The Chicago Blackhawks announced their selection for the organization’s full-time general manager on Tuesday morning, naming Kyle Davidson as the 10th general manager in franchise history after a lengthy hiring process.
The Blackhawks have named Kyle Davidson the 10th General Manager in franchise history. pic.twitter.com/40p8uRTrsS
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 1, 2022
Davidson had been serving as the team’s interim general manager since October in light of Stan Bowman’s departure from the organization following the findings of the Kyle Beach allegations independent investigation.
Davidson has held various roles with the Blackhawks since joining the franchise in 2010 as a video analyst intern. From 2011 to 2018, Davidson served in hockey operations before being appointed as the organization’s assistant general manager in 2018.
“We have a vision here for the future of Blackhawks hockey and today we are a step closer to that coming together,” said Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz in a press release. “As an organization, we know we have a lot of work to do on and off the ice and Kyle is the leader we trust to oversee our hockey operations. The thorough process we undertook affirmed much of what we believed we had in Kyle and he stepped up to lead and make tough decisions during his time in the interim role. He without a doubt met every qualification we were looking for, is passionate about the game and represents the high character across everything we do.”
The decision to remove Davidson’s interim tag hardly comes as a surprise to most, as Davidson appeared to have the inside track on the job from day one. While many fans assume Davidson is just a “mini” Bowman, Davidson’s brief workload does provide optimism for a changing of the guard for how the franchise will operate moving forward. Perhaps the two biggest accomplishments during Davidson’s time as the interim general manager were the much-needed firing of former head coach Jeremy Colliton and the deliberate focus on patiently developing top prospect Lukas Reichel with the Rockford IceHogs, whereas the Bowman trend would have been to rush Reichel into a full-time NHL role sooner rather than later.
Davidson’s selection also makes sense in relation to the team’s outlook approaching the NHL’s trade deadline on March 21. With the franchise in desperate need of a rebuild, asking an external hire to come in and accurately assess the organization’s situation and assets and then turn around and move the organization forward via trades in a span of less than three weeks would have been an exceptionally tall task. With Davidson, the decisions will come easier, as he has extensive knowledge of the organization’s assets and needs.
On the flip side, one could certainly view Davidson’s selection as a missed opportunity to bring desperately needed fresh eyes into the organization, as it had been established Davidson would be staying with the Blackhawks if he was not named as the general manager. With the likes of Mathieu Darche and Eric Tulsky—both qualified executives from elite NHL franchises—available to the Blackhawks in the interview process, adding their expertise alongside Davidson in the front office would have maximized the organization’s front office capabilities and likely would have provided a better opportunity for the long-term growth of the franchise, taking advantage of the opportunity to add to the front office instead of simply promoting from within.
With the decision made, Davidson and the Blackhawks are now officially on the clock for the trade deadline, and Davidson will have plenty of work to do. The team has a number of potential trade chips to offload, and Davidson will be tasked with maximizing those assets in order to replenish Chicago’s pipeline of both draft picks and prospects. With the likes of Ryan Carpenter, Calvin de Haan, Marc-Andre Fleury, Brandon Hagel and Dominik Kubalik all viewed as players potentially being on the move ahead of the deadline—to varying degrees, of course—Davidson’s focus needs to be on asset maximization more than anything else.
Of course, it would be hugely beneficial to recoup a first-round pick in this year’s draft, as Bowman infamously dealt a mountain of valuable assets to acquire Seth Jones last summer. However, regardless of if he can accomplish that, Davidson needs to maintain an outlook on the future—and a successful one, at that. Again, to Davidson’s advantage, he has had the opportunity to thoroughly assess the state of the franchise, so no one should be more qualified to make the correct long-term decisions than him, whatever those may be—popular or unpopular. The next 20 days will be very telling about Davidson’s outlook on the franchise’s future.
Unsurprisingly, Davidson is certainly up for the task of building the Blackhawks back up to being an elite franchise yet again and is excited for what lies ahead.
“Today is another step not just for me, but for my Blackhawks teammates within the organization and Blackhawks fans across the world,” Davidson said in the release. “I’m committed to building a winning team on and off the ice the right way — improving our internal framework and processes and working closely with a strong team of people to make decisions. I share the vision of the leadership team to create a positive culture throughout the organization and the game of hockey and promise to uphold our values in everything we do.”
Time will tell if Davidson can accomplish these motives, and, if you listen closely—or not so closely—the clock is already ticking.