5 thoughts on Blackhawks’ reported hiring of Kyle Davidson as GM

The Blackhawks have reportedly chosen Kyle Davidson to be the permanent general manager and an official announcement is expected to be made on Tuesday.

A few initial thoughts before the eventual press conference:

There's a reason why league and team sources believed Davidson went into the interview process as the front-runner and it's because he's highly respected within the organization. It was his job to lose from the beginning, which meant somebody would have had to blow the leadership group's socks off for them to legitimately change their mind.

It sounds like Jeff Greenberg of the Chicago Cubs was the closest to doing so, but the Blackhawks ultimately felt Davidson was the right choice.
Now, I know what you're thinking. A month-long search only to settle on the guy who's been under their own roof all along? Fair point. But even if Davidson was Chicago's guy the whole time, the interview process was probably extremely valuable for CEO Danny Wirtz and president of business operations Jaime Faulkner, who are both relatively new to their current gigs and formed an advisory committee to assist in the search because of their lack of hockey expertise on a deeper level that's needed to make an important decision like this.

All six reported external candidates were likely asked what their vision would be for the organization moving forward, both on and off the ice. Wouldn't you want to hear how others around the league — and outside the box — view the current state of the team and what they would do to steer things back in the right direction? The feedback and different ideas must have been welcoming and eye-opening for Wirtz and Faulkner.
Davidson began with the Blackhawks as a hockey operations intern in 2010. He was promoted to be Stan Bowman's assistant GM in 2019, but it's not fair to say the two of them saw things the same way. In fact, I've heard Davidson is taking a very realistic approach on how to get the Blackhawks back on track. He's not emotionally invested in any decisions made under the previous regime, and we already saw that with the Alex Nylander trade and the coaching staff overhaul.

Here's what Davidson said when asked about this when he was named the interim GM: "Obviously, I did work under Stan. But given my new perspective on things [and] my new proximity to the team and to the hockey operations, I think what I've learned is it's a whole different viewpoint that you get when you're in the weeds every day. It's a continuous evaluation. I'm going to make my own determinations. We're not beholden to anything that's happened in the past. Now that I'm in the role I'm going to make the decisions that I think are the best for the organization."
Brian Campbell is likely going to take on a larger role with the promotion of Davidson. The question is, will he be Davidson's right-hand man? Campbell is currently listed as a developmental coach in the team's directory, which is a position he's held for the last few years. Now he could have significant front-office responsibilities, which will no doubt be an adjustment. The Blackhawks would be wise to add some experience in the hockey operations department to divide up the day-to-day duties.
And lastly, the Blackhawks are looking to change their culture and rebuild the trust of the fanbase. That's going to be a big part of Davidson's duty as the head voice and face of the hockey operations department. And he fully understands that.

"First of all, it starts with the leadership and we’ve enacted many changes over the last 10 months that we haven’t necessarily talked about yet, but the process has begun," Davidson said in October. "With me in the position I’m in now, I fully intend on being part of the solution to make sure something like that never happens again. And also being part of the solution in the grander hockey culture because I think there’s areas we need to improve, and I intend on being a positive influence in that endeavor."