Kyle Davidson has preached patience throughout his tenure as the Blackhawks’ general manager, and he spent about 10 minutes reemphasizing that Saturday after the Hawks’ end-of-season interviews.
For the first time, however, Davidson stated he’s ready to help the Hawks begin slowly ascending.
“It’s time to take a step forward,” Davidson said. “[In 2022-23], we finished third-last. This year, we finished second-last. That can’t happen again. We need to start moving up and onward.”
If things go to plan, this pitiful season — during which the Hawks set franchise records with 53 regulation losses and 59 total losses — should represent rock bottom record-wise.
Davidson’s talking points didn’t reflect any departure from his long-established plan, but he made it clear he believes the tearing-down stage of the rebuild is complete. Now the gradual building-up stage can begin.
Next season will mark the first of the Davidson era with any established expectations for the team to meet. They won’t include contending for a playoff spot; Davidson admitted that’s not realistic yet. But a reasonable guess is that those expectations will include winning at least 30 games or so (they won 23 this season), although Davidson didn’t offer any specifics.
“It’s probably really hard to put a pinpoint on, but there needs to be a progression,” he said. “I don’t know how many points or standing slots that is, but we can’t finish second-last in the league.
“The standard has to be raised. The expectation has to be raised. Through that, accountability will be raised. That’s the nature of the path we’re on. Eventually, we have to start making positive steps, and I think we’ve reached that point.”
Coach Luke Richardson said Davidson and the rest of the front office assured him they plan to be active in free agency this offseason, supporting the Hawks’ incoming prospects — who gradually will graduate from the league’s deepest prospect pool — with proven talent.
They don’t know yet which pending free agents will hit the market, and they don’t know which will be willing to sign with a rebuilding team. They also will be shy about making long-term commitments; Davidson’s love for salary-cap flexibility hasn’t changed. A signing from the Jake Guentzel-Sam Reinhart tier is unlikely. But they will be active.
One particular item on Richardson’s wish list is another top-six forward to potentially play alongside Connor Bedard, even though Taylor Hall’s return also should help.
“Adding to that role on that top line, that would be great for our organization,” Richardson said. “I’m sure that’s on the list for July.”
The Hawks could look for another top-four defenseman to join Seth Jones, Alex Vlasic, Connor Murphy and Kevin Korchinski, as well. Granted, that’s four guys right there, but another Davidson talking point was increased competition for roles next season.
“No one’s going to walk in here next fall anointed a spot,” Davidson said. “They’ve got to come earn it. They got to come take it. And that’s part of the resetting of this.”
Another part of the resetting involves letting many of the placeholders who populated this season’s subpar roster walk away as free agents, freeing up the spots for summer additions and prospects.
Davidson said there weren’t any especially difficult conversations Saturday because the Hawks haven’t fully made up their minds on who won’t return. Nonetheless, it wouldn’t be surprising if Tyler Johnson, Colin Blackwell, Taylor Raddysh, MacKenzie Entwistle, Reese Johnson, Nikita Zaitsev, Jarred Tinordi and Jaycob Megna all have played their final game as Hawks.
Johnson, for one, made his departure quite obvious. The veteran forward, who tallied 17 goals and 14 assists this season, described his three-year Chicago tenure as “not exactly what I had envisioned or wanted.”
