It is a quick change, but it was also probably one that was necessary for the Blackhawks given the way this season — and the rebuild — has been going.
Not only is Chicago again one of the worst teams in the NHL, but it is not seeing much, if any, progress from its young players, while the veteran players on the roster have not produced. It has turned into a very grim situation where losing is starting to not only become a habit, but also an expectation.
That is not what any organization wants to see happen.
Between 2008 and 2017 the Blackhawks were one of the top organizations in hockey, winning Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013 and 2015, while making the playoffs nine years in a row. The team was built on a core of players like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Sharp and Corey Crawford and was a constant contender. Eventually, though, those players started to get older, and they eventually retired or were traded away as part of the team’s current rebuild.
They have not been able to successfully complete that rebuild.
Their only playoff appearance over the past eight seasons came during the 2019-20 season, when the NHL expanded the playoffs to 24 teams in a COVID-shortened season. The Blackhawks were the 24th team in that field, and in a normal season, they would have missed the postseason by a significant margin.
They have not come close in any season since then.
There is some long-term hope thanks to the selection of Connor Bedard with the No. 1 overall pick in 2023, but even he has not quite taken a significant step forward this season.
The head coach is not likely to fix all of the problems here, and there might be deeper problems in the organization than just that. But this was probably a necessary move in the short term to try to salvage something out of this season.
