The Chicago Blackhawks avoid looking bad as David Carle spurns other NHL teams

It hurt that the Chicago Blackhawks' first choice to be the team's next head coach rejected the franchise. At least the club will not have to worry about looking bad if David Carle had taken another NHL head coaching job.

The University of Denver announced Carle is staying with the program he has led to national titles.

Carle made it clear that the volatile job security in the NHL was not something that appealed to him.

While that is a huge blow to the Blackhawks' rebuild, at least it is respectable that he wants to stay in the NCAA since the job security is much better.

Clearly, the Blackhawks could have paid him a lot more. Also, the potential draw of hoisting the Stanley Cup looks more iconic than holding a Frozen Four championship plaque is something the Blackhawks could have used to sell him on leaving college.

However, the Blackhawks could not offer him the security he is enjoying in Denver. Plus, in the NHL, Carle has one, maybe two opportunities for a team he would be coaching to acquire first-round talent. At Denver, he could hypothetically use all of his roster spots on No. 1 picks.

Also, he does not have to worry about the salary cap at college. He just has to make sure he has enough NIL money to get good players. Also, NIL money does not matter as Western Michigan bounced Carle's Pioneers this year from the Frozen Four with no player earning NIL cash.

That is why you can respect a 35-year-old coach rejecting the NHL.

However, it would have looked awful had Carle taken another NHL head coaching job.

Then that screams the Blackhawks' rebuild is not going well. It would have come across as another team's future is much better than the Hawks, especially if he had taken the Anaheim Ducks job.

Had he gone to Anaheim, then it would have signaled his belief that the Ducks are ahead of the Blackhawks when it comes to getting back to being competitive.

The Hawks have avoided that PR nightmare.

Instead, the Hawks just have to pivot to their backup plan. That looks better because you can respect Carle staying where he is comfortable. Had he gone someplace else, it would have shown he did not respect the organization enough to lead the Blackhawks to playoff glory.