What Extending Kyle Davidson Means for the Blackhawks

On the pregame show before the final game of the 2025-26 season against the San Jose Sharks on CHSN, CEO and Chairman of the Chicago Blackhawks Danny Wirtz announced that he has extended general manager (GM) Kyle Davidson’s contract. 

This extension comes after another season of the Blackhawks being in the bottom two of the league. They’re the first team since the 2001 Tampa Bay Lightning to finish three straight years second-to-last, which, for a franchise like the Hawks, is unacceptable. This also comes after fans have just started calling for his job, and after two of the worst home games of the season against the Carolina Hurricanes and Buffalo Sabres. Overall, the timing isn’t great, but this isn’t a shock re-signing, either. 

Davidson’s Last Four Years 

After three Stanley Cups and years of deep playoff runs, and players like Patrick Kane and the captain, Jonathan Toews, passing their primes, it was time for a new chapter. Like every team that goes through this, they didn’t have any real prospects in the pipeline because they traded their first-round pick, or they selected towards the end of Round 1. The Blackhawks fired former GM Stan Bowman and looked to Davidson to tear it down and build it back up in 2021. 

Davidson made an immediate impact on trades, building up a lot of draft capital by trading Brandon Hagel to the Lightning and Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators, gathering three first-round picks in the process. He has made 11 first-round selections throughout his four years so far in Chicago, and is on pace to make four more within the next two. Davidson does a solid job of getting good value back, such as firsts, in trades. 

Some of those first-rounders have turned into Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, and Anton Frondell, all of whom have made huge impacts so far on offense. The defense is still a work in progress, but Kevin Korchinski, who has been struggling since being drafted seventh overall in 2022 with the pick acquired in the DeBrincat trade, is just starting to turn a corner. Korchinski has been showing a lot of confidence and is breaking out of his shell. Defensemen typically take longer to develop than forwards, so you have to be a little more patient in that regard. Despite the last three seasons, the future is still really bright. Outside of the draft, nothing has really happened.

Was This the Right Move? 

Whether or not this was the right move is a mixed bag. At the end of the day, it was the correct decision, but it all depends on the term of the contract, which is currently unknown. Right now, in the fourth year of this rebuild, in the middle of all the prospects that he drafted in the system he built making their debut, firing him wouldn’t make things any better. 

However, Davidson sold his bosses on a five-year rebuild plan during his interviews. This should be the final season of the Blackhawks being at the bottom of the NHL. If it isn’t, even though he just got a new contract, he should be on the hot seat. It’s concerning, though, that before this season started, Davidson said that he expected major improvement in the standings. While in the first half of the season, they were sitting in a wild card spot, it crashed and burned, and now they’re looking at a top-four pick in June.

The priority this offseason should be to re-sign Bedard, no matter if it’s a four or five-year bridge deal or a long-term, eight-year extension. Just get him signed and back for the next few years, because he’s obviously the main piece to this whole rebuild and the guy you’re building around. The next thing Davidson needs to do is use some money and assets to get Bedard some help that’s not a draft pick. Go out and get an actual top-six forward. If that doesn’t happen, questions need to be asked. It’s time to get out of the basement and get the young kids playing some meaningful hockey.