Danny Wirtz, Chicago Blackhawks CEO, became more interested in the potential opening for general manager. He felt that he had everything he needed within his own organization, despite recent struggles.
Kyle Davidson was hired by the Blackhawks on Tuesday. He dropped his interim tag and instead went outside the struggling franchise to find new leadership.
Wirtz stated, “I think Kyle will be a great friend if you get to know him.” He has his own philosophy. It is a great advantage to be both fresh-minded and open-minded, but also to understand where we are coming from. In that sense, you can get the best of both.
The 33-year old Davidson joined the Blackhawks in 2010 as a hockey operations intern. Over the years, the Sudbury, Ontario native held many different positions with the organization, including as a video analyst and hockey operations manager, and as an assistant GM. Before he was promoted to interim GM, he managed the salary-cap management of the team.
The franchise has only made one postseason appearance in five years. It is currently seventh in the Central Division, with a record of 19-27-8.
Davidson worked for Stan Bowman in the front office of the team throughout the downturn. He almost made it sound like he was a novice when he spoke about his plans for the company.
“It’s going be a very wide change in philosophy because it’s a new person who’s coming into with some strong beliefs about how we should move forward,” Davidson stated.
Davidson was born with a congenital defect in the heart. He had to have three open-heart surgery.
He said, “We’re going look at more of an rebuild here.” “There are some things we need to fix, but it will take time. It will take time.
Davidson was one of six candidates. According to the team, Eric Tulsky, ex-NHL forward Scott Mellanby’s assistant GM, was interviewed by the Carolina Hurricanes.
Wirtz and Jaime Faulkner, President of Business Operations, assisted former Blackhawks forwards Marian Hossa, Eddie Olczyk and Patrick Sharp with the search. Mike Forde, who was the executive chairman at Sportsology and a former executive at Chelsea FC, assisted Wirtz in an advisory role.
The organization finally settled on a familiar face.
“I have told people before. Wirtz stated that when I leave a meeting, I feel more confident. I feel more confident. “I feel more secure, and that is something that I hope everyone can sense and that fans will also start to sense once they understand Kyle’s plans for the future.”
After Bowman resigned in Oct, Davidson was promoted to the interim position. This was in response to a report from an outside legal firm which found that the organization had mishandled allegations that an assistant coach had sexually assaulted a player in 2010 during the Stanley Cup run.
This report was also responsible for Al MacIsaac’s departure, another Chicago hockey executive. The NHL also fined the team $2,000,000 for “the organization’s inept internal procedures and insufficient, untimely response.”
Two lawsuits relating to Kyle Beach’s claims that he was assaulted in 2010 by Brad Aldrich, his former video coach, were settled in December.
On Nov. 6, Davidson fired Jeremy Colliton, and gave Derek King the job as an interim. Davidson stated that King has done a great job and will be considered for the position.
“He’s getting a practical interview firsthand, just like me in my role,” Davidson stated. “And so that’s an edge, and I think he is doing very well in this position.”
The next task for Davidson will be to make the most of the March 21 deadline. In July’s Seth Jones deal, the Blackhawks gave their 2022 first-round selection to Columbus. They would love to recover that draft capital.
Blackhawks could see Dominik Kubaklik and Dylan Strome, forwards, and defenseman Calvin de Haan as well as Marc-Andre Fleury (goalie), and Marc-Andre Fleury (goalie), who are all possible candidates to be in action.
Davidson stated that they will just assess what is available to them. “I don’t believe it’s any secret where the standings are, so if we have an opportunity to acquire future talent or augment what we’ve got in our prospect pool and draft asset pool, we’ll look into that.”
