubs are now structured under Hoyer.

Now, the biggest shortcoming to Greenberg’s candidacy for the the Blackhawks job is a lack of hockey experience. While this is a serious issue, his interview should not be brushed off as Hoyer getting one of his guys an interview. The Blackhawks are in serious need of a break from hockey culture and need to find new ways to innovate and find market inefficiency that other teams have not identified yet. Greenberg would meet both of those needs, however, the timing is not right for this type of hire by the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks need someone who knows how to develop hockey players and Greenberg does not have that experience.

Scott Mellanby

Mellanby’s most recent stop was being the former assistant general manager of the Montreal Canadiens. The former 21-year NHL player of 1,431 games worked for Montreal from 2014–2021 before he resigned in November of 2021 after Gorton was hired for the general manager position with the Canadiens. He had worked under Marc Bergevin, former Blackhawks general manager and current Los Angeles Kings Senior Advisor to the General Manager, while Bergevin was with the Canadiens. Prior to joining the Habs, Mellanby worked for the Vancouver Canucks for three years as a coach under Mike Gillis. He is also very active in the fight against autism.

Of course, it is important to highlight Mellanby’s connection to Bergevin, a potential red flag. Bergervin came up through the Blackhawks’ front office that covered up the Kyle Beach situation.

On the merits as a candidate, Mellanby is a relatively bland option as a former player without much of a “public” front office track record, having only been an assistant general manager. Of course, serving as an assistant general manager does give Mellanby plenty of relevant experience, but it is difficult to assess his ability without knowing what decisions he heavily factored into in Montreal.

If the Blackhawks want to change the culture, and especially the hockey culture, within their organization, then they should realistically not hire someone with notable ties to a former executive in the Blackhawks’ front office during the Beach incident.

Eric Tulsky

Tulsky is the current assistant general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes. Tulsky has been with the Hurricanes for eight season. He has his hands in all hockey-related matters as the assistant general manager. He has been publishing his advanced statistical analysis since 2011 and his work had been published in the Washington Post and fivethirtyeight.com. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry and physics from Harvard and a doctorate in chemistry from UC-Berkeley.

Tulsky is a look at the new age in hockey talent evaluation. He is a brilliant mind that breaks the mold of hockey executives. Since joining the Hurricanes, the team has improved year over year and could potentially be a great hire for the Blackhawks. Tulsky seems like the most progressive choice of all the interviewees and the candidate that could help the Blackhawks improve with their drafting and prospect development. The organization he is currently working for is an annual favorite to make deep runs in the playoffs. The Blackhawks were also once a front runner in statistical analysis, but are now severely lacking behind the rest of the league in that department. If the Blackhawks are true to their word of moving forward with an out-of-the-box candidate, Tulsky makes the most sense as the new Blackhawks GM of the candidates interviewed.

Search committee concludes its work

On Feb. 24, the Blackhawks posted a tweet on the search committee concluding its evaluations and submitted its finding to the leadership team.

Update pic.twitter.com/E6rw0J0UHl

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 24, 2022

Friedman has reported on 32 Thoughts the team has selected three finalists for the position: Darche, Davidson and Greenberg.

Needless to say, the Blackhawks need to get this hire right in order to truly move the organization forward. Time will tell if they do. Hopefully Danny Wirtz will not keep us in suspense for much longer so the individual can get to work sooner than later.

The post ANALYSIS: The Blackhawks’ general manager selection process appeared first on The Rink.