As Chicago has searched for its next bench boss, they’ve been linked to very few candidates. Aside from potentially retaining interim head coach Anders Sorensen, the only external candidate they were known to speak with was David Carle who instead is remaining at the University of Denver.
However, another coach has popped up in the search. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (video link) that the Blackhawks have interviewed Jeff Blashill for their head coaching position.
Blashill has only been the bench boss once at the NHL level but it was a fairly lengthy stint as he spent seven years at the helm of Detroit, running from 2015-16 to 2021-22. While the Red Wings made the playoffs in his first year with the team, they failed to do so in the other six (and haven’t since he was let go, either). Under the 51-year-old’s tutelage, Detroit played to a 204-261-70 record, good for a points percentage of just .480.
Blashill has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach with the Lightning and has been a speculative candidate for other roles before now. It appears that Chicago isn’t the only team potentially interested in him as Seravalli added that Seattle is believed to be considering him as well. At this point, it certainly feels like Blashill is going to get another opportunity to run an NHL bench but whether Chicago, a team that’s looking to emerge from its rebuild and become much more competitive in a hurry, is the right fit for his services remains to be seen.
Chicago brought in Luke Richardson as their head coach in 2022 with an eye on more of a development-focused approach. However, the team struggled mightily with him at the helm, winning just 57 of 190 games, resulting in Sorensen being brought up from AHL Rockford back in early December to take over the rest of the way but the Blackhawks only won 17 of 56 games following the change, resulting in a coaching search that is nearing the one-month mark.