Breaking - Blackhawks GM reveals the team will tank for the rest of the season

PUBLICATION

Ryan Hall
November 27, 2023 (11:38)

SHARE THIS STORY

When General Manager Kyle Davidson publicly announced his decision to move away from Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, closing the door on that chapter of the team, it became evident that the race was on to position the team for the best chance to draft Connor Bedard.

Davidson traded as many players as possible, depleting the team of talent to accomplish this task. The plan proved successful, and Bedard with Kevin Korchinski drafted in the first round in 2023.

Despite acquiring several veteran players to surround the young team with leadership and support as they honed their skills at the NHL level, two unforeseen incidents occurred.

Taylor Hall suffered a knee injury, tearing his ACL, sidelining him for the rest of the year. Additionally, Corey Perry was unexpectedly scratched from two games. After days of speculation, it was announced that he left the team, not of his own accord, for the foreseeable future.

These events further depleted the Blackhawks' offence, raising the question of whether the team would tank again or attempt to acquire more talent.

Davidson confirmed what many anticipated:

"It's not an easy thing to do, to add on the fly, especially this early in the season. There are probably other teams that would be far more aggressive than us in trying to add talent. It's not something I'm looking at right now."

With this response, it seems likely that Davidson has no desire to acquire additional talent to bolster the lineup amidst the recent absences. He aims to position the team for a run at Macklin Celebrini, the highly touted first-overall draft pick in the 2024 Entry Draft.

This isn't a surprising idea, as Davidson has repeatedly emphasized the need to rebuild the team from scratch, and he's executing this plan transparently.