Blackhawks’ coaching search, contract talks and more takeaways from locker clean-out day

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CHICAGO — For a team that finished in 31st place, Thursday’s exit interviews at Fifth Third Arena were decidedly upbeat. Closing the season on a 4-1-1 kick, with a bevy of young players leading the charge, has the Blackhawks feeling a lot better about themselves and the rebuild than they did at this point last season.

“We feel like we’re in a good spot moving forward,” general manager Kyle Davidson said. “I don’t know how sitting in my seat I can’t be optimistic where we’re headed, given what we saw toward the back part of the season.”

Sam Rinzel’s all-around excellence came up a lot. Frank Nazar’s sensational closing stretch did, too. Oliver Moore’s speed was a hot topic. Spencer Knight’s calming presence in net and the locker room was cited by several players. And Artyom Levshunov and Kevin Korchinski got some love, too. Then, of course, there’s Connor Bedard, who scuffled at times en route to a 67-point sophomore season, but whose ceiling remains sky high.

The Blackhawks went from one of the oldest teams in the league in October to one of the youngest in April. And got significantly better in the process. The trick now, as everyone heads home to rest, recharge and then rev up for next season, is to continue on this trajectory. A couple of good weeks are nice. Six or seven months of sustained excellence is something else entirely.

“For the kids that are coming in, they’re feeling good about themselves, and I hope that’s because we’re creating a culture and a place that they feel confident and comfortable to come into,” veteran center Jason Dickinson said, a cast on his left wrist. “We don’t want them to feel undervalued or feel less than any of us just because we’ve been here a while. This is quite frankly a team with open spots everywhere. Not one of us has a solid spot. So you have to come in and take your job and make it happen, because this team is looking for guys to do that. And it’s on them at this point, because they are the guys that are going to take this team forward. They’ve got to take it. And the confidence that they come in with gives me the hope and the inspiration that that is what they want to do, and what they’re going to do.”

Here are some key takeaways from a busy locker clean-out day:

Davidson is definitely looking for a new coach, but that’s about as far as he went in committing to anything about his search on Thursday.

He left open the possibility of making Anders Sörensen the permanent coach, but he’ll also said they’ll be looking at external candidates. It could be a coach with NHL experience or without. The hiring could be quick or could take time.

The last time Davidson did a full-out search, he landed on Luke Richardson because Richardson made sense for where the organization was in the rebuild. While they’re further along now, Davidson doesn’t want that to impact who he considers.

“Even going through the process of thinking of what that looks like, what we came to and what I came to, the somewhat understanding or realization is that we can’t put a box on what a candidate has to look like and then just go with that,” Davidson said. “Because I think you’re limiting yourself to a very, very small number of people if that’s the case. I think we’re going to remain open-minded about things and where we want to go, who could fit, whether it’s internal or external. I don’t necessarily think we’re just going to look at something different from Luke because we’re potentially in a different spot. I think we are in a different spot, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to pigeonhole ourselves into looking into just one specific thing or one specific type of candidate.”

Davidson said he hasn’t set up any interviews, but they’ll begin advancing the process soon.

Sörensen would obviously like the job, but he also made it clear that he wants to be with the Blackhawks regardless of whether he gets it or not. He’s invested in the rebuild.

“I want to be here and I think we’ve started something and I’m not a guy that’s going to be like, I have to do this or that,” Sörensen said. “I’m a team-oriented person, I want to help the organization, I want to help these young players take the next step in their careers and us as an organization, that’s the biggest focus for me.”

Connor Bedard is eligible for a contract extension on July 1, but said he hasn’t “put too much thought” into whether he’d rather sign immediately or wait. He did, however, dismiss any fan fantasies out there (hello, Vancouver) that he’s unhappy in Chicago and looking to leave.

Yes, he was frustrated for much of this season. No, he wasn’t unhappy.

“I’m a pretty mild-mannered guy, and if I looked a little sad on the bench or something, maybe people can take it out of context,” he said. “I’ve said it so many times, I love being here and the city. The people — even before I got drafted, I was embraced as one of their own. So it’s a special sports town and we have a lot of great players coming up, great people.”

Connor Bedard plans to work on increasing his speed this offseason. (Marc DesRosiers / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

Every time Bedard slammed a stick or punched the bench wall in frustration, it stirred up the usual social-media speculation. Bedard said he doesn’t look at what’s being said online very often, unless someone puts it in front of him.

“People who know me know I love to be here and really trust the direction we’re going,” he said. “If you get the first overall pick, you’re probably not winning the Cup the next two years. It’s an understanding of where you’re at. You’re going out there to win every game but at the end, you know we’re in a process of growing and learning, and that’s an exciting time. When you lose, it makes winning a lot sweeter, once you get there. So we’re excited for that.”

