The not-so-great numbers of Jeff Blashill’s first 100 games as Chicago Blackhawks’ head coach

On Sunday, a Chicago Blackhawks team source confirmed to the Tribune that Jeff Blashill would remain head coach, and that no coaching or staff changes would be made at this time. Blashill’s status has been a hot topic amidst the Hawks’ 4-13-1 start.

The Hawks have lost five straight games, nine of their last 10 and haven’t looked competitive in most of their contests. With four full days between their embarrassing loss to the Carolina Hurricanes and Thursday’s game versus the Buffalo Sabres, many in the hockey world wondered if heads would begin to roll in Chicago.

Instead, the Hawks look the same aside from a backup goalie swap of Drew Commesso for Arvid Söderblom. General manager Kyle Davidson will speak to reporters on Wednesday, but it’s clear that he trusts his newest head coaching hire to turn things around.

Saturday marked Blashill’s 100th game of his Hawks’ coaching tenure. He was hired in May 2025 after seven years as the Detroit Red Wings head coach and three as Jon Cooper’s assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Yes, the Hawks are still in their rebuild, which would be true even if they hadn’t fallen back in 2026-27. But now one question is whether the 57-year-old is the right figure to lead this phase of Davidson’s retool.

The Hawks’ numbers under Blashill don’t help his case.

(All stats are prior to Tuesday’s games.)

Offense

Blashill’s offense has struggled — the Hawks have scored 249 goals over the coach’s tenure, the fewest in the NHL across that span. The 2.49 goals per game average is also last.

They’ve scored 4-plus goals in just 21 games since Blashill’s hiring. In contrast, they’ve scored two or fewer goals in 53 games.

Per Natural Stat Trick, their expected goals for percentage (xGF%) is 42.81%, again a league worst by more than 2 percentage points. Another NHL worst are their scoring chances for percentage (SCF%) — 43.82%. The total chances (2,450) are higher than the worst team (Seattle Kraken, 2,422) but still second-to-last.

Corsi For (CF, all shot attempts made by a team) for the Hawks aligned with the above numbers — last with 5,058. To compare, the Carolina Hurricanes have the most Corsi For since Blashill’s hiring (7,014), and the middle of the pack are the Columbus Blue Jackets (5,783). The spot above the Hawks is, surprisingly, the Dallas Stars (5,125).

The Hawks are slightly above the bottom in shooting percentage (10.26%), but didn’t see many shots on goal fly as they are last in that category (2,427).

Defense

On the other side of the ice, the numbers are not better.

The Hawks have allowed 346 goals in their last 100 games, a 3.46 goals per game average. The total goals are the fifth-most in the NHL since 2025-26, as well as the average.

The Hawks have weathered 3,009 shots against overall (fourth-most) — that’s an average of 30.09 shots on goal per game (second-most). An average of 24.09 shots per game (2,409) have been on the 5-on-5, second-most only to the Toronto Maple Leafs (24.66 per game average)

In Blashill’s 100 games, 3,106 scoring chances (about 31.41 per game) have been allowed, the third-most in that span. They’ve allowed four or more goals 47 times, 39 of those in regulation.

Expected goals against (xGA) is a little better than the rest — 353.63, seventh-most in the NHL.

Spencer Knight must have some dents in his goaltender pads since arriving via trade. He saw the fourth-most shots in the NHL in 2025-26 (1,583) and currently the most in 2026-27 (413).

Special teams

The Hawks finished with a 16.9% power play in 2025-26 and currently have a 9.8% this season, the fourth-lowest and lowest, respectively. The coaching staff, with assistant coach Mike Vellucci responsible for the power play, has tried many options — two defensemen, five forwards, Connor Bedard quarterbacking — but nothing has worked.

Since Blashill’s hiring, the Hawks are last in the NHL in the power play (15.7%).

The penalty kill has been one of the Hawks’ strengths under Blashill, as his team was second in the area last season (83.6%). After the trades of veterans Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy, the kill has taken a hit, but they are still a respectable 78.6% with a man-disadvantage, 11th in the NHL.

Overall, the Hawks are third in the penalty kill (82.7%) in Blashill’s tenure.

Do the numbers tell all?

The stats are incriminating, but each one doesn’t take into account instances the coach can’t really control — things like unlucky breaks, garbage time or player mistakes.

Speaking of numbers, a popular talking point has been the Hawks’ internal metrics versus what’s made public. For example, in the Hawks’ 5-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 2, Natural Stat Trick showed the Avalanche with a 21-12 even-strength scoring chance advantage. But Blashill said the Hawks’ metrics had his team with a 17-16 advantage.

“They scored on some tips, we didn’t as much, (but) we competed hard,” Blashill said after that game. “(The Avalanche) won the game, but it was a game that I think — if you take the emotion or the score out from clouding your vision — it’s a pretty even game and we lose it.”

A team’s internal numbers, and which ones are valued, will differ from public models, but what’s the difference between the two? Blashill weighed in before the Florida Panthers game:

“We’re doing our chances manually. We have a criteria that we follow, and it’s not favored towards us or towards the other team, I can say that because there’s games where we’ve been out-chanced bad,” Blashill said on Nov. 4. “I would just say tell anybody that’s using analytics to write a story to build an argument to make sure they research them the best they can because they can be somewhat inaccurate sometimes.”

Advanced statistics aside, the simpler numbers are currently being held against him. Blashill is 33-52-15 in his 100 Hawks games and 237-313-87 in his nine-plus seasons as a head coach.

Is he the guy who can turn the Hawks around?

“When I took the job, I wanted the job more than other jobs that were potentially available because I felt like the long-term capabilities of this team, in terms of how good this team can be in time, were super attractive, and that remains exactly the same,” Blashill said on Tuesday. “There’s still a lot of belief (in) what that ceiling looks like for this team.

“We’re just trying to grind our way through day-by-day to make steps towards getting to that ceiling, knowing that we’re not taking an elevator, but I didn’t think that when I took the job. I thought it was going to be a grind, and it is a grind, but that’s OK. Anything that happens, usually when it’s great, is because it was really hard in the process.”

klumpkins@chicagotribune.com