- Blackhawks prospect Ilya Safonov has signed a one-year contract extension with Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL, per a team release. The 24-year-old center was a sixth-round pick by Chicago back in 2021, going 172nd overall. Safonov had a minor role with Kazan at the time but had a breakout 37-point performance in 2022-23, providing some enthusiasm that he could come to North America and push for a spot with Chicago. However, his production has dipped over the last two years; this season, he had 22 points in 51 outings and will now remain overseas for at least one more year.
Blackhawks Rumors
Blackhawks Hire Jared Nightingale As AHL Head Coach
The Blackhawks announced they’ve named Jared Nightingale as the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. He replaces Mark Eaton, who took over as Rockford’s interim head coach to end the campaign after Anders Sorensen was promoted to the NHL bench to serve as the Blackhawks’ interim in the wake of Luke Richardson’s firing. Eaton will return to his previous assistant GM role with Chicago.
Nightingale, 42, is no stranger to the Blackhawks organization or to Rockford. He spent parts of three seasons there as an assistant coach from 2021 to 2024 before leaving last summer to work in the Capitals organization. He spent one year as the head coach and director of hockey operations for ECHL South Carolina, which has also churned out future NHL head coaches Spencer Carbery and Ryan Warsofsky in recent years.
South Carolina was Nightingale’s first experience as a head coach at any level. It went quite well, guiding the Stingrays to a franchise-best 52-15-3-2 record, although they were upset by Orlando in seven games in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
Nightingale is the brother of Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale, who also served as an assistant under Mike Sullivan for the United States en route to a gold medal at this year’s World Championship. He had a lengthy minor-league career as an enforcer on defense, spending the 2013-14 campaign in Rockford as their captain.
Multiple Teams Showing Interest In Marco Rossi
The Blackhawks, Kraken, Flyers, Penguins, and Sabres are among the teams that have shown interest in acquiring Wild pending restricted free agent center Marco Rossi, according to RG’s James Murphy. While general manager Bill Guerin has refuted trade speculation surrounding the 2020 ninth overall pick in the past, there hasn’t been much noise around progress in contract talks so far this offseason, especially after he had his minutes slashed in the playoffs by head coach John Hynes.
For a team considering parting ways with a young player, it’s never a good sign when virtually every club with a need at the position with the assets to make an appealing trade work steps up to the plate. Minnesota’s deployment of Rossi, particularly this season, has been puzzling. The Austrian pivot finished sixth in Calder Trophy voting in 2023-24 and took strides in 2024-25 to prove his floor as a second-line center, notching a 24-36–60 scoring line in all 82 games despite missing star wingman Kirill Kaprizov for most of the campaign. He averaged north of 18 minutes per game in the regular season but played just 11 minutes per night in the playoffs, although that didn’t stop him from still contributing a pair of goals and an assist in the Wild’s first-round elimination at the hands of the Golden Knights.
With Rossi posting those point totals on a bottom-10 offensive team, it’s easy to see why many clubs are optimistic about his ability to slot into their top-six immediately and, at worst, replicate his performance from last year. From Minnesota’s standpoint, assuming their internal projection of him is as pessimistic as his late-season role reduction indicates, it makes sense they wouldn’t want to commit to a long-term deal that will likely cost north of $7MM per season. For Rossi, it makes little sense for him to sign a bridge deal in Minnesota if he feels he won’t get the minutes there to maximize his earning potential a few years down the line.
If the Wild can’t work out a trade for Rossi, an offer sheet threat looms. A long-term deal for Rossi will likely end up at seven years at around $7.4MM per season, AFP Analytics projects. That would require a team to surrender their 2026 first, second, and third-round pick as compensation if the Wild decline to match. As such, they’ll likely set their price around there in trade talks, at least in terms of comparable value. Considering their increased salary cap flexibility this summer and intact core, it makes sense they’d rather pursue trade options to land a more NHL-ready asset in place of a return largely centered around draft picks.
Of the five teams mentioned by Murphy as having interest in Rossi, all but the Sabres have the picks to acquire Rossi in the $7.02MM to $9.36MM range for an offer sheet. Buffalo would need to reacquire their 2026 second-rounder to do so. They sent it to the Senators in this year’s Dylan Cozens/Joshua Norris swap.
