Hawks’ Blashill looking for system tweaks, and Knight’s blunt words

All eyes have been on the Blackhawks for the past week — and not for good reasons.

Now on a six-game losing streak and falling in nine of their last 10, the hockey world is keeping track of the Hawks’ struggles. After an embarrassing 9-2 loss at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, the Hawks were expected to look in the mirror and make some decisions. Members of the coaching staff, hockey operations and management took time on Sunday to discuss adjustments, per a source.

Outside of a single roster move, things didn’t look much different as of Monday. An update on the past few days for the Hawks:

Jeff Blashill to remain Hawks coach

Jeff Blashill will remain the Hawks’ head coach for now. No coaching or staff changes will be made at this time, per a team source.

The coach spoke about the Sunday conversations after Monday’s practice.

“Generally we do (internal assessments) anyways, but I’d say (it was) intensified,” Blashill said. “What areas can we improve? What do we need to improve at? And then how do you improve at those areas?”

“Once identified, how can we get better at them? You can look at full-scale changes, you can look at tweaks. I think midseason, I certainly prefer tweaks to full-scale changes.”

The Hawks are 4-13-1 heading into Thursday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. They’re in the NHL’s bottom-five in a lot of categories — goals for and against per game, power play percentage, shots on goal for and against per game, total scoring chances for and against.

When asked about trying a new strategy altogether, Blashill gave a different perspective.

“I’ve lived through situations like this, and you can make things much worse by making full-scale changes where then guys go out and they don’t know what they’re doing, and (that’s) honestly way worse,” Blashill said. “I had a lot of conversations with our players too, about ‘OK, do we know what we’re doing? Is there hesitation?’

“Number one thing on system play by far is belief in the system. As I talked to the players, there was full belief in the systems that we’re doing. I didn’t get any feel of ‘why are we doing this?’ and I’ve got that in the past. You get that when things aren’t going well. I got zero feel of that (from the players).”

He does have a focus of what he wants to improve.

“Just playing with the puck, because if you have the puck more, you’re generally not giving up chances,” Blashill said. “That’s either our D doing a good job moving the puck out of our end or our forwards managing the puck through the neutral zone into the O-zone so we have the puck more.

“Number two is the principles of defending. Making sure it’s stick on puck, body on body, they’ve got to go through you to get to the net … we (also) want to be a team that uses our speed to pressure, not dissimilar to Carolina.”

Bowen Byram update

The strange Byram Blackhawks saga continues.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday that Byram’s agent, Darren Ferris, told him that Byram is seeing a “certain specialist” and that he won’t return until that’s done. What the specialist is observing and Byram’s exact injury remain unknown, but Friedman said it was Ferris’s desire for the 25-year-old to take this step.

Blashill confirmed the specialist meeting on Monday.

“He spent time with the specialist last week, and I think progress was definitely made,” Blashill said. “I don’t want to get into it because I don’t know enough about it.”

Byram last played on Oct. 13 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. While he took a puck to the face, he didn’t leave early or appear to be in discomfort at that time, so it’s not confirmed when the injury happened.

It’s not a concussion, Blashill said, and he also brushed off concerns on Saturday.

“Obviously we’d like to have him in the lineup, but it’s not necessarily something that’s concerning, I wouldn’t say that,” Blashill said. “I started with day-to-day and it’s been a lot of days. You wish it wasn’t that, but no, I wouldn’t call it concerning.”

Byram, along with Jordan Greenway, joined the Hawks via trade from the Sabres in late June in exchange for defenseman Louis Crevier and the Nos. 4 and 45 picks in the 2026 NHL draft. Byram signed a six-year, $75 million extension shortly after, which kicks in next season.

He has one point with a minus-7 rating and has five shots on goal in six games this season.

Patrick Kane also remains day-to-day, Blashill said. The 37-year-old skated before Monday’s practice, but did not join the team.

Trades incoming?

In the same report, Friedman said the Hawks have become “very active” in the player market. He shared that the team has been contacted about their prospects and their centers.

Blashill was asked if Arvid Söderblom’s waiver placement and eventual Rockford assignment was a wake-up call for his team. He gave an interesting response:

“I definitely think everybody should know that these aren’t infinite positions, whether it’s anybody involved,” Blashill said. “We have to perform. It’s easy to say that, but you have to grind your way and get better.”

General manager Kyle Davidson is scheduled to meet with the media at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Drew Commesso recalled from Rockford

Commesso, 24, has been recalled from Rockford to fill Söderblom’s backup goaltender position. Over the summer, he said he was ready, and now he’ll get his opportunity.

“It means everything, I’ve worked super hard for this,” Commesso said. “I’m willing to put my life on the line for this team, for these guys, and do anything I can to help. I’m going to come to the rink and provide a spark these guys will hopefully build off of and do my best every day to bring my best effort and be the best person and teammate I can.”

The goaltender signed a two-year, $1.75 million contract in the offseason. In 121 appearances with the IceHogs, he has a 2.75 goals against average, a .905 save percentage and a 51-55-11 record with eight shutouts.

It helps that he’ll share the room with a close friend in Spencer Knight.

“He’s one of my good buddies, so to have a goalie partner where you’re that close with, it’s special,” Commesso said. “It doesn’t happen all the time, so hopefully it’s something that we can both push and make each other better and at the same time be there for each other, it’s only beneficial to both of us.”

Knight shared the net with Söderblom for almost two seasons, and did not mince words speaking about Söderblom’s roster move.

“I look at myself and the people in this room — (we) should be pissed off at ourselves for letting us allow that to happen,” Knight said. “I’m sure there’s times where he (wanted) to perform and play better, but I think he’s played really well for us for a long stretch of time, and I think there are times that we f−−−ed him over as a team.

“I wish I could be there for him. When that happens to your teammate, especially as a goalie partner, I don’t feel good about it. I hope everyone on the team takes a little pride in the sense that we can’t let that stuff happen, and we can’t put our teammates in those spots.”