Blackhawks' problems start with GM Kyle Davidson

Here’s the thing about rebuilds: They can keep people employed who shouldn’t be.

We’ve seen it from every team in town. Now we have the Blackhawks, who are in Year 5 of a rebuild that has gone off course.

After making strides last season and raising expectations this season, the Hawks entered Monday with the second-fewest points in the NHL, nine in 18 games. How bad is that? They’re on pace for 42 points, which would be their fewest in a full season since they totaled 31 in 1953-54, when a full season was 70 games.

So, yeah, things are bad, and it sure felt like the Hawks hit rock bottom Saturday when the Stanley Cup-champion Hurricanes pummeled them in a 9-2 decision that wasn’t as close as the score indicates. It capped a horrendous 0-3 trip that had observers thinking significant changes could be coming. The team was in crisis, and the coach’s seat appeared to be burning.

But when the Hawks practiced Monday, the general manager was not present.

Kyle Davidson began serving as interim GM in October 2021 after Stan Bowman resigned in the wake of the investigation into sexual assault allegations against former video coach Brad Aldrich. The Hawks removed Davidson’s interim tag in March 2022 and have given him carte blanche to rebuild the team as he sees fit.

“There are some things that we need to fix that are going to take time,” Davidson said then. “Whether it’s three, five years, I don’t have an answer for that now. But we have to do this the right way.”

Well, three years came and went, and five years are staring at Hawks fans, who are paying a tidy sum to watch bad hockey. So how do eight or 10 years sound? Because at this rate, the team won’t be rebuilt anytime soon, even with star center Connor Bedard around.

Davidson should’ve addressed all that and more Monday. Instead, he’ll speak to media — and fans — Wednesday. Davidson is in Toronto for GM meetings. His home is on fire, but he’ll put out the blaze in a couple of days. Would a Zoom call have killed him?

That left coach Jeff Blashill to face the music again. Many thought his job was in peril — it still might be — but there he was, leading practice and blowing the whistle to stop drills that had gone awry.

“Can’t have it!” he bellowed at one point.

Blashill, who coached mostly bad Red Wings teams from 2015 to 2022, is in a tough spot again. Like in Detroit, he doesn’t have everything he needs here, but he also isn’t getting enough from what he has. He’s empathetic to the fans’ plight in all of this.

“I get the disappointment. Our record is what our record is,” he said. “It’s not nearly where the fans thought it would be and not where we want it to be. We’re going to do everything we can to try to grind our way through this, get incrementally better, find our way to wins and, if we can do that, the satisfaction you get is awesome.

“That’s the only thing I could really say to them. I can promise them whatever I want. That’s pretty much all bull----. We’re trying to grind like crazy to get better results through great process.”

The process that should be addressed is the one that procures players. Davidson went all in with the teardown, but he hasn’t done the same with the build-up. Yes, he acquired defenseman Bowen Byram and brought back Patrick Kane. But he didn’t do nearly enough to supplement all of his precious prospects with capable veterans. He could’ve addressed that Monday.

The biggest statement Davidson made in absentia was shipping out backup goalie Arvid Soderblom and calling up Drew Commesso. That’ll get the fans excited for the next home game Thursday, when the boo birds will fly at the first sight of folly. He could’ve tried appealing to fans Monday, too.

And look who’s coming to town. It’s the Sabres, who went 14 seasons without a playoff berth before earning one last season. How many rebuilds is that? Do you remember the last time the Hawks went 14 seasons without making the playoffs? Of course you don’t, because it hasn’t happened — yet.

Davidson got lucky getting Connor Bedard with the No. 1 pick in 2023. Did he get unlucky or miscalculate by drafting Artyom Levshunov at No. 2 over Ivan Demidov in 2024? The jury is still out on Anton Frondell, the No. 3 pick in 2025. Meanwhile, other rebuilding teams are passing the Hawks left and right. Davidson could’ve talked about that, too.

Instead, we wait till Wednesday for Davidson to support the … let’s see … one, two, three … fourth coach he has hired. When the popular perception is that the coach is the problem, it’s not a great look if the person who hired him isn’t there. If Davidson is spread too thin, maybe a director of hockey operations is necessary.

That way, someone would be there to put out the fire.