Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson still optimistic about rebuild: ‘This takes time’

CHICAGO — Kyle Davidson hears you. He knows Blackhawks fans want to see a winning team again. He does too.

However, Davidson isn’t going to sacrifice his long-term plan for short-term results. While that plan hasn’t gone exactly as expected in the NHL this season, he is still quite confident the Blackhawks are on course to be successful.

“This is the process that we’re running, right?” Davidson said Monday morning. “When we set out a while ago to build this thing back up, we needed to build through the draft, we needed to find our new core, and that takes time. The players have to grow, they have to mature, they’ve got to develop. We’re in that process and we’re seeing those steps taking place. It may not, this year, have resulted in more wins in the NHL level, but we’re seeing that happen underneath the surface here.

“This takes time. We knew it would take time. There’s nothing that’s gone on in our prospect group or the development of our young players that’s causing me concern. Of course, you go to the NHL rink, you go to the United Center, you watch on TV and you want the team to win. I feel that way, too. Players, coaches, everyone feels that way. Having said that, we are in the process of a rebuild here, and it’s going to be on the backs of our young players and prospects.”

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Davidson reiterated multiple times during his media session that he remains confident in where the Blackhawks are headed.

“Did I expect us to be better than second to last? I did, I did,” Davidson said. “But that doesn’t at all mean that I’m concerned about the bigger picture here, about the bigger process at play here in terms of where we’re headed and how good this group and this young group coming up can be. That hasn’t changed at all. I’m probably more optimistic having seen the years our young players are having throughout the organization. I’m probably more optimistic now than I was in the summer in that respect.”

Davidson touched on several topics during his 30-minute media session. Here are some of the highlights.

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• There was plenty of dissection of the Blackhawks’ part in Friday’s blockbuster trade. Davidson downplayed their role and the idea he could have gotten more out of it. Chicago sent Taylor Hall to Carolina, regained its third-round draft pick in 2025 and will retain 50 percent of Mikko Rantanen’s salary.

“It was pretty minimal on our side, obviously a pretty big deal,” Davidson said. “I think there’s a little bit of confusion on what our role was in it. I think, for us, we were happy to get the asset that we got back. In moving Taylor, I think it was something that was probably going to happen at some point.”

Davidson’s explanation included that he didn’t want to use one salary retention spot on the trade and another later on Hall, so it made sense to use one in the deal. He also explained he thought the market for Hall was about what they received. Davidson was pretty honest about Hall’s play diminishing, which could have later impacted his value.

“In waiting, you run the risk of things like injury, (and) the role was diminishing almost by the game,” Davidson said. “It just wasn’t heading towards a way that was going to maximize or enhance value. In moving then, we moved at full price and held (salary) on the other player involved. It just didn’t make sense to wait and not really get a better return later on.”

• Davidson was asked in a variety of ways whether he’d be willing to pursue a high-tier player next offseason. He wasn’t committal, but he also didn’t close the door.

“We’ll see,” he said. “It’s January. I have no clue who’s going to be available in six, seven months. We’ll continue to consider once we know who’s actually available and what makes sense. A lot can change in the next six months, basically, before we get there. I will say, you’re never ruling anything out, right? You’re always considering what makes sense short, medium and long term. Whether that’s when you get to the summer and signings, whether that’s trade opportunities that become available or considerations you’re making for your roster, you’re never not considering things. So we always do. Something like that, that’s obviously a question I get asked a lot.”

But does he believe the Blackhawks need that type of player?

“I don’t know,” he responded. “Well, I think every team needs players like that, right? But when you get that player and who those players are, it’s really tough to say what the right fit is. And the other thing, too, is we’re one of 32 (teams), and everyone wants star players. We’re not a one-team league. It’s not the Chicago Blackhawks get to pick players and go get them, and off to the races.

“It’s a competitive league and everyone wants to win. And we’re no different than anyone else answering these types of questions and having these types of conversations.”

Davidson didn’t discount the idea of trading draft picks or being flexible. He said he’d do what would make sense at the time.

“There’s no rigidity to or trying to be firm to a certain plan that we’re we have to do it this way all the way until the end of time, and we’re just going to keep running it back at the draft, or what have you,” he said. “You have to be fluid. You have to be nimble in these things. We’re always evaluating, reevaluating, considering options. … You’ve got to have stages, and you’ve got to have different maneuvers along the way. And I’m extremely open to considering whatever is out there.”

• Davidson provided his assessment of interim coach Anders Sorensen. The Blackhawks have gone 7-13-3 since Davidson replaced Luke Richardson with Sorensen. Time will tell whether Sorensen can win the permanent job, but Davidson was mostly positive about him. Davidson said from a high-level assessment that Sorensen has been effective.

“I think he’s done a nice job so far,” Davidson said. “We’ve seen a little bit of highs and lows throughout his time with us so far at the NHL level. I think some of the habits and some of the mentality we have as a team has improved in my opinion. I think there’s some things we still need to clean up — especially when we’re playing with leads, trying to stay on that front foot and trying to keep pushing. But the fact we’ve been pushing and been able to generate offense earlier in the game and putting the team in a position to have to hold leads is a good thing, and holding leads later into games and getting results has been nice lately. I’ve really liked that.”

• Davidson admitted the team as a whole isn’t where he’d expected it. He directed that blame largely to Richardson when he made the coaching change in December. Since then, the overall results haven’t gotten much better.

“When we made the coaching change, we were in last place, and that wasn’t where we wanted to be or we expected to be,” Davidson said. “We had realistic expectations coming into the year about the group. … We had a lot of holes to fill, and so we had to bring in a number of players, and we did. … I think we expected to be a little further ahead in the standings, but there are a lot of things we have improved upon from last year, almost across the board.

“Having said that, we are in second to last, and that’s not ideally where we wanted to be, but it is what is and we are where we are. We’ll react accordingly as we head into the trade deadline and the offseason and what we look to do with the group moving forward.”

• Davidson still expects to be a seller as the trade deadline approaches.

“We’ll be listening, you know, listening to see what happens,” Davidson said. “Obviously when you’re in a position that that we’re in, you’re traditionally more of a seller, but we’ll just kind of see what comes our way. Nothing that we’re going to certainly force. We’ve got a lot of assets. We’re not necessarily in that asset-build stage like we were a little while ago. And so, we’ve got the luxury of being patient and just seeing what comes our way, and hoping that the group, you know, continues to take some steps in the right direction as we have the last week or so.”

• Davidson is hopeful goalie Laurent Brossoit will still play this season. As for potentially having three goalies, Davidson said he isn’t concerned.

“We’ve got a really great goalie coach in Jimmy Waite here,” Davidson said. “We’re hopeful (Brossoit) will (return). But if he does come back this year, then we’re very confident he’ll be able to manage that dynamic which is not traditional but it’s the situation we’d be in if he’d return. I think we’ll be fine working through that if we end up with three goaltenders on the NHL roster.”

(Photo: Chase Agnello-Dean / NHLI via Getty Images)