Blackhawks intend to make GM hire before trade deadline

While the Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks have filled their vacant general manager positions in the last few weeks, the Chicago Blackhawks continue to operate with Kyle Davidson in an interim position. There has not been much reporting over who the candidates for the Blackhawks job would be, other than the fact that Davidson himself is one.

Today, Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz released a lengthy update on the process, which included the following:

Over the last six weeks, our leadership has been taking part in a discovery and research process that explored all functions and structure of our Hockey Operations department. This top to bottom exercise revealed an incredible amount of in-house talent while also highlighting areas for growth and opportunities to become more competitive. We plan to create a next generation Hockey Operations department with a path to sustained success for the Chicago Blackhawks. Our next step is to find the right leader, and we will begin to reach out to potential candidates this week to interview for the General Manager role. That position will be the highest-ranking executive in Hockey Operations and will report directly to me. We anticipate making a final decision in advance of the National Hockey League Trade Deadline.

Again, Wirtz confirms that Davidson will be a candidate but currently has full autonomy to make hockey decisions. Otherwise, the team pledges to be as transparent as possible in the process but will not identify potential candidates other than noting they are interviewing some from both inside and outside of hockey.

The Blackhawks have been without a full-time GM since Stan Bowman left the organization in late October following the Kyle Beach sexual assault scandal. Senior vice president of hockey operations Al MacIsaac was also dismissed, and at the time, Wirtz was very clear that they would audit the entire organization before naming a successor. That process continues but with this new announcement, a GM hire should be made relatively soon, as the trade deadline sits a little over seven weeks away.