Blackhawks expected to name Davidson as general manager Tuesday
From the beginning of the Blackhawks' general manager search, many believed it was Kyle Davidson's job to lose.
Turns out they were right.
The Hawks are expected to announce Davidson's "interim" tag will be removed and he will be named permanent GM on Tuesday morning. Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff broke the news Monday evening, with sources telling him the Hawks have settled on the 33-year-old Sudbury, Ontario, native.
Davidson, who got his start with the Hawks as a video analyst intern in 2010-11, has been interim GM since October 26 when Stan Bowman resigned.
The Hawks interviewed six other candidates and whittled the list down to three last week, but Davidson beat out Mathieu Darche, Tampa Bay's director of hockey ops, and Jon Greenberg, the Cubs' assistant GM. (Seravalli reports Brian Campbell will take on "a significant role." It will also be interesting to see if the Hawks utilize Eddie Olczyk for talent evaluation and roster building).
Davidson more than impressed during a news conference at the United Center in November in which he explained why he fired Jeremy Colliton and chose Derek King as the interim head coach.
Now we'll see if he's able to impress a fan base that becomes more disgruntled by the day.
The Hawks haven't qualified for a 16-team playoff since 2017 and are headed toward another disastrous finish this season.
Davidson, who will be the Hawks' 10th GM as well as the youngest, will be charged with rebuilding a roster that has a few solid pieces but otherwise needs immense help.
He will likely get some by trading goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to the highest bidder. A few more players may also be on the move, but Fleury offers the best hope for a solid prospect and/or draft picks.
Once the trade deadline passes on March 21, it will be interesting to see which path Davidson chooses.
Will he take the long road and stay patient by building through the draft? That may signal the end of Patrick Kane's tenure in Chicago.
Or does Davidson convince Kane that the franchise isn't that far off and will return to glory after 2-3 more difficult years?
Perhaps most importantly: What is Davidson's vision for long-term success? Bowman fell in love with speedy, undersized forwards and defensemen and we've all seen where that's gotten the Hawks.
Will Davidson put more of an emphasis on size? One would hope so, seeing as how teams like Florida and St. Louis are put together.
Those answers figure to come as early as Tuesday when a new era dawns and Davidson meets the media for the first time as permanent GM.
• Follow John on Twitter @johndietzdh.