The Chicago Blackhawks have a lot of work to do during the offseason if they ever want to be an elite team in the National Hockey League. They are bad and some people have yet to come to terms with that just yet. The glory days are over and it is time to move on.
It is impossible to rebuild the right way when you hang onto pieces that helped you 10 years ago instead of building for the next ten years. The Chicago Blackhawks certainly have that issue on the horizon with a few different guys. How they handle that will certainly be a big story over the next year or so.
To help them along with these decisions, they need a new head coach. Derek King is probably in the mix as he was the interim guy for the remainder of the 2021-22 season after they fired Jeremy Colliton. The team wasn’t so good, however, with King that they feel the need to just hire him without seeing other people too.
Who they hire is going to be very telling when it comes to the direction of the team. There are some coaches that come to town with the intent to win and then there are some who know they are there to help them build something from the ground up.
The Chicago Blackhawks are looking for someone to be their new head coach.
If the Blackhawks do move on from King, there are a lot of people for them to consider. These are three of the very best options for them to consider as they look for someone new to lead them from the bench:
1. Peter DeBoer
The Chicago Blackhawks could be in the mix for a coach like Peter DeBoer.
The biggest disappointment in the 2021-22 NHL season has to be the Vegas Golden Knights. They went into the season as legitimate favorites to win the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, injuries and some bad luck caused them to miss the dance by just a couple of points.
Following their disastrous end to the year, they decided to fire head coach Peter DeBoer. It is a strange decision because it was clearly just some back luck and injuries that kept them down for most of the year. With a full year of Jack Eichel and the crew back together healthy, they should be right back in the mix for the 2023 Stanley Cup.
This is someone that the Chicago Blackhawks could consider. DeBoer has had tremendous success in his NHL coaching career. Before his time with Vegas, he was the head coach of the Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils, and San Jose Sharks.
He reached the Stanley Cup Final with both New Jersey and San Jose but never won the big series. He is still searching for it but there is no doubt that he is a good coach. He might be able to help this Blackhawks team if they decide to hang on to guys like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
He could also be really good for some of the younger guys as they look to take that next step. This team needs some sort of spark and DeBoer has provided that to other teams in his career as a head coach.
2. Jim Montgomery
The Chicago Blackhawks could use a coach like Jim Montgomery right now.
The Chicago Blackhawks could look to a current NHL assistant coach for the position of head coach. Jim Montgomery is currently in the second round with his St. Louis Blues club where he serves as an assistant coach.
Montgomery was the head coach of the Dallas Stars before he was fired for off-ice issues that were considered to be “personal struggles”. It came out after a while that he was dealing with alcohol abuse and he was checking himself into rehab to deal with this problem.
Following that journey, the St. Louis Blues gave him a contract for two years so he can be Craig Berube’s assistant coach. It is probably time for him to get back into head coaching and the Blackhawks would be a good fit.
The Dallas Stars were very good under Montgomery and his systems would probably be really nice for this Blackhawks roster. A coach like this could absolutely fit for a rebuilding team too. He is young (52) compared to a lot of NHL coaches and would be great for young players.
He is also the kind of coach that you can bring in at the beginning of a rebuild and keep when it is time to start winning once again. Montgomery is the perfect coach to have young guys on the roster and see them turn into great winning players. He is someone to consider in Chicago.
3. Barry Trotz
The Chicago Blackhawks could go for the biggest name available this offseason.
The Chicago Blackhawks know what it is like to have an elite coach. Joel Quenneville is one of the greatest hockey coaches who ever lived. One of the other ones from the same era is now available in Barry Trotz and the Hawks would be foolish not to at least ask about him.
He was randomly fired by the New York Islanders last week and it shocked the NHL world when it happened because he is a legendary coach. It certainly wasn’t his fault that they were bad this year. It was a product of a lot of bad luck and the fact that they played the first month of the season on the road while their building was being finished up.
When John Tavares left them in free agency a few years ago, it became a mess there. They had no identity and nothing to lean on outside of a few good young players. Trotz won the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals in 2018 and then didn’t return there the following season.
For some reason, Washington wanted to move on from him and he went to New York and turned that place around. They made it to game seven of the conference finals in each of the last two years and it is all because of Trotz’s outstanding defensive systems.
He knows how to get stars to play defense while still being creative offensively and that is something Chicago needs badly. The only problem is that the Hawks might not have a good enough roster to take advantage of Trotz right away.
If he came to town, he would have to recognize that this is going to be a process. It is certainly an idea for Kyle Davidson to consider when looking at all of the available coaches. Trotz won’t be available for long so he might have to act fast if that’s his guy.
None of these guys are in rumors with the Hawks or anything like that. It would just simply be a good idea to consider all of them when the time comes to hire a new head coach. It is going to be interesting to see who they ultimately choose because it will send a message about their direction.