Kyle Davidson's Blackhawks rebuild is reaching the accountability stage

Anyone with a few tools and enough determination can destroy a car. Give someone a heavy reciprocating saw and enough time, and they can eventually end up with a pile of scrap at their feet, ready to be sold to the highest bidder. It's the building side of it that takes knowledge, know-how, grace, and some elbow grease.

The same goes for rebuilding an NHL franchise.

General manager Kyle Davidson took over the Chicago Blackhawks on an interim basis in 2021, and ownership gave him that aforementioned heavy reciprocating saw and the mandate to leave nothing of value left. He was proficient enough at that teardown to secure himself a multi-year extension to stay in the Windy City.

Now comes the hard part for Kyle Davidson's Blackhawks rebuild

Eventually, a time needs to arrive where Davidson is held accountable for the state of the team he's been running for half a decade, however, and it feels like that time is upon us. This is the tough part. The actual rebuilding, where just having a handful of shiny pieces is no longer enough. Now they need to fit. Now the Blackhawks need to be constructed into a whole that is better than the individual parts.

Just having an offensive engine like Connor Bedard isn't enough. Just being able to note that Davidson has made 11 first-round picks and seven second-rounders since 2011 isn't either. Those players now needed to be developed into high-end professional players for Chicago. They don't all have to be All-Stars, but they need to be roster fits.

Not only that, but Davidson must find ways to cleverly turn some of his futures--all those picks can't make the NHL roster, let's be honest--into younger, but established NHL talent with which to flesh out the roster. If Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl can't drag the Edmonton Oilers to a Stanley Cup parade, there's no reason to believe that Bedard and Frank Nazar can do it for Chicago. Especially since they don't play in the wet-paper-soft Pacific Division.

NHL's mushy middle is littered with rebuilds that lose steam where the Blackhawks are now

Hitting on high, first-round draft picks is a baseline expectation of all NHL organizations. No talent or skill went into drafting Bedard at first overall. Scouts had known about him since he was 11. Surrounding him with the kind of players he needs to succeed does, however. That's a tough lesson that the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, and even the LA Kings have learned or are learning now.

Just having good prospects doesn't magically advance teams to the Stanley Cup Final. A quick glance at the final four teams left standing--yes, even the way-ahead-of-schedule Montreal Canadiens--is all the proof Blackhawks should need.

These aren't teams driven by one player or one line. They are deep from top to bottom, with a handful of players skating with a forward group or defensive pairing down from where they would just about anywhere else in the NHL. That takes a mixture of planning and open-mindedness. The ability to jump on a Noah Dobson or Logan Stankoven when they are available via trade, while finding underrated players like Lane Hutson in the draft; that's the only way to get out of the bottom of the standings, through the middle, and into meaningful playoff hockey.

Davidson is clearly an intelligent hockey mind. None of this is to suggest that he won't be able to execute on the plans that he has for the Blackhawks. It is time for him to be held accountable for Chicago's performance, however. Another season at the bottom of the incredibly competitive Central Division simply won't be good enough for Davison and the team he has assembled. It's on him to find value in the margins, sniff around on disgruntled young players, and find underrated skaters in the draft. That's what excellent general managers do to turn their rebuilds into success stories.

Building isn't easy. That's why it's time to stop giving Davidson credit for his teardown job and start judging him for what he's able to do with the blank slate he has in front of him.

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