Jeff Blashill was named coach of the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.
The 51-year-old replaces interim coach Anders Sorensen, who led the team for the final 56 games of the season after Luke Richardson was fired Dec. 5.
Blashill coached the Detroit Red Wings for seven seasons from 2015-22 and was a Tampa Bay Lightning assistant the past three seasons.
“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,” Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said. “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. We couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come under Jeff’s direction.”
Detroit made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Blashill’s first season, a five-game loss to the Lightning in the 2016 first round but did not qualify in the next six and announced April 30, 2022, he would not return. Blashill is 204-261-72 in 537 games with the Red Wings, ranking fifth in games and six in wins in team history.
Chicago went 25-46-11 this season and has missed the playoffs for five straight seasons and seven of the past eight. The Blackhawks have finished no higher than sixth in their division since finishing first in the Central Division in 2016-17. Chicago’s last playoff appearance was a five-game loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2020 Western Conference First Round.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Seattle Kraken each remain without a coach, and the Boston Bruins ended the season under interim coach Joe Sacco. Rick Tocchet (Philadelphia Flyers) and Adam Foote (Vancouver Canucks) were each hired May 14, Joel Quenneville was named Anaheim Ducks coach May 8 and Mike Sullivan was named coach of the New York Rangers on May 2.
