The Blackhawks fired coach Luke Richardson on Thursday after a dismal start to the season.
By doing so, Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson made it clear his declarations about taking a step forward this season weren't lip service. He meant it.
Nobody in the Hawks organization harbors any delusions that this should be a playoff team already, but another last-place finish — something the 8-16-2 Hawks are currently trending toward — won't be accepted. The long-term rebuild remains on a promising track, but the path towards that brighter future needs to begin climbing upward eventually.
Richardson finishes his 2.5-year tenure with a 57-118-15 record, one of the worst marks in hockey history, although it's hard to fault him too much for that given how little talent he had to work with. The Hawks' 4-2 loss to the Bruins on Wednesday, their fourth consecutive regulation defeat, proved to be his final night behind the United Center bench.
Anders Sorensen, who had been coaching the Hawks' AHL affiliate in Rockford, takes over as interim coach and will make his United Center debut Saturday against the Jets. Hawks assistant GM Mark Eaton subsequently takes over as Rockford's interim coach.
"As we have begun to take steps forward in our rebuilding process, we felt that the results did not match our expectations for a higher level of execution this season and ultimately came to the decision that a change was necessary," Davidson said in a statement. "We wish Luke and his family all the best moving forward."
Sorensen is expected to remain interim coach for the remainder of the season, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported. Richardson's three-year contract (aside from a fourth-year team option) would have expired after this season.
Hawks chairman Danny Wirtz stated he "fully supports" Davidson's decision and has the "utmost confidence in [Davidson] and the rest of our hockey operations team as they begin their search for the next head coach."
The quickness and abruptness of Richardson's removal — just 26 games into the season — comes somewhat as a surprise. After all, this was really the first season in which any expectations whatsoever were placed on Richardson.
During the last two seasons, Davidson — aware of the meager assortment of players he had given Richardson — was consistently complimentary of Richardson's coaching performance despite the terrible records. And although Davidson proclaimed he expected this season to be different, he still described some fans' calls for Richardson's firing as "ridiculous" just over a month ago on Nov. 3.
But while the Hawks were losing in October, they were doing so in a respectable and competitive way, suggesting that a turnaround was possible. In November, conversely, they not only continued losing but also played much worse, closely resembling the past two "tank" seasons.
During five-on-five play, the Hawks' 48.8% expected-goals ratio in October ranked 19th in the league, whereas their 42.2% expected-goals ratio since Nov. 1 ranks last in the league by a sizable margin.
Connor Bedard's struggles, however, have been more concerning and important than the team's struggles. After all, the performance of many of this season's veteran placeholders hardly matters to the franchise's long-term future, but the development of Bedard will utterly make or break the success of the rebuild.
With 19 points in 26 games, Bedard's 0.73 points-per-game rate has declined since last season (0.90), and the difference in his confidence levels is even starker. He has been vocal about his discouragement, saying on Nov. 22, "I just don’t feel like I’m really doing anything."
Some of that is Bedard's own responsibility, but Richardson's conservative system and erratic line-juggling didn't seem to be prioritizing the teenager's offensive growth or putting him in the best positions to succeed, either.
Bedard has spent between 9% and 40% of his five-on-five ice time with nine different forward linemates this season — a far cry from last season, when he spent 73% with Philipp Kurashev due to their sustained chemistry.
Richardson's failure to find suitable roles for Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi or get them clicking with Bedard — even though Davidson specifically signed them to complement Bedard — was another major shortcoming. So was Kurashev's precipitous regression this season, as well as Lukas Reichel's precipitous regression last season.
Richardson, a former defenseman himself, always seemed better at working with defensemen. He repeatedly suggested he didn't believe the Hawks had the skill to match opponents offensively, and his shift this season to a 1-2-2 forechecking system back in training camp underscored his commitment to a low-risk, low-reward approach.
He may have been correct about that system giving the Hawks the best chance to stay competitive on a nightly basis, considering they've been leading, tied or within one goal in the third period in 25 of 26 games.
But it wasn't working for Bedard. And with top forward prospect Frank Nazar potentially nearing an NHL call-up and plenty more offensive-minded talent on the way — including offensive defensemen Kevin Korchinski and Artyom Levshunov and forward Oliver Moore — the Hawks couldn't afford for the same things that were stunting Bedard to begin stunting others.
Richardson never said he wasn't willing to adapt his style to new personnel; his open-mindedness was actually a strong suit compared to predecessor Jeremy Colliton. But Davidson evidently believed it would be easier for a different coach to usher in that new style.
Did Davidson upgrade the roster enough to give Richardson a fair chance to meet his rising expectations? It'll take more time to determine the answer to that question.
Sorensen, 49, has been in the Hawks organization since 2013 and now becomes the first Swedish-born coach in NHL history. He has done a good job this season fostering the development of Nazar, Korchinski, Levshunov and others in Rockford, and his background is entirely working with young players, which makes him well-suited for the interim role.
Sorensen's communication style will be one immediately noticeable contrast between him and Richardson. He's a concise, to-the-point speaker with a remarkable ability to express substantive thoughts in minimal words.
One factor that might work against Sorensen in the search is the fact he's a first-time NHL coach, just like Richardson and Colliton were. The Hawks might seek someone more experienced this time around.
It's worth noting Richardson's relationships with his players and staff remained healthy to the end. His lack of communication with Taylor Hall before healthy-scratching him Nov. 16 in Vancouver was a rare misstep, and it was admirable that he took ownership of the oversight afterward. He never lost the locker room by any means.
The bigger issue was Richardson resorting to grasping at straws — straws like benching Hall, the team's best neutral-zone puck-carrier — in increasing desperation as the Hawks' performance worsened.
On Wednesday night, he maligned the fact he couldn't identify any singular Achilles' heel in his team, that instead an "an accumulation of one-offs every game" had compounded to put them in their current position. One day later, the team is no longer his team.
