CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks name Kyle Davidson their permanent general manager Tuesday.
“The thorough process we undertook affirmed much of what we believed we had in Kyle and he stepped up to lead and make tough decisions during his time in the interim role.” Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz said in a statement. “He without a doubt met every qualification we were looking for, is passionate about the game and represents the high character across everything we do.
Davidson, 33, is the 10th GM in franchise history and is in his 12th season with the team.
“I’m committed to building a winning team on and off the ice the right way — improving our internal framework and processes and working closely with a strong team of people to make decisions,” he said in a statement. “I share the vision of the leadership team to create a positive culture throughout the organization and the game of hockey and promise to uphold our values in everything we do.”
The Hawks assembled an advisory panel to help with the search and interviewed at least six candidates, but Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Davidson emerged as a finalist along with Tampa Bay Lightning director of operations Mathieu Darche and Cubs assistant GM Jeff Greenberg.
Davidson has been the Hawks’ interim GM and vice president of hockey strategy and analytics since Oct. 26, when Stan Bowman, the former president of hockey operations and GM, stepped down after an independent investigation found he and other senior managers suppressed a sexual assault allegation in 2010 by then-prospect Kyle Beach.
Davidson was named assistant general manager overseeing hockey administration in 2020.
That December, Bowman said Davidson “has really become the right-hand man on a day-to-day basis with salary cap preparations, contract negotiations, contract research, in addition to scouting. He’s taken an interest in ... watching players all over Europe and for the draft and players to keep an eye on.
“He’s jumped into that full-force.”
Davidson, a Sudbury, Ontario, native, worked with the Ottawa Senators, Sudbury Wolves and Rockford IceHogs before joining the Hawks as a hockey operations intern in the summer of 2010, according to a team release.
The next season, he was hired as a hockey analytics/video analyst and then was promoted to hockey administration coordinator.
After the Hawks won the Stanley Cup in 2015, he was named hockey operations manager.
The Hawks promoted Davidson to senior manager of hockey operations in 2017 and then assistant to the general manager in 2018.
In 2021 he created and managed an integrated strategy and analytics department within hockey operations. Before this season, Davidson was named assistant general manager of hockey administration.
When he replaced Bowman in October, he wasted little time exercising his newfound powers.
On Nov. 6, Davidson fired coach Jeremy Colliton, who started the season 1-9-2, and installed then-Rockford IceHogs coach Derek King as interim head coach. Assistant coaches Sheldon Brookbank and Tomas Mitell also were out.
Davidson said a day later, “While I’ve only been in the role of interim general manager for just over a week, I quickly recognized the need for a change and took my thoughts and conclusions to Danny and Rocky Wirtz. They were supportive of my decision and I appreciate their confidence in me and my leadership to take this action.”
“I’m evaluating everything in hockey operations and although I’ve been in the organization for a number of years it’s become quite apparent to me that you see things much differently when you have the full view provided by the general manager’s seat. With this new perspective and insight granted to me by my new role, I’ll continue the evaluation process and make the changes that I deem necessary as I’ve been empowered by leadership to do.
“The evaluation process never ends.”
Davidson also that while the search for a permanent GM and coach would be ongoing throughout the season, he wouldn’t hesitate to conduct business with teams.
He also made it clear he would be auditioning to keep the job.
“I’m sitting in a seat that there’s only 32 of these positions available,” he said. “And that’s a very fortunate place to be sitting. You know what? Have I worked hard to get to this point, yes. But I’m very young. I’m going to enjoy the position I’m in, and I’m going to enjoy the people that I work with. Because we’re really lucky, we’re really lucky to be doing what we do, and there is a lot of responsibility, there’s a lot of work to be done.”
So far, Davidson’s personnel moves have been modest, highlighted by pushing the eject button on the Alex Nylander experiment. He traded the forward to the Pittsburgh Penguins for forward Sam Lafferty on Jan. 5.