Blackhawks Expected To Fill Last Assistant Coach Vacancy Soon
- The Blackhawks made it official today that Anders Sorensen and Michael Peca will serve as assistants on Jeff Blashill’s staff, moves that were reported last week. Meanwhile, it appears the third and final spot is close to being filled as well as Blashill told reporters today including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link) that they’re close to getting that vacancy filled. Whoever is hired will be taking the place of Kevin Dean who is not returning next season and will likely be tasked with working with their young defensive group.
Blackhawks Officially Hire Michael Peca, Retain Anders Sorensen And Jimmy Waite
New Chicago Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill had his introductory press conference early on Tuesday. During interviews, he shared with media that the Blackhawks will retain Anders Sorensen as an assistant coach and Jimmy Waite as a goalie coach, per Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio. Blashill also shared that Chicago has hired former NHL forward Michael Peca as an assistant coach. The team later confirmed Sorensen and Peca’s roles in a press release.
This news most notably captures the next step in Peca’s growing coaching career. The 51-year-old spent nine of his 14 pro seasons in New York – captaining the Buffalo Sabres for four seasons and New York Islanders for two. He returned to the Empire State after retiring from the NHL, and took up the mantle as the general manager and head coach of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres in 2011-12. Peca stayed in that role for eight years before deciding to return to the pros in the 2020-21 season. His first step was a Development Coach role with the Washington Capitals, but Peca moved to an assistant role with the AHL’s Rochester Americans in 2021-22. He spent two years with Rochester, then stepped up to an assistant role with the New York Rangers over the last two seasons. Now, Peca will take his coaching talents away from the East coast for the first time in his career by joining a budding coaching staff in Chicago.
Peca will join like company in Anders Sorensen, who spent the better part of a decade coaching dominant rosters around Chicago youth hockey. Sorensen intercut those AAA-coaching roles with four years as an assistant coach in the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier pro league, and joined the Blackhawks’ staff as a Development Coach in the 2014-15 season. He stuck in the role for four seasons before stepping up to an assistant role with the Rockford IceHogs in 2018-19. Sorensen was promoted to the head coach role two seasons later, then earned another promotion to the NHL head coaching role last year. He led the Blackhawks to a 17-30-9 record – but showed enough strength to earn an assistant coach role with Team Sweden at this year’s World Championship, and retain an assistant role in Chicago.
Through the mix of two assistant coaching hires, fans shouldn’t forget about the continued impact of former Blackhawks goaltender Jimmy Waite – who will retain his role through a third coaching change. Waite just wrapped up his 10th season as Chicago’s goaltending coach. His tenure started off with star Corey Crawford, and will continue a decade later with budding star Spencer Knight. Waite was originally drafted eighth-overall in the 1987 NHL Draft. He played in 106 games and 11 seasons in the NHL, and recorded a career-long .871 save percentage and 28-41-12 record. He also spent 233 games and eight seasons in the IHL, where he set a .909 save percentage. Waite will be in welcome company serving under Blashill – a former NCAA Division-1 goaltender who started his career as a goalie coach.
Blackhawks, Kevin Dean Part Ways
Blackhawks assistant coach Kevin Dean will not return to the club next season, reports Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.
In fact, it doesn’t appear any of the assistants, including Derek King and Derek Plante, will be back next season after the club announced the hiring of new head coach Jeff Blashill today. Reports indicate longtime NHL center Michael Peca, most recently an assistant coach with the Rangers, is joining Blashill’s staff. Anders Sorensen, who finished the season as Chicago’s interim head coach, has reportedly accepted an offer to stay with the club in an assistant role, while David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period added they’re expected to bring in a third fresh assistant, likely Penguins assistant coach Mike Vellucci.
Dean and King were named assistants simultaneously in the summer of 2022, shortly after the club hired Luke Richardson, whom Blashill succeeds, to be their head coach. The former had spent the previous five seasons as an assistant with the Bruins and, working with an understaffed blue line in Chicago, has furthered his reputation as a high-end defensive coach during his time with the Blackhawks. He’s gotten better-than-expected results with developing names like Alex Vlasic and, at least in smaller samples this past year, Ethan Del Mastro and Wyatt Kaiser.
Dean is currently in Europe as an assistant with the United States at the World Championship, so an official announcement on his and the rest of the aforementioned names’ departures likely won’t come until the tournament concludes. Before jumping into coaching as an AHL assistant with the Devils back in 2006, Dean logged over 300 games as a defenseman in the NHL with the Devils, Blackhawks, Thrashers, and Stars from 1995 to 2001.
