What we heard from Blackhawks’ GM, including his ‘full confidence’ in Blashill

The Blackhawks are under a harsh spotlight amid their 4-13-1 start. On Wednesday, general manager Kyle Davidson stepped directly into the glare.

Davidson, 38, spoke for nearly 45 minutes about the state of his team during a scheduled media availability at the Blackhawks Ice Center.

While the general consensus in the preseason was that the Hawks were ready to take a step forward in their rebuild, they’re stumbling backward — they’ve lost six straight games and nine of 10. Davidson took the blame.

“This isn’t what we told our fans to expect, and I take responsibility in this,” he said. “I’m not going to come up here and make any excuses.”

Here’s what we heard from Davidson on Wednesday.

1. He reiterated confidence in coach Jeff Blashill.

As if the lack of staff moves this week wasn’t enough, Davidson made it clear he isn’t ready to move on from Blashill or his assistants.

“(Blashill) is our head coach, I have full confidence in him,” Davidson said. “The players believe in him, he’s made them better (and) they’ve stated that to you.

“I’ve seen this perception out there that he’s stubborn (and) he doesn’t want to change. I contradict that based on my experience with (Blashill) and in our conversations. He’s someone that seeks out feedback, wants alternative opinions and he’s behind everything I’ve laid out. We’re very much on the same page with how we assess the team and how we think we can be better moving forward.”

Since the Hawks lost to the Carolina Hurricanes 9-2 on Saturday, Blashill hasn’t made noticeable lineup changes in practices. It aligns with Davidson’s status quo, though he said he’s bringing in assistant general manager of player development Mark Eaton for the foreseeable future.

Davidson remains patient while trying to turn things around, but what’s the line between patience and non-urgency?

“I certainly understand the preference for something like that, (wanting) big action, but that’s not necessarily the best way, in my opinion, to productive progress,” Davidson said. “I believe in this coaching staff, I believe in (Blashill). We’re going to support some of the coaching staff with bringing Mark Eaton in.

“I think (there’s) certainly urgency. (Bringing in Eaton is) some pretty meaningful action and some reorganization going on there internally. We’re going to work together to make sure that we keep taking steps and dig our way out of the hole that’s been created.”

Davidson specifically mentioned addressing opponents’ scoring chances with Blashill, which is why the GM brought in Eaton, hoping to spark a turnaround.

“To simply put it, we’re not defending well enough,” Davidson said. “We give up odd-man rushes, specifically two-on-ones and breakaways at a rate that’s one of the highest in the league, as well as the high-danger chances that we’re giving up at too high a rate in our defensive zone, which obviously then leads to goals against, which we have to do a much better job of cutting down on.”

Blashill did tweak the team’s forecheck in attempts to improve defensively. They’ll still run their 2-1-2 but employ a 2-3 neutral zone rather than a 1-1-3 to help prevent breakaways.

“We want to be more on our toes in any kind live (action) where the puck is in play,” Blashill said Tuesday. “When we can get any kind of pressure, we want to pressure. But when we can’t, especially coming off the bench, we were working on our set breakout and what I would call more of a set forecheck and that’s the 2-3.”

Of course, the Hawks offense and special teams need work too. Davidson repeatedly reiterated his confidence in Blashill and his staff to improve those areas. The pressing question for the GM: Is there a timeline for when those improvements will come?

“Not entirely,” Davidson said. “We have to see how the next little while goes — it’s not like there’s a date in weeks or months or something that I have in mind. We’re going to enter into a little new phase of how we’re focusing on some different things and refocusing on some elements and providing support in that endeavor, so let’s just see how that goes.”

2. The Kevin Korchinski kerfuffle.

Korchinski was the first draft pick of Davidson’s GM tenure, selected at No. 7 in 2022. Four years later, the Hawks don’t seem to have plans for the 22-year-old defenseman after signing him in August to a 2-year, $2.65 million contract.

