Did the Chicago Blackhawks make a mistake with hiring Jeff Blashill as their head coach?

The Chicago Blackhawks named Jeff Blashill their new head coach Thursday. Blashill becomes the 42nd head coach in team history, replacing Anders Sorensen, who was the team's interim head coach for the remainder of the 2024-25 season after the team fired Luke Richardson on December 6, 2024.

"Jeff is an incredibly smart and talented coach who boasts more than 25 years of coaching experience across developmental leagues, the NHL and the world stage," Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson said. "He's thrived when in a position to develop young players and has shown he's capable of blending that into overall team success, a vision and philosophy we share for where we are today and where we see our team in the future. We couldn't be more excited for what's to come under Jeff's direction."

Tenure with Detroit

Blashill spent seven seasons as head coach of the Red Wings from 2015 to 2022, where he finished with a record of 204-261-72 and made the playoffs in 2016.

His overall NHL winning percentage of .447 is one of the lowest among modern coaches with 500 or more games. Despite this, he has worked well with developing younger players.

Blashill is credited with helping key players in Detroit, such as Dylan Larkin, Moritz Seider, and Lucas Raymond. This could be one of the reasons why the Blackhawks targeted him. He could help out young players on the team, such as Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, and Sam Rinzel.

The Doubt

Still, the hire drew mixed emotions. Some fans expected the Blackhawks to go after coaches with more playoff experience such as Gerard Gallant and Jay Woodcroft, or college hockey coaches with strong track records, such as Jay Pandolfo and Pat Ferschweiler.

The Blackhawks finished the 2024-25 season with a record of 25-46-11, missing the playoffs for the fifth straight season and seven of the past eight.

Another Tank Season?

If the Blackhawks finish low in the standings like they did the past three seasons, they could land top 2026 draft pick Gavin McKenna, a projected elite talent who could complement Bedard and accelerate the rebuild. Fun Fact: Gavin McKenna is Connor Bedard's cousin, which makes this scenario more intriguing if the Blackhawks can draft him next year.

That's what makes Blashill's hire great. However, fans want to see the next step of the rebuild—not another horrific season.

Blashill was also an assistant coach for Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning for three seasons, bringing championship-level experience to Chicago. The question is whether that, combined with his player development strengths, will translate into actual success in Chicago.

The Blackhawks are willing to take a chance. They are hoping that this could be the next step in the right direction. If this does not turn out the way they expected, this will be another setback in their rebuild.