Blackhawks Hire Jeff Blashill, Michael Peca
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.
Anders Sorensen Likely To Remain On Blackhawks’ Staff
The Blackhawks have been linked to Jeff Blashill for their head coaching vacancy in the last few weeks and are widely expected to make that hiring official in the coming days. That begged questions about the future of Anders Sorensen, who finished the season as interim head coach after Chicago fired Luke Richardson in the early going. He’ll be remaining with the club, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports, although whether that’s as an assistant on Blashill’s staff or back where he started 2024-25 in AHL Rockford remains to be seen.
It’s unclear if Sorensen was ever a legitimate candidate to have his interim tag removed. The Blackhawks kept their search rather tight-lipped over the last couple of months, with Blashill and University of Denver coach David Carle’s names the only ones ever firmly connected to their vacancy.
He’s definitely no stranger to the organization. The 50-year-old Swede has served with the Blackhawks in some capacity dating back to 2014, first as a development coach with the NHL and AHL clubs before being tabbed as an assistant coach for Rockford in 2018-19. He was promoted to serve as Rockford’s head coach in November of 2021 and held the role until Richardson’s firing last December.
There’s been a slow but clear upward trajectory for him in the organization. It makes sense that, assuming he wasn’t getting many calls from other teams about their head coach vacancies, he’d be happy to stick around with a club, either in Chicago or Rockford, that he’s obviously quite comfortable with.
Chicago finished the season with a 17-30-9 (.384) record under Sorensen, just marginally better than the 8-16-2 (.346) mark they started the season with under Richardson. Their new hire will be their fifth coach in as many years, including interim bench bosses.
Blackhawks RFA Aku Raty Signs In Finland
Blackhawks pending restricted free agent forward Aku Raty won’t be returning to the club next season. He’s inked a two-year contract with Karpat of his native Finland’s Liiga, the club announced today.
Chicago acquired Raty from the Mammoth in a minor trade-deadline deal, headlined by retired defenseman Shea Weber’s contract changing hands from Utah to the Hawks. The 23-year-old was a fifth-round pick by the Coyotes in 2019 and made his NHL debut in the franchise’s final game in 2023-24, recording an assist. That stands as his only NHL appearance to date. While he made the trip to Utah with all of his former Arizona teammates, he was assigned back to AHL Tucson at the beginning of the season and never got a call-up.
Raty’s minor-league showing in 2024-25 was also a steep regression from the prior year, which was his first in North America. The 6’0″ winger was among Tucson’s top scorers in his first taste of AHL hockey with a 15-29–44 scoring line in 55 games, more than earning a brief look in the Coyotes’ lineup. But Raty posted just four goals and 15 assists for 19 points in 50 games for Tucson this year, combined with a -12 rating, before being dealt to the Blackhawks. A change of scenery with Chicago’s affiliate in Rockford helped somewhat, posting six points in 15 outings down the stretch, but that evidently wasn’t enough for him to consider remaining in the Chicago organization.
Raty will return to Karpat, where he played most of his youth hockey and spent three Liiga seasons from 2019-20 to 2021-22. His breakout campaign overseas in 2022-23 came after he transferred to Ilves. The Blackhawks can still retain his signing rights through 2029 if they opt to issue him a qualifying offer.
Jeff Blashill Remains Overwhelming Head Coach Favorite
Lightning assistant Jeff Blashill isn’t just the only name firmly linked to the Blackhawks’ vacancy this summer; he’s becoming the clear favorite for the role, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on today’s 32 Thoughts podcast. Talk around the league sprouted up aggressively this week after Blashill canceled an interview he had with another club about their opening.
It’s premature because the Blackhawks also have a strong interest in someone on the staff of a recently eliminated team, Friedman said. “It’s possible that one of the reasons there has been a bit of a delay is somebody who is central to the process with the Blackhawks was not available at the end of last week, so it had to be pushed into this week. He is a very serious contender there. I just can’t tell you it’s 100% his job” (via CHGO Blackhawks).
The fact that Blashill’s the only name leaked from what’s otherwise been an airtight coaching search for Chicago likely speaks volumes about how highly the club values him compared to other candidates they’ve interviewed. Chicago surely hopes that after a few years of working under Jon Cooper in Tampa, he’s able to get the Blackhawks to greater heights exiting their rebuild than the success he had as head coach of the Red Wings at the beginning of theirs.