11:12 a.m.: Chicago had made Blashill’s hiring official. They’re also bringing in Rangers assistant Michael Peca to serve in the same role on Blashill’s staff, Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports. Peca, 51, had been working under Peter Laviolette in New York for the past two years. He’s also worked as a development coach for the Capitals and an assistant coach for AHL Rochester. Sorensen will be on Blashill’s staff as an assistant as expected, while Penguins assistant Mike Vellucci is a strong candidate for the third and final assistant job on Blashill’s bench, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
10:26 a.m.: The Blackhawks will announce Lightning assistant Jeff Blashill as their next head coach later today, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.
Blashill was the only name to be publicly linked to Chicago’s vacancy throughout their search aside from University of Denver bench boss David Carle, who opted to stay in his NCAA role. The Hawks have had nearly a month to explore other options after Carle withdrew his name from consideration for the position, and while there were some other unknown candidates they were considering as recently as a few days ago, Blashill has been positioned as the favorite for the role ever since his name first emerged.
Chicago will be Blashill’s second stop as an NHL head coach. His first, a seven-year run as head coach of the Red Wings, was a tough assignment as the team slowly entered a full teardown with him at the helm. That understandably led to a poor record – a 204-261-72 (.447) mark in the regular season with just one playoff series and one playoff win to his name, coming in Game 3 of the 2016 first round against the Lightning in his first season behind the Detroit bench.
There are legitimate reasons for optimism that Blashill can be a more effective head man with a Blackhawks club in the latter stages of their rebuild rather than with a Detroit club in the early stages. Since being let go by the Wings in 2022, he’s served as Jon Cooper’s top assistant in Tampa for the last three years. He also put together a strong minor-league resume with Detroit’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids before being promoted to the top role there, guiding the Griffins to a Calder Cup championship in 2013 and being named the league’s Coach of the Year the following season.
Blashill will take over for interim head coach Anders Sorensen, who was behind the Chicago bench for most of this year after the team dismissed Luke Richardson in early December. Sorensen, who coached the team to a 17-30-9 (.384) record in the season’s final 56 games, is expected to remain with the Blackhawks in some capacity.
The 51-year-old Blashill will likely have a significantly bolstered roster to manage come opening night compared to how the Hawks are beginning the offseason. Not only do they have the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft that could potentially slot into Blashill’s first-year lineup, they’re expected to be one of the most aggressive clubs in free agency this summer with nearly $31MM in cap space and no high-priced pending RFAs to re-sign.
While Blashill may not be the person behind Chicago’s bench when they’re a consistent playoff team again, he’ll at least be tasked with helping the club exit its years-long rebuild. He’ll do with a stacked group of under-25 players that includes forwards Connor Bedard, Oliver Moore, and Frank Nazar, defensemen Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, and Alex Vlasic, as well as goaltender Spencer Knight.
With Chicago making Blashill’s appointment set in stone, only three head coaching vacancies remain: the Bruins, Kraken, and Penguins.
Image courtesy of Kim Klement-Imagn Images.
Well, good for Chicago to pick Jeff Blashill as their new head coach & maybe he’ll help them as only time will tell.
As far as I’m concerned though, I’m glad he’s out of Tampa. I’ve never been fan of his particularly. I don’t know who Jon Cooper will pick for Blashill’s replacement but my first choice is for Derek Lalonde to return.
@ feel the teardrops Yes we all know that you have to have someone to scapegoat for your team’s impotent playoff record these past three seasons( other than the other team’s cheating and the NHL’s favoritism towards your opponents) Iam sure all is gonna be well now.
Well, ‘Hawks fans, we sympathize with you. The brass must’ve thought they needed somebody who sounded like Babs, without actually being Babs. I’m with @FeeltheThunder on the idea of Newsy coming back to TBL, as an AC, though.
*puke emoji*
Quite possibly your drinking is out of control.
Well I’m not ecstatic or disappointed really. I just hope the long and exhaustive search we were promised was done behind closed doors. Blashill is walking into a way better situation than Richardson did at least. Knight, Commesso, Broissoit and Soderblom is tons better than Mrazek. Rinzel, Arty, Harding are all signed and Vlasic is a solid #1. Bedard will actually be old enough to drink and Thompson, Moore, Tuevo, Bertuzzi, Mikhalev, are solid. Nazar is becoming a stand out and Slaggert, Veleno are interesting pieces plus probably Porter Martone in all likelihood and a slim chance Kantserov’s KHL season ends early and he makes a late appearance.
Is he the right guy for the job? IDK. But he’s got some solid pieces that weren’t here even 2 years ago. Can he find a system that works for them? Again ? No big contracts and plenty of Cap Space. is Blashill enough to sell to a FA? Still a ton of questions to be answered but like I said a way better situation than Richardson had who was over matched for the job. Fingers crossed. The good news is it probably can’t get worse.
Well said.
If they can somehow sign Marner, he is a playmaker, then draft Porter, that has the potential to be an elite first line.
The Hawks aren’t getting Marner. Lol.
Do we really want him at the price he costs? I say no. I’d much rather have Ekblad who is 29 and would completely stabilize the Back End and cost less. Marner can’t win with Mathews. What makes anybody think he can win with Bedard?
Richardson, Sorensen, Blashill, All interchangeable, No needle movers here, And Kyle Davidson also has got to take on responsibility for alot of poor veteran adds that he acquired last season.
I’m thinking Hawks fans are a bit underwhelmed by this pick.
What poor veteran adds? They were one year rentals for the most part except Brodie who was a real head scratcher to be sure but that was only 2 years but it was 2 years too many. Maroon and Martinez have been solid pros and both hung em up after the season. Davidson unloaded Mrazek and Jones for solid pieces so the incoming is much more promising than the outgoing. So far Davidsons biggest failure has been Coach selection. This is really only year 4 of what usually takes at least 5 years to rebuild an organization from top to bottom. He’s doing a great job building and we are about to see some results I think. It’s an interesting collection of talent it just needs a conductor to turn it into an orchestra.
The Blackhawks rebuild was in disarray last season, In fact, The club took a step backwards. Pay attention.
The Hawks signed like 6 guys that were in the prospect pool they didn’t have at the start of last season that they’ll have now. Pay attention.
You probably think Lukas Reichel is still a prospect. Lol.
Maroon, And Martinez were terrible last season, And let’s not forget Brossoit.
I’ve only said Reichel needs a change of scenery like 100 times. Please learn how to read. And Broissoit was hurt so that’s Davidson’s fault? I suppose Taylor Hall tearing his ACL was Davidson’s fault too. You’re not a really sharp knife are you? I think you need new glasses too.
It has taken time, but the Blackhawks are moving in the right direction. They have the third pick in the draft. Anyone think they should drop down in the draft ( if Misa is off the board) a handful of spots to pick up an extra piece , plus their own pick? Or just stay where they are at?
Move back? If anything they should move up. They have so many draft picks they’ll never use it’s not funny. If they think Misa or Schaeffer is heads and tails above Martone or Hagens move up. Sorry but moving back makes no sense. If anything package Toronto’s first with some future picks to move up from 25 or whatever it is. I don’t know where that Goalie is supposed to be drafted but it sounds like anywhere after 20. You can never have enough Goalies and it’s sounding like they might have whiffed on Gajan. is Misa all that much better than Lardis? Judges? They might already have that guy anyway.
There is nothing special about this year’s draft, I can see top 10 picks being traded for established players.
I clearly mentioned veteran adds, When the conversation was started. Pay attention, And stop avoiding the point, And facts!