The Blackhawks are expected to name Luke Richardson their next head coach, sources confirmed to NBC Sports Chicago on Friday morning. The news was first reported by Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.
Richardson, 53, has spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach for the Montreal Canadiens, who reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. He served as the interim head coach for Games 3-6 of the Eastern Conference second round in those playoffs after Dominique Ducharme was placed in COVID-19 protocol, and Montreal won three of four games with him at the helm in that series.
Richardson's previous coaching experience includes stints with the New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators as an assistant, head coach for AHL's Binghamton Senators for four seasons, and head coach for Team Canada in the 2016 Spengler Cup that resulted in a gold medal.
Richardson had a lengthy NHL playing career as a defenseman, appearing in 1,417 games and compiling 201 points (35 goals, 166 assists) across 21 seasons. He also added eight assists in 69 postseason contests.
Richardson is the final piece to Chicago's leadership puzzle after GM Kyle Davidson rounded out his front-office team on Wednesday. He's known to be a high-character guy and can be a coach that can grow with the team during the rebuild, which is the kind of coach the Blackhawks were looking for from the start.
Derek King was strongly considered for the permanent gig after going 27-33-10 as the interim head coach following Chicago's 1-9-2 start to the season that led to Jeremy Colliton and assistants Sheldon Brookbank and Tomas Mitell being relieved of their duties. King was the right coach at the right time for the Blackhawks, and it's unclear what his future within the organization might be as Richardson prepares to take over.
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