Blackhawks Rumors

The Chicago Blackhawks promised they would be looking outside of the hockey world in their search for a new general manager and they have done just that. The team confirmed today that they have interviewed Jeff Greenberg for their vacant GM position. Greenberg currently serves as assistant GM for the Chicago Cubs, a title he received in 2020 after climbing the ranks from intern to director of baseball operations.

He has been with the Cubs since 2012 and took on a bigger role when Jed Hoyer was promoted from GM to president following Theo Epstein’s departure. Just a few months ago, the Cubs hired Carter Hawkins as the club’s new general manager, sliding him into the top spot ahead of Greenberg and the other assistants. Greenberg joins interim GM Kyle Davidson, Eric Tulsky, Scott Mellanby, and Peter Chiarelli as the people confirmed to have already interviewed for the position.

That group certainly covers a lot of ground and suggests that the Blackhawks are wide open to hiring someone that hasn’t previously been a general manager in the NHL. Greenberg wouldn’t be the only baseball executive to make the move to hockey in recent years though. In 2019, Ned Colletti was hired by the San Jose Sharks as a pro scout after a long career in MLB front offices.

The connection between the Blackhawks and Cubs, in this case, goes deeper than just sharing a city, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet explained on a recent 32 Thoughts podcast:

Jamie Faulkner, who runs the business empire of the Blackhawks, her husband is an executive vice president of the Cubs, so there is a connection there. I’ve heard he may be involved. If you believe they have to go somewhere different, [Greenberg] would be different.

Jeff Marek, Friedman’s podcast partner, was on Sirius XM Radio this morning and noted that this isn’t the first time a Greenberg has been flirting with an NHL position. Jeff Greenberg’s father Chuck Greenberg was involved in an attempted purchase of the Carolina Hurricanes in the past and is a good friend of Mario Lemieux. While that purchase–and other less notable attempts–didn’t go through, his son could very well find his way into an NHL front office instead.

The Blackhawks have not given a clear timeline on when they expect to name someone to the position, only that there are more interviews scheduled in the coming days. The team is taking an approach not often seen in the NHL, announcing each interview as it is conducted, even for those like Tulsky and Chiarelli who are still working with another organization.

Feb 5: The Blackhawks have now confirmed Mellanby’s interview as well. More are scheduled for the coming days.

Feb 4: The Chicago Blackhawks are trying to fill a general manager position amid more controversy after chairman Rocky Wirtz’s public outburst when asked about the Kyle Beach sexual assault scandal. Recently Peter Chiarelli’s name surfaced as a potential candidate. The long-time NHL executive hasn’t been in charge of an NHL team since he left the Edmonton Oilers in early 2019 and has a checkered past in terms of successful moves, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet explained why he thinks the Blackhawks could be interested on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast:

If you’re only thinking of hiring a GM–let’s say for example that Kyle Davidson is your choice and he’s your GM. Now the question becomes do you need someone above him to manage up. To say that, after what happened on Wednesday night, you simply need a more experienced hand somewhere in your organization.

Friedman went on to mention Ed Olczyk–who was recently announced as part of an advisory committee for the team during the hiring process–as a potential candidate for a role in the organization.

On the other hand, it appears as though the Blackhawks will also consider some rather inexperienced candidates as well. Scott Powers of The Athletic reported today that the team will interview Scott Mellanby for the position. Mellanby, certainly not short of playing experience after nearly 1,500 regular season games, has never been an NHL general manager previously. He resigned his position as assistant GM with the Montreal Canadiens last year, an organization he had been with since 2012.

Another name that is on the Blackhawks’ list and will raise some eyebrows is Eric Tulsky, according to Friedman. The Carolina Hurricanes assistant GM is generally regarded as one of the brightest up-and-coming executives in the game and is credited for many of the moves that have turned his organization into a perennial Stanley Cup contender. Tulsky is certainly not someone you would call experienced though, having only sat in the AGM role for a little over a year. Just after the Friedman report, the Blackhawks confirmed that Tulsky had interviewed for the position.

With Chiarelli on one end and Tulsky on the other, the Blackhawks’ list of candidates run the gamut in terms of NHL front offices. They also indicated recently that they would look outside of hockey in their search, though it is not clear if that has produced any interviews to this point. Davidson, currently serving as interim GM has already done his, and Powers writes that the team is expected to meet with at least five people.

While the Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks have filled their vacant general manager positions in the last few weeks, the Chicago Blackhawks continue to operate with Kyle Davidson in an interim position. There has not been much reporting over who the candidates for the Blackhawks job would be, other than the fact that Davidson himself is one.

Today, Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz released a lengthy update on the process, which included the following:

Over the last six weeks, our leadership has been taking part in a discovery and research process that explored all functions and structure of our Hockey Operations department. This top to bottom exercise revealed an incredible amount of in-house talent while also highlighting areas for growth and opportunities to become more competitive. We plan to create a next generation Hockey Operations department with a path to sustained success for the Chicago Blackhawks. Our next step is to find the right leader, and we will begin to reach out to potential candidates this week to interview for the General Manager role. That position will be the highest-ranking executive in Hockey Operations and will report directly to me. We anticipate making a final decision in advance of the National Hockey League Trade Deadline.

Again, Wirtz confirms that Davidson will be a candidate but currently has full autonomy to make hockey decisions. Otherwise, the team pledges to be as transparent as possible in the process but will not identify potential candidates other than noting they are interviewing some from both inside and outside of hockey.

The Blackhawks have been without a full-time GM since Stan Bowman left the organization in late October following the Kyle Beach sexual assault scandal. Senior vice president of hockey operations Al MacIssac was also dismissed, and at the time, Wirtz was very clear that they would audit the entire organization before naming a successor. That process continues but with this new announcement, a GM hire should be made relatively soon, as the trade deadline sits a little over seven weeks away.