CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks are expected to name Montreal Canadiens assistant Luke Richardson as their new head coach, sources confirmed to the Chicago Tribune on Friday.
The Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli first reported the news.
Richardson, 53, becomes the 40th head coach in Hawks history and replaces interim coach Derek King. Richardson is tasked with kickstarting a new era for the franchise.
The Hawks confirmed that they interviewed four candidates, including Richardson, King, Vancouver Canucks associate coach Brad Shaw and Pittsburgh Penguins assistant Todd Reirden.
Richardson has more than 25 years of experience in the NHL and was a head coach of the Binghamton Senators, the Ottawa Senators’ AHL affiliate. He was assistant coach with the New York Islanders before joining the Habs as an assistant coach in July 2018.
The former Toronto Maple Leafs first-round pick was a defenseman for 21 years, playing 1,417 games with the Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Senators.
He replaces King, who assumed the helm Nov. 6 after the Hawks fired Jeremy Colliton after a 1-9-2 start. King presided over a 27-33-10 finish.
Then-interim general manager Kyle Davidson promoted King from the minor league Rockford IceHogs with the hope King would be a more effective communicator than Colliton.
And Davidson made that quality a prerequisite for the permanent bench boss.
Said Davidson on May 3: “We want the coaches that are able to communicate, able to drive a message and create a positive culture and get players to want to come to the rink and compete every single night. And that’s based on track record and that’s also based on how they deliver a message.”
Richardson ticks off a lot of boxes Davidson wanted in a coach, including experience as a player and coach on different levels.
Davidson also wanted a strong communicator, a trait Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis vouched for in comments he made earlier this season.
“Luke is just a calm and calculated and very confident coach,” St. Louis said, according to the Montreal Gazette. “The calmness of his approach allows the guys to grow and Luke’s approach allows the guys to feel confident on the ice … receptive to constructive criticism because (of) the way he does it. It’s very important they don’t feel suffocated if there’s correction. They don’t feel handcuffed if there’s correction and I think that’s important in their growth.”
Messaging or not, Richardson has a heavy lift ahead of him.
Davidson has made it clear that he is taking the long view on getting back to competitiveness by reshaping the roster, taking his time with younger players and being frugal with free agents.
Translation: Reinforcements may not be on the way anytime soon.
Of the top seven point producers from last season, two (Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews) are approaching their mid-30s and will be playing out the final year of their contracts, another (Brandon Hagel) was traded, and two (Dominik Kubalík and Dylan Strome) are restricted free agents and no sure bets to return.
But if management is true to its word, the Hawks are going to exercise patience.
“I think reasonably you have to look at where you’re at,” Davidson said in May. “Right now we’re not in win-now mode, we’re in win mode, but when that is probably a little further than next year, just having a realistic assessment of where we’re at.”
The Hawks also showed patience with the coaching search.
The offseason started with five NHL vacancies before the New York Islanders quickly elevated former assistant coach Lane Lambert to replace Barry Trotz.
Some teams have or had interim coaches like the Hawks had with King, including the Canadiens, who signed St. Louis to a three-year deal June 1.
But the Hawks said they felt no pressure to rush their search despite the competition for candidates.
“I don’t think we’re concerned with the number of openings or teams moving fast,” Davidson said in mid-May. “We’re going to run through the process and we’ll find the best candidate for us, and I don’t think we’ll fast-track anything based on what’s going on elsewhere.”
It remains unclear what becomes of King, who had been promised an interview. Though King didn’t land the top job, Davidson called him a “positive influence” and didn’t rule out a role of some kind.
“That’s something we might cross once we get to our head coaching decision,” Davidson said in May.
“I think the world of Derek. He’s got a great hockey mind, he’s got a great way with the players, he’s endeared himself to a lot of people this year, and so you want those types of people in your organization.”
