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Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson constantly has a foot in the present and another in the future. If he\u2019s going to pull of the rebuild he started in 2022, he will need to work through a lot of phases in the coming years.<\/p>\n
Drafting Connor Bedard was a major piece to the future puzzle, but Davidson understands there\u2019s so much more to it. From Bedard\u2019s development to adding stars to whether to trade his first 2025 first-round draft pick, Davidson spoke recently to The Athletic<\/em> about where the Blackhawks\u2019 rebuild is and where it needs to get to.<\/p>\n How would you assess Connor Bedard\u2019s development midway through his second NHL season?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m very pleased with the added elements to his game. His ability to survive and in some cases thrive against the best players in our game is very impressive for the second-youngest player in the league. Of course, he has some areas to grow in, but I have zero concern that he will do just that. I love his mentality of wanting to play against great players and challenge himself in that way early in his career. I love that mentality. He\u2019s going to learn from those situations and use the knowledge to further grow his game.<\/p>\n There were some questions surrounding him when he was drafted, because of his size and being so offensive, whether he\u2019d figure it out defensively and whether his future would remain at center. He seems more defensive-minded this season. It doesn\u2019t appear the organization has wavered from him being a long-term center, either. How have you seen his development at that position?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think he\u2019s made some really nice strides. And he mentioned the other day, he\u2019s worked on over the summer on kind of having that strong stick and stripping pucks and that kind of thing. Just his defensive awareness and reliability and 200-foot game, that\u2019s not something you just figure out overnight in the NHL. Especially for someone that\u2019s leaned on offense and been relied upon offensively for so long, that\u2019s something that will take time, and playing against men is difficult. He\u2019s not the biggest guy, so he\u2019s got to figure out different ways to find pucks and win pucks and defend. Again he\u2019s the second-youngest player in the league. That\u2019s something that we\u2019ve already seen progress in. He\u2019s made big strides. We\u2019ll continue to see those moving forward. It\u2019s not something we\u2019re all really concerned about.<\/p>\n There is a lot of talk about his faceoffs. (He\u2019s at 35.3 percent for the season). You probably want him to improve in that area. The coaches have taken some of that pressure off of him and allowed his wingers to take more faceoffs. How do you envision him in that area in the future?<\/strong><\/p>\n Again, you look at some of the top faceoff men in the league and a lot of them are veteran players. It\u2019s a skill that\u2019s learned especially over time and and experience. Do people come in and take faceoffs here and there? Yeah, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s necessarily out of the norm for a lot of other teams with either younger players or players that are still working on their craft. It\u2019s something that I know he\u2019s put work into after practice and he will continue to do so. As he gains experience in the league, I think we\u2019ll see that improve.<\/p>\n A lot of fans think Bedard eventually needs a running mate, whether it\u2019s someone for his line or someone to balance the offense in the lineup \u2014 a \u201cPatrick Kane had Jonathan Toews\u201d sort of thing. Do you think in those terms? As you\u2019re building this team, do you think of multiple superstars or does he need a winger to complement him?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think from our perspective and my thought process is that we need to continue to build talent around him, right? If that comes in the form of one player that\u2019s inserted or a number of players, then, you know, I think it can come in different forms and it comes to you from an availability standpoint in different ways. And so, it\u2019s certainly something we think about, but more so because we just want to build a really strong team. It\u2019s not necessarily (that) we just need one other guy and then we we downshift because we\u2019ve got a running mate for Connor and now we\u2019re done. No, we want to build a great team. That\u2019s more the focus than anything.<\/p>\n If that manifests itself in finding a running mate or an additional threat, one additional threat on another line, OK, we\u2019ll look at that. But I think our aspirations are higher that we\u2019re going to have a number of great options throughout the lineup up front, on the back end.<\/p>\n Having said that, stars are hard to come by. So, do we want more? Of course we do. But I think there\u2019s also more than one way to build a really strong team. You can be top-heavy with your talent or you can be deep with your talent. And so, we\u2019ll sort of see how our players develop, our young players develop and then evaluate whatever opportunities come our way, whether it\u2019s down the road in free agency, trade or the draft and we\u2019ll go from there.