The Chicago Blackhawks have lost a key member of their coaching staff

Kevin Dean was hired in 2022 to be part of Luke Richardson's camp as an assistant coach, and had a heavy influence ever since, specifically on the defensive side of things.

Dean was carrying the defensive coaching on his back and was one of the only good things Chicago had going for them. Between Artyom Levshunov, Alex Vlasic, Sam Rinzel, Kevin Korchinski, Nolan Allan, Ethan del Mastro, and even more, the thought of Dean coaching them to the best product on the ice was exciting.

Dean left the team yesterday after Blashill was hired. It's expected, because Blashill is obviously going to bring in his own guys in to coach alongside him.

However, that doesn't dwindle down to the fact it's a huge loss. Plus, he kept Anders Sorensen- why keep Sorensen over Dean? Sorensen should've been either you go back down to the AHL to coach Rockford or you're out; no in between. We've already seen what he can do as a coach in the league, and it's not much.

It won't take Dean long to find a new gig somewhere else, and when he does, expect that defensive core to explode and climb up the ranks to be one of the best in the league.

Kevin was great to have here, and it sucks that he's leaving. It'll be interesting to see if the young defensemen develop as swiftly under someone else and if new, young guys will show the same potential under someone else.