Kyle Davidson Preaches Patience, Sees Hope in Blackhawks Rebuild

Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson met the media this morning for a mid-season update on the state of the franchise. There were no Earth-shattering revelations during his 30-minute press conference, but none were expected. While the NHL product has been an enormous disappointment, the progress made within the organizational pipeline makes this season a successful one in terms of the big picture. A lot can happen between now and the trade deadline, the start of free agency, and the opening night of next season. Based on Davidson’s answers today, all options are on the table during the fluidity of rebuilding a franchise from scratch.

Blackhawks Have Improved Since Coaching Change

We last spoke with Davidson after he fired head coach Luke Richardson in early December. That morning, he said that the team’s consistent bad habits ultimately forced him to make the change and hire Anders Sorensen on an interim basis. While the team hasn’t shot up the NHL standings, Davidson has been pleased with its improvements and wants it to keep progressing.

“In my opinion, some of the habits and the mentality of the team has improved,” he said. “There are some things we still need to clean up, especially playing with leads. The fact that we’ve been pushing and generating offense early in the game is a good thing. Getting results out of games lately has been nice. But there is still a mentality that needs to change. Playing the full 60 minutes on the front foot instead of sitting back and playing more conservatively.”

Davidson acknowledged that the realistic expectations set for this group aren’t being met. This season was supposed to be better than finishing third-to-last in the league, but as of today, the Blackhawks are in second-to-last.

“We expected to be a little further ahead in the standings,” he said. “There are a lot of things we’ve improved upon from last year across the board. We’re almost half a goal a game better, and our special teams are much better. Having said that, we’re not ideally where we wanted to be. We’ll react accordingly heading into the trade deadline and offseason.”

Progress of Young Players is Success of the Season

Rebuilds are not easy, and they aren’t always successful. If they were, everybody would do it every few years. Davidson has completed the tearing-down process, which is not difficult. The challenge lies in the process of building the team back up. Patience is the key when it comes to long-term success. If you aren’t willing to wait for development and rush into spending all your salary cap space on aging veterans, you’ll likely never get out of the rut.

“This is the process that we’re running,” Davidson said. “When we set out to build this thing back up, we needed to build through the draft and find our new core. That takes time. The players have to mature and develop. We’re seeing those steps taking place. It may not, especially this year, result in more wins at the NHL level. But we’re seeing it happen underneath the surface.”

Davidson praised the growth in Connor Bedard’s game and how well Frank Nazar and the young defensemen have adjusted to the NHL.

“There is nothing that’s gone on in the development of our young prospects that’s causing me concern,” he added. “We knew this would take time. We are in the process of a rebuild, and it’s going to be on the backs of our prospects. We’re really excited about what’s going on within that group and how they’re developing. When you’re looking at the progress of the big picture, that’s where it sits. And that progress has been extremely positive.”

Beyond guys like Nazar, Colton Dach, Nolan Allan, and such, many good things are happening in the amateur ranks. Nick Lardis is leading the Ontario Hockey League in goals. Four prospects have been nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, including Sacha Boisvert, who is having a great freshman year in North Dakota. Oliver Moore won his second straight gold medal at the World Junior Championship. Plenty is going right underneath the NHL level.

What is the Next Step to Improve the Roster?

Davidson was extremely busy in free agency last summer. His two biggest additions were Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi. While both have had their struggles, those moves have paid off. The rest of his moves have not produced much, but they were brought here to be placeholders. Taylor Hall was already traded, and Craig Smith, Pat Maroon, Alec Martinez, and Ryan Donato are among those you could be dealt before the March 7 trade deadline.

“If options become available that make sense, we’ll consider it,” he said about future moves. “Just because we are in a rebuild doesn’t mean we have to make every single pick that we’ve got. If something comes along, we’re all for it. We’re not firm on a certain plan that has to be done a certain way until the end. You have to be fluid.”

The Blackhawks general manager would not commit to any plan in free agency. It’s not that he doesn’t have one, but it’s still too early to know who will be on the market when July 1 comes around. Mikko Rantanen and Mitch Marner are the big prizes this summer, but there is no guarantee they will become available.

“We’ll continue to consider once we know who is actually available and what makes sense,” he said. “A lot can change over the next six months before we even get there. You’re never ruling anything out. You’re always considering what makes sense for the medium and long term. Whether that’s in the summer with signings or trade opportunities that become available.”

Davidson said being an Original 6 team and having a world-class organization and city with a passionate fan base will be big talking points when trying to allure top players to sign here. With all the high-end talent coming up in the ranks, he is confident that they are on the right path moving forward, and that will be an easy sell.  

Connor Bedard is Making Strides

Finding Bedard successful linemates was a struggle for Richardson. Despite a revolving door of wingers, the young star has still produced. His season has taken off since Sorensen put Bertuzzi on his line. The addition of Nazar has made for a dynamic trio.

Even though personal production exists, many outside Chicago see the lack of team results and want to criticize Bedard. Nobody is a bigger critic of Bedard than himself. There have been many instances this season where frustration has been visible, causing some to try and get inside his head and spell doom for the rebuild. Davidson is buying any of that.

“Connor has taken some really nice steps this year,” he said. “I get the attention he gets. He’s a high-profile player. I think people pick every word apart way too much. He’s a competitive player who doesn’t like to lose. His words are taken much further than everybody else’s and are getting read into too much.

“You’re starting to see his offensive creativity blossom over the last little while. He’s got some confidence and swagger back. I’m not concerned about Connor. He puts in the word and drives himself to be better every day. With that will come frustration after a bad game or a loss.”

These next few weeks and months will be crucial for Davidson. He needs to fix an NHL roster that must be improved in the future. He will also have a top-of-the-draft pick to consider. Oh, and he has a coaching hire that he absolutely needs to get right.