Davidson didn’t have much to say about Bedard’s contract negotiations just yet and described it as an offseason topic.

Aside from Bedard’s deal, the main one staring at Davidson now is the possibility of re-signing Ryan Donato. The two sides talked before the trade deadline, a contract was offered and then negotiations paused until after the season.

Now, they’re expected to discuss it again. Donato is believed to be offered a three-year contract with a $4 million cap hit.

Donato does want to re-sign with the Blackhawks, but this is also his chance coming off a 31-goal season, for some financial security. Both things can be true.

“We’ve talked, and I’ve voiced plenty of times how much I love being here and want to be a part of the future here,” Donato said. “It’s something I’ve got to work on my own game and help the team, but also helping the young guys. And there’s a lot of exciting opportunity here and it’s definitely something that I voiced that I want to be a part of.”

It doesn’t sound like the sides were far off at the deadline.

“There was definitely times where it got close and unfortunately we never got to a deal,” Donato said. “But it was definitely very beneficial to kind of see that side of the business. And it was nice that they obviously felt good enough to want me here, still.”

Dominic James, a 2022 sixth-round pick, has indicated to the Blackhawks that he plans to wait out their draft rights and become a free agent on Aug. 15, according to Davidson.

“Door is still very much open with us, but that’s up to him and his representatives to decide the best path for him,” Davidson said. “If it’s with us or with someone else, we wish him the best of luck. There’s no hard feelings there. We think we’ve got a pretty damn good opportunity here for a young player and a willingness that we have to not only develop but give significant playing time to young players.”

Davidson is hopeful that goalie Laurent Brossoit can be healthy for next season and compete for a roster spot. Brossoit missed all of this season after having two knee surgeries.

“I think it’s going to be a competition,” Davidson said. “I think we’d be fortunate to be in that position, because it means LB is healthy. And so that’s what we want. And so we want him to come in and compete with the other guys that we’ve gotten in the depth chart, and let them take it from there.”

When Davidson cut ties with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, he claimed he did so because he wanted the next generation of Blackhawks to have a clean slate and to allow their eventual leadership group to grow and flourish on their own. And while Nick Foligno joked that you’d have to rip the “C” off his chest whenever his time in Chicago runs out, he said it was “pretty neat” to see players such as Frank Nazar, Connor Bedard, Alex Vlasic and Spencer Knight start to emerge as the younger group’s leaders.

“That’s the cool part of sports, when you have an opportunity to really build it from the ground up (and) these guys I think have realized that,” Foligno said. “I hope they take it to heart this summer and come in with that attitude, a little bit of swagger, that this is their team. As much as I’m the captain, this is their team and I know that and I think it’s exciting for me to hand it off to whoever and know it’s going to be in great hands. There are enough guys in that room that can do it and you see it out of them. … There are good pieces here. It’s just a matter of guys realizing it, respecting it and knowing this wasn’t good enough and we have to come in with a different attitude (and) a standard next year and get to it right away and never look back.”

Frank Nazar’s growth this season was mentioned by a number of people after the season. (Steve Roberts / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

Of all the young players in the system, Nazar seems to have taken the biggest step, on and off the ice. He has a big personality and is brimming with confidence and positivity.

“I just try to be me and just try to lead by example,” Nazar said. “In the locker room, I try not to be super loud and telling people what to do.”

Vlasic, at 23, is already a cagey veteran. But he emerged as a bigger presence this year, too.

“I like to think I stepped up a little bit,” Vlasic said. “And next year, it’s something I want to do more of — just be a little bit more vocal and try to become a leader that I think I can be.”

Among regular Blackhawks forwards, only Pat Maroon averaged less ice time than Lukas Reichel, who came in at 11:55 per game. And while Reichel did well enough carving out a role as a fourth-line energy guy, it’s a far cry from the role he seemed destined for when he burst onto the scene as a rookie three seasons ago.

“I didn’t get much minutes, (I was) with the fourth line most of the year,” Reichel said. “So it’s harder to produce and score. But I tried to stay positive and make the little things right and just try to battle hard and grind. I’m happy about that, how I played.”

While Reichel has been leapfrogged on the depth chart by a host of players, young and veteran, he hasn’t given up on becoming a top-six player for the Blackhawks. He’s signed through next season and will be a restricted free agent next summer, so there’s still time and opportunity.

Reichel said he picked up a new skills coach for this summer, and will focus on winning board battles and picking up pucks off the wall.

(Top photo: Matt Marton / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

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