It appears as if Luke Richardson is going to be the new head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks.
The move was first reported by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, and when it is official it will make Richardson the 40th coach in franchise history. It will be his first head coaching job in the NHL as he replaces Derek King who completed the 2021-22 season as the team’s interim head coach. King took over for Jeremy Colliton after he was fired early in the season following a 1-9-2 start to the season where the was not even remotely competitive and never looked ready to play at the start of games.
Richardson has been an assistant coach for the Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, and Montreal Canadiens in recent seasons, and served one game as head coach for the Canadiens during the 2020-21 Stanley Cup Final when Dominque Ducharme was sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols.
He also worked for four seasons as head coach of the American Hockey League’s Binghamton Senators between the 2012-13 and 2015-16 seasons.
[Related: What a potential Alex DeBrincat trade could look like for Chicago Blackhawks]
Prior to his coaching career Richardson played more than 1,400 games in the NHL as a defenseman with the Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Ottawa Senators, and Tampa Bay Lighting, scoring 35 career goals, 166 assists, and 201 points. He also appeared in 69 career playoff games with the Flyers, Maple Leafs, and Oilers.
As for the task at hand, this is going to be a challenge in the short-term for Richardson and the Blackhawks.
The team is not only coming off a brutal 2021-22 performance that was among the worst in the league, but the team is clearly diving head first into a massive rebuilding phase that is probably going to strip the roster even further. There is a possibility that Alex DeBrincat could be traded this summer, while the futures of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews remain in doubt as both players enter the final year of their contracts.
Even if all three are back for this season the roster is so thin elsewhere that competing seems like nothing more than a dream. If one, two, or even all three are traded at some point there is not going to be anything resembling an impact player on the roster. It is not exactly an ideal situation for a new coach, especially a first-time coach. A lot of patience is going to be required here now. Not only from Blackhawks fans, but from Richardson himself.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.
Blackhawks to reportedly hire Luke Richardson as head coach originally appeared on NBCSports.com
