The Blackhawks are considering the Cubs assistant GM
The Chicago Blackhawks are starting to get real weird with their search for a new general manager. Of course, it was a good idea to bring in Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, and Ed Olczyk as advisors but it has only gone downhill since announcing that.
They are announcing every candidate that they have interviewed on social media. It has been very “look at me” which is so strange. The team clearly wants people to like them again but this isn’t the way.
There have bad candidates that have had multiple massive failures with other organizations but that isn’t even the worst of it. Now, they are announcing people who are currently in front offices of other sports.
Chicago’s newest GM candidate that had an interview is Chicago Cubs assistant general manager Jeff Greenberg. Talk about bizarre. It is a bold strategy when you really think about bringing someone in who doesn’t even work in hockey.
The Chicago Blackhawks should absolutely not look to the Cubs for their GM.
Most hockey teams don’t go to baseball (or any other sport) for help in building their teams. Hiring someone like John McDonough to run business operations was a different story but a general manager from another sport is just weird.
This is nothing against Greenberg. He has a Law Degree from an Ivy League college which means he is an incredibly smart man. It might not even necessarily be bad because of the fact that he comes from another sport. The real problem here is that he didn’t even run the said team from another sport.
Greenberg was with the Cubs for a long time. He went there with Theo Epstein in charge so you know he is a good dude. However, he was not high enough on the Cubs’ management pole to think he could just come to another sport and dominate.
The Hawks are not just any old team right now either. Rebuilding them is going to be so much harder than people think. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews each only have one year left on their deal after this one. They don’t have a future goalie that we are so certain will work. They don’t even have a first-round pick in this draft unless they win the lottery.
Do you move on from two of your five all-time greatest players? Do you trade Alex DeBrincat for a haul because he is on an expiring (and somewhat cheap) deal? What do you do about Seth Jones’ contract that hasn’t even kicked in yet? There is certainly a lot to worry about with this team. Hiring someone from another sport (who isn’t even a general manager over there) just feels wrong.