Chicago Blackhawks have hired Jeff Blashill as their next head coach

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The Chicago Blackhawks have found their new bench boss.

The team announced Thursday morning they have hired Jeff Blashill as the 42nd head coach in franchise history.

The team posted a clever video to X, formerly known as Twitter, with mascot Tommy Hawk holding red smoke atop of the United Center.

What we know:

The Chicago Blackhawks have been in the market for a head coach since firing Luke Richardson early in the 2024-2025 season. 

Anders Sörensen took over as the interim head coach, but the team launched into a full head coaching search. Sörensen was being considered, but the Hawks wanted to make sure they had an extensive search to get their guy.

Now, they've hired Blashill. The franchise is hoping the Tampa Bay assistant can lift the Blackhawks into the next phase of their rebuild and develop the talented farm system of prospects they've acquired over the years.

What they're saying:

Multiple reports Wednesday evening said the Blackhawks were hiring Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Jeff Blashill as their next head coach.

Now, it's official.

"Jeff is an incredibly smart and talented coach who boasts more than 25 years of coaching experience across developmental leagues, the NHL and the world stage," Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said in a release. "He’s thrived when in a position to develop young players and has shown he’s capable of blending that into overall team success, a vision and philosophy we share for where we are today and where we see our team in the future. We couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come under Jeff’s direction."

The backstory:

This will be Blashill’s second stint as a head coach in the NHL. He first coached Detroit Red Wings after Mike Babcock after he departed for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and coached there for seven years before his contract expired.

The Red Wings parted with Blashill, who ended his stint in Detroit with a career 206-261-72 record.

Blashill took over a Red Wings team that vaulted into a rebuild after he was named head coach.

Before taking over the Red Wings bench, Blashill was the head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins, which is Detroit's AHL affiliate team.

In his three seasons leading the Griffins, Blashill coached his way to a 134-71-12-11 record and qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs in all three seasons. He became the first head coach in Grand Rapids history to reach the postseason in three consecutive seasons.

On the international stage, Blashill was also the head coach of Team USA three times at the IIHF World Championships in 2017, 2018 and 2019. He guided Team USA to a bronze medal in 2018.

After his Red Wings tenure, Blashill helped the Lighning to a 138-86-22 record, and the team qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of his three seasons in Tampa.

What's next:

The Blackhawks will announce their staff under Blashill. What remains to be seen is if Sörensen will remain on Blashill's staff in Chicago.