He can’t seem to earn Blashill’s consistent trust, even in the extended absence of the injured Bowen Byram. Ethan Del Mastro has taken that empty spot, while Korchinski has seen time only when others have multiple poor showings. None of it has resulted in wins, but Korchinski would benefit from playing time for a potential top-six spot in the future.

While Korchinski’s situation has been confusing, Davidson doesn’t have any qualms about Blashill’s use of the defenseman.

“I’m not concerned about it,” Davidson said. “We were in a position (early in Korchinski’s career) where we had less young players, and he was in this position (where) he got the playing time. Now he’s at a point where there’s a way that he could go to Rockford if that was what we deemed, which it isn’t.

“We don’t want to go down that path, so he’s got to continue to fight every day to get back in the lineup. That part of that is made more difficult by not winning, and it’s hard to stick with a lineup over and over and over again that’s just not winning.”

But Korchinski isn’t getting an opportunity despite the losing. The defensive pairings have been the same for the most part, with Alex Vlasic, Ian Cole, Wyatt Kaiser, Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel and Del Mastro the consistent defenseman.

“I’m not going to go into what (Korchinski) is not doing versus what other guys are doing,” Davidson said. “It’s up to the coaches to make a decision on who gives them the best chance to play certain situations to pair with other defensemen.”

3. Byram is still on the mend.

The Hawks signed Byram to a six-year, $75 million contract extension in July after trading Louis Crevier and the Nos. 4 and 45 picks of the 2026 draft in June. Davidson hasn’t been getting his money’s worth yet.

Byram, 24, has been out since Oct. 13 with an upper-body injury, presumably suffered versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. The defenseman has missed 12 games but on Wednesday joined the Hawks for practice for the first time in a month (in a gray noncontact jersey).

Blashill confirmed reports that Byram recently has seen a specialist for his injury, the details of which remain unknown. The general manager brushed off long-term concerns about the defenseman.

“We’re just (hoping to) get him over this last hurdle, and having him back around the team is good progress,” Davidson said.

Byram has one assist in six games this season, averaging 24 minutes, 42 seconds of ice time and while leading the top power-play unit.

4. No plans for desperate moves.

Amid a sluggish start, it is tempting to make a big move just to stop the bleeding. Davidson, however, made it clear he has no intention of panicking.

“There’s no quick fix here, there’s no silver bullet (and) we’re not going to staff change, trade or sign our way out of this,” Davidson said. “We have to perform for 60 minutes (and) we have to do it night after night to get the results that we desire. So what does that mean? It means we’re placing a renewed emphasis on the fundamentals.”

The Hawks have the assets to make an aggressive move if they so choose. Davidson has three first-round picks in the 2027 draft, as well as a long line of up-and-coming forwards and prospects.

Davidson took advantage of the recent GM meetings to network with his peers across the NHL.

“(It was an) opportunity for a lot of good discussions, and I’ve made it clear around the league that we are intent in our attempts to improve the playing roster,” he said. “While we do have a lot of significant assets that are appealing around the league, we’re also not going to do something to make a bad deal.

“This is a little bit of a precarious time where you don’t want to do something for the sake of doing something and make a mistake that you’re going to regret later. But that doesn’t change our intent and how myself and our staff will approach opportunities around the league as they may present themselves.”

5. Is Davidson the right person for the job?

Muck like with Blashill, Davidson hears the criticism about the team’s slow start and questions about whether he can flip the Hawks into contention. The GM made his pitch.

“I can confidently say that we’ve, as a group, acquired through the draft and other means some very meaningful foundational pieces that are going to be great to elite players in this league,” Davidson said. “That path is certainly not linear but … we have to get through these rough times that they’re experiencing in their development in order to get to the other side, and they’ll have that under their belt.

“We still fully believe that while also recognizing the moment we’re in. We’re going to work every day to either put our players here in the best situation to succeed, give them what they need to develop and also do our part externally to continue to improve the roster both now and in the future.”