The resurgence of the Blackhawks was dubbed by Forbes Magazine in 2009 as the "Greatest Sports-Business Turnaround Ever" and John McDonough played a big role in that. But his 13-year run as president came to an end on Monday after he was relieved of his duties.
McDonough’s legacy will never be forgotten in Chicago, but it was time for a change in leadership. So who could be his potential replacement?
Let’s first start with the internal candidates. But before we do, it’s important to note there are several layers to this situation and the primary one is what the front office structure could look like. Will there be a separation in titles between the business and hockey operations? That would make the most sense but remains unclear.
On the business side, Jay Blunk is the current executive vice president and was hired to be McDonough's right-hand man in 2008. He's one option. Perhaps Danny Wirtz will remove his interim tag and become the full-time president, although that doesn't seem likely. Another possibility is Pete Hassen, who's the vice president of marketing and has been with the team for 15 years. He's as well-respected as anyone inside the organization and there's a sense he could emerge as the top internal candidate.
On the hockey side, Al MacIsaac has been with the Blackhawks for 19 years and was promoted to senior vice president of hockey operations in 2016. He previously served as an assistant to the president, so he's been involved in both the business and hockey ops departments. Assistant GM Norm Maciver could be a possibility, given he’s been in just about every role throughout his career, whether it's player, coach or front office member. And Blackhawks TV analyst Eddie Olczyk should also be part of the mix in some hockey capacity. Nobody has a better pulse on the organization and league than Olczyk, who has drawn interest from multiple NHL teams over the past couple years, according to a source.
Another potential scenario: Could the Blackhawks consider moving Stan Bowman into a hockey ops role and pass off the day-to-day general manager duties to an external candidate? Perhaps, but under that structure, Bowman would have a large say in the GM hiring process and you wonder if that compromises the desire to bring in an objective set of new eyes.
As far as external candidates go, from a hockey standpoint, former Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis is on record saying he wants back into the game after taking a five-year hiatus but doesn’t have aspirations to be a general manager. Gillis told Sportsnet in July of 2019 he's "more interested in how you build an organization, how you see results, how you measure results" and "analytics, sports science, human performance, and how to blend those things into a high-culture organization." This could be an opportunity to do so if there's mutual interest, but it appears to be a long shot.
NHL
Former Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall is also an experienced name on the market. He served as the assistant GM for the Los Angeles Kings from 2006-13 and helped put together the 2012 Stanley Cup team.
And finally, Columbus Blue Jackets senior vice president of hockey operations Bill Zito is somebody that’s garnered interest for past GM openings. He was a former player agent in Chicago and could soon be in the driver’s seat for an NHL team.
The Blackhawks' search for their next president is underway and they certainly won't be short of options.
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