Blackhawks: The moves Rocky Wirtz needs to make in 2020-21

After winning three Stanley Cups since taking over as team owner, Rocky Wirtz will have to make some big changes if he wants to bring success back to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2020-21.

Since 2017, it’s seemed like the Chicago Blackhawks ice time has been one big nightmare. The second Game 4 of the first-round series against Nashville ended, the Blackhawks haven’t been the same.

I can sit here and talk about how big losses change guys, but I don’t see that as the problem. The Blackhawks won multiple Stanley Cups with that core group that lost in 2017 and returned in 2018. The big issue came when Stan Bowman started making kneejerk decisions.

The Artemi Panarin trade isn’t the big reason why this team hasn’t been successful, it was just the straw that broke the camels back. There were many issues underlined by a successful 2017 season, they were just kept hidden, as no one had any idea that some players would slow down as fast as they did in 2018 to now.

The biggest change Rocky Wirtz needs to make is to remove Stan and Scotty Bowman from the equation. They’ve done their fair share of winning in Chicago, but the second they pulled the trigger on firing Joel Quenneville should have been the second they started to rebuild.

This rebuild for the Blackhawks doesn’t just start on the ice, it starts from the top to the bottom of the organization. I wouldn’t rip apart everything, as their scouts have done well with steals like Alex DeBrincat in the later rounds of the draft, but still, some of the higher-ups need to go.

Start with finding an outside person to be the team president. When the team president has been chosen, give him or her the option of thing their own general manager. If need, they could add and remove people from the scout team.

From there, the team needs to find a new coaching staff. Every coach on the Blackhawks needs to go. It’s time to clean house in Chicago. No matter what happens next year, unless they win a Stanley Cup or get close to it, they need to do this. A decent season only puts a bandaid on this major issue.

Lastly, the product on the ice needs to change. As players like Corey Crawford get older, they need to scout their next goalie for the future. The skaters are close to being successful, but there are still some holes they need to fix.

This team isn’t far off from being successful, they just don’t have the right people in power to do so. There have been too many bonehead decisions left unrecognized for the past three years. I’m interested in what decisions Rocky Wirtz will make in the upcoming months.