How much longer does Jeremy Colliton get with the Blackhawks?
Coaching changes in the NHL happen for just a few reasons, but it boils down to expectations. The Chicago Blackhawks are going to have to drastically change their expectations before Jeremy Colliton gets let go.
Firing a coach doesn’t instantly change a team. Sure, sometimes teams like St. Louis in 2019 or Pittsburgh in 2016 ended up really benefitting from a coaching change, but Chicago is not in that type of position just yet.
The Detroit Red Wings have been rebuilding for just about as long as Chicago has been now, and they just re-signed their coach who has a worse record than Jeremy Colliton. You see coaches like Jeff Blashill get contract extensions because the team they are coaching is going to struggle regardless, you might as well not waste their time with a coaching change as well.
What would firing Colliton do to help the Blackhawks? Sure a new system and maybe a coach that could better utilize a player like Dylan Strome would be nice, but at the end of the day, Colliton is just doing his best with the players he has.
What is a coaching change going to do to help the progression of Boqvist, Dach, Mitchell, and so many other young players? These guys have a coach who is great at communicating apparently, and one that is willing to play them in the big games.
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Sure Colliton is not going to coach this team to a Stanley Cup, but at the end of the day, this team didn’t move on from Denis Savard to Joel Quenneville until the 2009 season. The Blackhawks coaching staff might be inexperienced, but really the coaching staff’s main goal should be the development of these young players anyway.
I believe that Jeremy Colliton probably gets till the 2022-23 season before he could potentially get fired. He is not going anywhere right now, no matter the outcome on the ice. Next season the record probably doesn’t matter, but after that everything matters. Next season’s success for Colliton will be measured by how well he gets these young players to the next level. The Hawks would have to start the season on a pretty bad note in order for Colliton to get let go mid-year.
There are a lot of top-level NHL coaches around, and while Colliton isn’t as successful as someone else, right now the team’s success is measured through development and not winning championships.