Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson is trying to be realistic with his expectations.
But he said it explicitly Friday: "I don’t believe this is a last-place group."
The fact the 8-16-2 Hawks currently sit in that bottom spot in the NHL standings prompted Davidson to fire coach Luke Richardson on Thursday. He described the decision as difficult from a personal standpoint — he choked up at the end of his press conference after calling Richardson a "special person" — but necessary from an on-ice standpoint.
"We were close in a lot of games, which is a step forward from last year," Davidson said. "But at times, some of the reasons why we fell short in those games were habitual things that I think can be cleaned up through feedback and through some different instruction, practice between games, that kind of thing. Some of the reasons games went sideways on us I think were likely fixable."
Just over a month ago, Davidson told the Sun-Times that he "actually likes the way we’re playing," but the Hawks' underlying metrics fell off precipitously right after that interview and their losses continued to pile up. He hoped wins over the Panthers and Stars a couple weeks ago would ignite a turnaround, but when four consecutive regulation losses followed, he acted swiftly.
"When I came to the conclusion that I wanted to make a change, you make it," he said. "I don't think [that] once you cross that threshold in your own mind, you can go back."
This move invites some scrutiny on himself, too. Interim coach Anders Sorensen will be the fourth coach to work underneath Davidson; if he hires someone else after the season to take over the job permanently, that person will be the fifth. And while Davidson has succeeded with his first priority as GM so far — amassing a large, talented pool of prospects — many fans are impatient with the total lack of progress at the NHL level so far.
One question worth asking: What specific things does Davidson believe can be cleaned up?
"It’s just the basic execution," he said. "Why are we icing the puck at tough times? What’s the cause? Let’s peel that back. Turnovers in bad spots on the ice — let’s peel that back and understand why. How do we fix that?
"Defensively, we’ve been pretty solid. We’ve cleaned up a lot of the mistakes that we saw last year. [We're] pretty decent on the other end. But in transitioning the puck, possessing the puck and creating offense, that’s been tough."
Another question worth asking: Does Davidson have any individual regrets not bringing in more or different players last summer, or better setting the team up to succeed in another way?
"You're always evaluating and assessing what you could've done better," he said. "I don't know if we're at that point right now where we've got enough information. Again, I think we have taken some nice steps, but we're in last place. So you have to recognize that."
One way Davidson could inject more skill and life into this team during the season is by calling up top prospect Frank Nazar, whom Sorensen had been helping thrive in the AHL, although he must be careful to do so at the right time and right setting so as not to disrupt Nazar's development.
He suggested that could be a possibility after a few games to "let the group settle here a little bit." The Hawks will host the Jets on Saturday afternoon before traveling to the New York area to face the Rangers, Islanders and Devils next week.
Davidson said he expects the rest of the preexisting Hawks coaching staff to remain in place the rest of the season underneath Sorensen.
That staff includes assistant coach Derek King, whom some were surprised wasn't tabbed to fill in again as interim coach after doing a good job with that in 2021-22. After all, Sorensen was once an assistant to King in Rockford; now they've switched places in the power structure. Davidson said he didn't consider King this time, though.
"Anders is a new face, a new voice, new ideas," Davidson said. "It was just something new. We’ve gone down that road with 'Kinger' before, and I think there could be some fear of him just being the de facto 'interim guy,' right? He’s in a role here."
Davidson said he prefers to wait until after the season to conduct a full coaching search (which will include Sorensen) because "inevitably all the people that you'd really like to talk to" are currently employed by other teams and therefore inaccessible.
That comment might throw cold water on the likelihood of the Hawks hired an experienced retread like ex-Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft or ex-Kings coach Todd McLellan — two names getting publicly discussed a lot Friday.
