Blackhawks hire Blashill as head coach

The Chicago Blackhawks hired Jeff Blashill as head coach, the team announced Thursday.

Blashill coached the Detroit Red Wings from 2015-22, guiding the team to a 204-261-72 record and one playoff appearance. He's been an assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning the past three seasons.

The Blackhawks fired Luke Richardson after a 8-16-2 start to the 2024-25 season, and interim replacement Anders Sorensen didn't fare much better at 17-30-9.

"Jeff is an incredibly smart and talented coach who boasts more than 25 years of coaching experience across developmental leagues, the NHL, and the world stage," Chicago general manager Kyle Davidson said in a statement. "He's thrived when in a position to develop young players and has shown he's capable of blending that into overall team success, a vision and philosophy we share for where we are today and where we see our team in the future."

Chicago finished 31st in the standings, failing to make progress in Connor Bedard's second campaign. Chicago has approximately $30 million in cap space this offseason to try to improve and snap a five-year playoff drought.

The Boston Bruins, Seattle Kraken, and Pittsburgh Penguins are the final three teams still looking to fill head coaching vacancies.