GM Kyle Davidson hosts midseason media session

3 months ago  /  Second City Hockey  /  Read Time: 2 minutes 52 seconds

Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson stepped behind the podium at the team’s practice facility on Monday morning to provide his thoughts on the state of the rebuild and answer questions from assembled media.



Let’s work our way through the highlights, starting with Davidson stating a bit of the obvious:



Kyle Davidson: "In terms of a rebuild and building up through our young players, you know a lot of the players are still in amateur hockey, and so, we're not out of that. We can't lose sight of that.— Scott Powers (@scottpowers.bsky.social) January 27, 2025 at 10:17 AM



"Did I expect us to be better than second to last? I did, I did. But that doesn't at all mean I'm concerned about the bigger picture here, 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."— Scott Powers (@scottpowers.bsky.social) January 27, 2025 at 10:17 AM



Davidson: "We expected to be further ahead in the standings but there are a lot of things we've improved upon across the board…having said that, we're in 2nd-to-last and it's not where we want to be and we'll react accordingly with the group moving forward."
#Blackhawks— CHGO Blackhawks (@chgo-blackhawks.bsky.social) January 27, 2025 at 9:34 AM



Part of the reason for that disappointment is due to the expectations Davidson himself set at the end of the prior season, something LBR pointed out last week. While the focus is certainly still on the long-term here — and rightfully so — it’s also worth pointing out that part of the reason why this team is down at the bottom of the NHL standings once again is because of the underwhelming crop of free agents that Davidson signed, along with the decisions by a coach that resulted in his firing — a coach that Davidson hired.



As for Friday’s Taylor Hall trade, Davidson believed the time was right to pull the trigger on that inevitable deal and get what they could in the present:



Davidson on the Rantanen-Hall trade: "We were happy to get the asset we got back. Moving Taylor was something that was going to happen at some point…it didn't make sense to wait and not get a better return later on."
#Blackhawks— CHGO Blackhawks (@chgo-blackhawks.bsky.social) January 27, 2025 at 9:37 AM



He also mentioned that the team was not willing to use another retention slot to possibly retain a portion of Hall’s salary cap hit, which keeps that possibility open for future deals:



Kyle Davidson says the Blackhawks weren't willing to use both remaining retention slots in Friday's trade.He thinks, if the Hawks had waited to trade Taylor Hall, his value probably wouldn't have increased, especially because he had fallen into a 4th line role.— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 27, 2025



The latter part of that tweet above should raise an eyebrow, though: Hall falling into a fourth-line role seems like misuse of the player more than anything else. Hall may not be the caliber of player he was when he won a Hart Trophy, but go ahead and name nine Blackhawks forwards better than Hall as justification for skating on the fourth line. We’ll wait.



Davidson was asked about the possibility of adding some bigger names in the upcoming handful of months:



Kyle Davidson said he's "extremely open" to bringing in an established NHL star or two via trade or free agency this summer, but he shied away from making a firm commitment to doing so."It's got to be there for you to act upon. If something comes along that makes sense, then…— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 27, 2025



He also discussed the idea of using Chicago’s extensive draft capital as bargaining chips in potential deals ahead:



Davidson on using draft assets to add to NHL team: "Just because we are in a rebuild doesn't mean we have to use every pick. If there are trade options that make sense to our group, we're open to it. There's no rigidity…you have to have stages and I'm open to whatever is out there."
#Blackhawks— CHGO Blackhawks (@chgo-blackhawks.bsky.social) January 27, 2025 at 9:49 AM



Keep in mind that the Blackhawks have four first-round picks and seven second-round picks in the next three drafts, so there are plenty of items in Davidson’s back pocket, should he choose to use them. He’s been extremely hesitant to that so far and that hesitation is part of the reason for the rising skepticism from this corner of the internet, because the expected significant increases in the salary cap over the next handful of seasons could mean an extremely limited supply of the pieces that the Blackhawks will absolutely need to turn this roster into a true contender.



Of course, Davidson remains high on several of Chicago’s prospects who are working their way towards the NHL level:



Davidson mentions Nick Lardis, Sacha Boisvert, Oliver Moore, Sam Rinzel, Roman Kantserov, and Ryan Greene as stand outs in the pipeline:
"That's where we are building this thing & they are showing up. Their play & development are showing us we're on the right track."
#Blackhawks— CHGO Blackhawks (@chgo-blackhawks.bsky.social) January 27, 2025 at 9:59 AM



Moore, Rinzel and Greene all seem like possibilities to join the team in April if their respective NCAA seasons end in time, while Lardis, Boisvert and Kantserov may be slightly farther away. There are prospects to be excited about in this team’s organizational pipeline, although Davidson certainly isn’t going to head to the podium and suggest everything’s going wrong there, either.



If there’s a way to take everything Davidson said today and condense it into one comment, this is probably it:



Davidson: "We're not out of the rebuild…I'm more optimistic now than I was in the summer (regarding prospects)…I expected more out of this group (NHL) & we made a coaching change, so that's disappointing but it doesn't diminish the progress we are making in the big picture"
#Blackhawks— CHGO Blackhawks (@chgo-blackhawks.bsky.social) January 27, 2025 at 10:02 AM



This season has had more downs than ups and Davidson seemed to acknowledge that on Monday. There have been noticeable boos, at times, from crowds at the United Center this season, suggesting there’s an impatience building in the fan base with the way things have progressed lately. There’s not much for Davidson to do that can salvage this season, with the primary hope being continued steps forward for the younger Blackhawks players at the NHL levels and skating in various leagues around the world. The grade on Davidson’s job remains incomplete at this point, because so many of the team’s prospects are still plying their trade elsewhere.



But this offseason is starting to feel more and more like a vital one for Davidson’s own long-term standing with the team. He needs to produce some more tangible signs that this whole rebuild is trending in the right direction either through prospects who show up at the NHL level and break out or through some quality additions via trade or free agency when said opportunities arise. Because the Blackhawks have already fired their coach, and the person who typically lands on the hot seat next is the one who hired said coach. ...

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