Blackhawks Hire Jeff Greenberg as Associate General Manager

After the forced departure of Stan Bowman and company at the beginning of the season, Kyle Davidson was installed as the interim general manager. Of course, in November, nobody was certain Davidson was the long-term answer for the position. At the beginning of 2022, when a full fledged front office search commenced, a peculiar name was attached to the Blackhawks: Jeff Greenberg. This was a peculiar name because Greenberg was not in the hockey business. He was in the baseball business as the Assistant General Manager for the Chicago Cubs. He interviewed for the Blackhawks position, which, as I'm sure you're aware, was ultimately offered to Davidson. But here we are, at season's end, several months later with Jeff Greenberg still a part of the organization as the Associate General Manager.

"I think he can help push us into the area a lot of other sports are in right now, streamlining, modernizing and adding sophistication to the decision-making process, that hockey isn't necessarily at the level of, in my opinion."

- Kyle Davidson told Emily Kaplan (ESPN)

Based on those statements from GM Kyle Davidson, Jeff Greenberg will be given the task of launching the Blackhawks and their hockey operations into the 21st Century. Analytics are the primary driving force behind many sports decisions nowadays. It's not a surprise that someone gifted in that area would be attractive to the rebuilding and rebranding Blackhawks.

If you want to know about Jeff Greenberg as a man and employee, look no further than comments made by his now former boss, Jed Hoyer, President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs:

"[Jeff Greenberg] is simply one of the best teammates I have ever worked with in baseball...He has done so much to make the Cubs a better organization over the last 10 seasons with his powerful combination of intelligence, work ethic, leadership and integrity...As the Blackhawks look to build their next championship team, Jeff is an ideal hire."

- Jed Hoyer to Charlie Roumeliotis

This seems like a (to throw a third sport into this article) slam dunk hire for the Blackhawks. They have always needed that extra "umph" to get take their approach to the next level. First it was Rocky Wirtz getting the team back on regular television. Now, it is the acceptance and pursuit of advanced analytics. I, for one, am eager to see how this addition of an analytics specialist will change the future of the team. I believe Greenberg's specialties will aid the scouts, Kyle Davidson, whoever the long-term head coach will be, and the team as a whole for years to come.