Jeff Blashill named Chicago Blackhawks’ head coach

Made official this morning, Jeff Blashill is now the 42nd head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. Blashill’s introductory press conference will be on Tuesday, May 27.

General Manager Kyle Davidson had this to say about Blashill in a press release from the organization:

“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. 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.”

Along with hiring Blashill, David Pagnotta reported that Anders Sorensen will remain with the organization as an assistant coach and that current New York Rangers assistant coach Michael Peca will be joining Blashill’s staff as an assistant coach. Pagnotta also stated that current Pittsburgh Penguin assistant Mike Velluci may also be joining the staff.

Blashill’s amateur coaching career

Blashill has a long and intriguing coaching career. His career began with the Ferris State University Bulldogs as an assistant coach in 1999. After three seasons with Ferris State, he joined Miami (OH) University as an assistant.

After nearly a decade as a college-level assistant, Blashill became the head coach of the Indiana Ice in 2008. The Ice, a junior team in the USHL, won the Clark Cup in Blashill’s first year with the team.

Two years later, Blashill became the head coach of the Western Michigan University Broncos. In his one season with the Broncos, Blashill led WMU to a top-four finish in the CCHA, the CCHA championship game and the 2011 NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey tournament. Blashill was named the 2011 USCHO Coach of the Year, Inside College Hockey Coach of the Year and College Hockey News Coach of the Year.

Blashill’s professional coaching career

Following one season with Western Michigan, Blashill accepted an assistant coaching position with the Detroit Red Wings in 2011.

The next year, Blashill became the Grand Rapid Griffins’ head coach. In his three seasons coaching the Griffins, he led the team to three straight seasons of 40+ wins, the Calder Cup in 2013 and the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award in 2014.

After his success in the AHL, Blashill was named the Red Wings’ head coach heading into the 2015-16 season. Despite making the playoffs in his first season, the Red Wings failed to make the playoffs during the rest of his tenure, leading to him being let go after the 2021-22 season.

After leaving the Red Wings’ organization, Blashill joined Jon Copper’s staff in Tampa Bay, where he served as an assistant for the past three seasons.

Analysis

After months of speculation regarding David Carle, the hiring of Blashill may feel underwhelming to some Blackhawks fans. Even so, there is reason to be optimistic about Blashill. Some point to his Red Wings tenure as reason for concern, but there is nuance to his time with the Red Wings. At the time of his promotion, Ken Holland was desperate to keep the playoff streak alive. This meant handing out bloated contracts to veteran depth pieces and marginally skilled roster fillers.

After making the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, Holland re-signed 30-year-old Darren Helm to a six-year, $19.25 million contract. He then signed 32-year-old Frans Nielson five-year, $31.5 million contract, along with 33-year-old Thomas Vanek to a one-year, $2.6 million contract.

It did not end there. Holland continued his 2016 offseason spree by signing Luke Clendening to a four-year, $7.2 million contract and Danny DeKeyser to a six-year, $30 million contract.

Even after missing the 2017 playoffs, Holland did not stop spending. On the first day of 2017 free agency, Holland immediately signed 34-year-old Trevor Daley to a three-year, $9.5 million contract.

With these signings, it is clear Blashill, who spent most of his coaching career teaching players coming up in their careers, was expected to immediately compete with an old, slow roster. Blashill was a square peg in a round hole in Detroit.

There has also been criticism regarding Blashill’s time with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Some point to  the Lightning not making it beyond the first round as a mark against Blashill. This, like with his Detroit tenure, requires some nuance,

By the time Blashill joined Cooper’s staff, the Lightning were coming off three-straight Stanley Cup Final appearances. Roster turnover, and general exhaustion, was expected.

In his time with the Lightning, Blashill was in charge of defensive structure and the power play. In the 2024-25 season, Tampa had the fifth-highest power play goal percentage, the sixth highest penalty kill percentage and had the fourth-lowest goals allowed in the NHL. Based on the numbers, Blashill has shown effectiveness, despite the mediocre bottom-six and third pairing.

Final thoughts

The question remains, is this a good hire or a bad one? It is neither. Basing how a head coach will perform on his past experience is impossible. Many head coaches failed their first time around. For proof, look at the resumes of Mike Sullivan, Bruce Cassidy and Scott Arniel. All three of these coaches failed their first time around. Now, they are considered some of the best head coaches in the league. Time will tell with Blashill, but there is reason to believe in his ability to lead this young Blackhawks team.