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The Chicago Blackhawks have picked their next head coach. They fired Luke Richardson in December and ran with Anders Sorenson for the remainder of the season. After a lengthy search, which included Sorenson, they have landed on their new coach. Daily FaceOff's Frank Seravalli reported that the Blackhawks are expected to hire former Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill.
“As speculated, Jeff Blashill will be named next Blackhawks head coach today,” Seravalli reported.
There have been connections between the Blackhawks and Blashill for well over a week now. ESPN's John Buccigross made the connection initially, and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman confirmed the interest. But nothing moved forward until Thursday, when Seravalli reported that the deal was done.
Blashill spent seven seasons as the Red Wings' head coach, making the playoffs just once. He went 240-261-72 across the three seasons for his hometown Wings. After spending three years as an assistant for Jon Cooper with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he is now the head coach of the Blackhawks.
The future of the Blackhawks rests with Connor Bedard, who was the number one overall pick in 2023. He was nearly a point-per-game player as a rookie, posting 61 points in 68 games. But his sophomore season was much worse, with 67 points in 82 games. Staying healthy is important, but he needs to score for Chicago to make the playoffs.
Blashill took over an aging Red Wings squad and took them to the playoffs in his first season. But as Steve Yzerman started to tear down the roster, Blashill was still steering the ship. When it was time to take off, Detroit could not kick it into gear. The Blackhawks are in that position right now as their prospects begin to grow into NHL players. Blashill needs to be the guy he was not in Detroit when he gets to Chicago.
