11:12 a.m.: Chicago had made Blashill’s hiring official. They’re also bringing in Rangers assistant Michael Peca to serve in the same role on Blashill’s staff, Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports. Peca, 51, had been working under Peter Laviolette in New York for the past two years. He’s also worked as a development coach for the Capitals and an assistant coach for AHL Rochester. Sorensen will be on Blashill’s staff as an assistant as expected, while Penguins assistant Mike Vellucci is a strong candidate for the third and final assistant job on Blashill’s bench, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
10:26 a.m.: The Blackhawks will announce Lightning assistant Jeff Blashill as their next head coach later today, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.
Blashill was the only name to be publicly linked to Chicago’s vacancy throughout their search aside from University of Denver bench boss David Carle, who opted to stay in his NCAA role. The Hawks have had nearly a month to explore other options after Carle withdrew his name from consideration for the position, and while there were some other unknown candidates they were considering as recently as a few days ago, Blashill has been positioned as the favorite for the role ever since his name first emerged.
Chicago will be Blashill’s second stop as an NHL head coach. His first, a seven-year run as head coach of the Red Wings, was a tough assignment as the team slowly entered a full teardown with him at the helm. That understandably led to a poor record – a 204-261-72 (.447) mark in the regular season with just one playoff series and one playoff win to his name, coming in Game 3 of the 2016 first round against the Lightning in his first season behind the Detroit bench.
There are legitimate reasons for optimism that Blashill can be a more effective head man with a Blackhawks club in the latter stages of their rebuild rather than with a Detroit club in the early stages. Since being let go by the Wings in 2022, he’s served as Jon Cooper’s top assistant in Tampa for the last three years. He also put together a strong minor-league resume with Detroit’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids before being promoted to the top role there, guiding the Griffins to a Calder Cup championship in 2013 and being named the league’s Coach of the Year the following season.
Blashill will take over for interim head coach Anders Sorensen, who was behind the Chicago bench for most of this year after the team dismissed Luke Richardson in early December. Sorensen, who coached the team to a 17-30-9 (.384) record in the season’s final 56 games, is expected to remain with the Blackhawks in some capacity.
The 51-year-old Blashill will likely have a significantly bolstered roster to manage come opening night compared to how the Hawks are beginning the offseason. Not only do they have the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft that could potentially slot into Blashill’s first-year lineup, they’re expected to be one of the most aggressive clubs in free agency this summer with nearly $31MM in cap space and no high-priced pending RFAs to re-sign.
While Blashill may not be the person behind Chicago’s bench when they’re a consistent playoff team again, he’ll at least be tasked with helping the club exit its years-long rebuild. He’ll do with a stacked group of under-25 players that includes forwards Connor Bedard, Oliver Moore, and Frank Nazar, defensemen Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, and Alex Vlasic, as well as goaltender Spencer Knight.
With Chicago making Blashill’s appointment set in stone, only three head coaching vacancies remain: the Bruins, Kraken, and Penguins.
Image courtesy of Kim Klement-Imagn Images.