The Chicago Blackhawks are closing in on hiring a new coach for Connor Bedard and teammates

If we had a bingo board of Head Coaching candidates for the Chicago Blackhawks this season, we'd have lost.

The search for a new coach for the Blackhawks continues, as the team finished with a 25-46-11 season in 2024. As they seek to improve not only the lineup but also behind the bench, Kyle Davidson has had to look in some odd places after he failed to sign David Carle.

With Carle returning to Denver, Davidson only needed to look to his trading partners, the Tampa Bay Lightning, for their latest candidate to interview, Jeff Blashill.

Blashill is a controversial candidate, since he has not had the kind of success you'd want to see from an NHL coach. He's made it to the playoffs once, and after his unceremonious exit from Detroit, he's worked as an assistant coach in Tampa Bay.

According to a report from Daily Face Off's Frank Seravalli, Blashill is another candidate the Blackhawks interviewed for the open coaching position in the Windy City.

Blashill has found limited success in his coaching career, mainly in international competition, during the 2009 WJC, where he led Team USA to a gold medal. He'd coach Team USA during 2017's World Championships, but wouldn't end up winning a medal at all.

Kyle Davidson seems as if he may be going all on in the wrong horse in our opinion, as better options remain available.

Blashill's NHL record isn't very pretty, at 537-204-261-72, and a .480 winning percentage.

Is this the right kind of candidate to bring the Blackhawks out of their rebuilding phase, and into championship territory?

I'm not sold, but evidently Davidson is.