Blackhawks hire Jeff Blashill as head coach: Why he’s getting another shot

Jeff Blashill was never given the chance to see a rebuild through with the Detroit Red Wings.

The Chicago Blackhawks now present Blashill a second chance at doing just that.

Blashill, 51, has been hired as the Blackhawks’ head coach, the team announced Thursday, making him the 42nd head coach in franchise history. He replaces Anders Sörensen, whom the Blackhawks promoted to interim head coach after firing Luke Richardson early last season. Sörensen was considered to be among the Blackhawks’ candidates for the permanent opening.

“Jeff is an incredibly smart and talented coach who boasts more than 25 years of coaching experience across developmental leagues, the NHL and the world stage,” Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said in a statement. “He’s thrived when in a position to develop young players and has shown he’s capable of blending that into overall team success, a vision and philosophy we share for where we are today and where we see our team in the future. We couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come under Jeff’s direction.”

Blashill wasn’t the Blackhawks’ first choice — they took a run at David Carle and inquired about Mike Sullivan, as nearly every team with a coaching opening did — but Chicago doesn’t feel like it’s settling in any way. Blashill checked every box Davidson sought in his head coach.

The Blackhawks like Blashill’s development background. He coached in the USHL, NCAA and AHL before settling into the NHL. He was once the hot name in college coaching, as Carle is today. Blashill left Western Michigan University in 2011 at 38 years old to give the NHL a shot. He spent one season as an assistant to Mike Babcock with the Red Wings, then spent three years as the head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit’s AHL affiliate.

The Blackhawks also like that Blashill has NHL head coaching experience. Since Chicago fired Joel Quenneville in 2018, the franchise hired four consecutive first-time NHL head coaches (Jeremy Colliton, Derek King, Richardson and Sörensen).

Blashill’s first NHL head coaching job came when he replaced Babcock in Detroit before the 2015-16 season. His tenure began with a veteran Red Wings team, and he made a playoff appearance in his first season as coach. From there, the Red Wings were dismantled, and Blashill and the organization endured the early stages of a rebuild over the rest of his tenure. He was not retained after the 2021-22 season and finished with 204-261-72 overall record. After his first season, the Red Wings never finished better than fifth in their division. The Red Wings have since hired two other coaches and have yet to make the playoffs again.

Blashil wasn’t out of work long after the Red Wings. He joined the Tampa Bay Lightning and head coach Jon Cooper’s staff the following season. Cooper, the league’s longest-tenured coach, is also one of the NHL’s most respected coaches, which has likely helped Blashill’s reputation, too. Blashill recently finished his third season with the Lightning.

The Blackhawks have to hope that Blashill’s time with Cooper and the gap between his first and second NHL head coaching opportunities benefit him. A majority of NHL head coaches have had multiple opportunities in the position. Of the league’s current coaches, 19 have been NHL head coaches for two or more teams.

The Blackhawks have some similarities to the Red Wings teams Blashill coached. Outside of being a No. 12 seed in the NHL’s bubble playoffs in 2020, the Blackhawks haven’t qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2017. They underwent a slight rebuild under previous general manager Stan Bowman, then a much more direct and deep version once Davidson was promoted to the position in the 2021-22 season. The Blackhawks have since finished 27th, 30th, 31st and 31st in the standings. Davidson has aimed to largely build his team through the draft and has made eight first-round selections, five second-round selections and eight third-round selections over the last three drafts. The Blackhawks’ NHL roster has begun to reflect those drafts more and more in recent years. Chicago finished this past season with seven of Davidson’s draft picks in the NHL lineup.

As with Detroit, there is no guarantee the Blackhawks’ rebuild will work. Blashill should have some job security for some time, though. What he and Davidson have in their favor is the patience and support of Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz, who has voiced his confidence in Davidson and his plan multiple times in recent years. While the organization will want some improvement in the standings and development from their young players in the next couple years, Blashill won’t likely face much pressure to win early. Most people expect the Blackhawks will need some time before the playoffs become a realistic expectation.

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