<\/p>\n I think it\u2019s something you\u2019re always considering is finding that star power. But that\u2019s so much easier said than done \u2014 we\u2019ll just go get a great player to play with him. It\u2019s like, all right, yeah, ideally, it\u2019s that easy. It just isn\u2019t, because this is something that every other team is looking for as well.<\/p>\n Do we think about it and do we consider it in our long-term build? Of course. But we\u2019re also trying to consider what\u2019s realistic, as well, in terms of building a successful team structure and making sure that we\u2019re not putting our eggs in one team-construction basket, so to speak.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve always thought these next few years might be your most challenging. You may have those stars in your system considering where you\u2019ve drafted and how many high picks you\u2019ve had and you do have players showing signs they have real potential. You have all these guys potentially down the line, but I think we\u2019ve also seen from the past year that a lot of prospects need time. Even someone like Frank Nazar is showing signs now, but it may be a year or two before he really produces in the NHL. Fans want prospects like Bedard to come in and have such an impact, but most need time. Over these next few years, how do you balance the cap, where getting to the floor might even be challenging, but also investing in those young players and giving them time to develop and trying to have a roster that you probably want to be more competitive than the last couple years?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s certainly a balancing act. I think a lot of the factors that go into your NHL team are unforeseen moving forward in our situation, mostly just because we don\u2019t know what is available to us, right? And we don\u2019t necessarily know what the development of our young players looks like. Now, having said that, I feel like a lot of the young players that we\u2019ve seen this year have shown they\u2019re closer and closer to stepping in and being contributors at the NHL level. And so, that\u2019s really exciting.<\/p>\n The question being additions to the NHL roster, I think it\u2019s always something we\u2019re exploring and something we\u2019re considering. But at this point in the season, looking at future years, it\u2019s just so hard to understand what\u2019s actually there. But, yeah, you\u2019re also right with some of the really talented players in our prospect pool, some of them just need time and some of them need to develop. The development that we\u2019ve seen from a lot of them is really, really exciting, but it\u2019s just not at the point where we can reasonably think that we\u2019re going to put them into the NHL and they\u2019re ready to impact the game or impact a team or season just quite yet. We have aspirations and high hopes that they will. And I think a lot of those expectations are realistic, but it\u2019s not necessarily tomorrow or next week. You know, you got to give it some time to build.<\/p>\n The other thing, too, with what we\u2019re building is that in terms of drafting and developing is that we\u2019re potentially earlier on just because the players aren\u2019t here yet, right?\u00a0 In the grand scheme of things with a player like Connor, people wanted to accelerate things. They wanted to jump-start things. Well, it does to some extent because you check a big box. There\u2019s still a whole other team that you have to build around that player. And so, it takes time. And so, that\u2019s kind of what we\u2019re going through right now, is we\u2019re developing, we\u2019re letting some of these players find their feet in pro hockey and in their development curve. And then, hopefully, over the next season or couple of seasons, we can really see them step into the NHL when they\u2019re ready and start impacting the team. We\u2019re always evaluating where they\u2019re at. We\u2019re always evaluating what gaps they need to fill to make sure that that transition to pro and the NHL is is smooth.<\/p>\n But we\u2019re also evaluating what additions and opportunities are available to us to augment the NHL roster and take a step forward in that area because we do want to continue to push the envelope and push forward. We\u2019re not going to do anything that is detrimental to our medium- and long-term outlook, but maybe there\u2019s something that is beneficial to both. And so, we\u2019re always looking into that. We\u2019re always looking for situations that can help us in those horizons. But, you know, they\u2019re they\u2019re just hard to come by at the NHL level.<\/p>\n To have likely another top-five pick in this year\u2019s draft, do you look at that as a possible asset you can move or do you need to make that pick to add another young player of that potential caliber? How do you look at that?<\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessarily that we\u2019re married to making the pick. Again, it would be a very hard needle to thread in all likelihood, but if there\u2019s an opportunity to use a pick like that to find a player that\u2019s either in the NHL or closer to the NHL that we feel very confident is going to provide us some significant value to the NHL roster moving forward, then certainly we\u2019re going to explore that. We\u2019re not dead set on, \u201cWell, we got this pick, we got to make it.\u201d If there\u2019s an opportunity that makes sense to use that pick on the market, then we\u2019ll absolutely explore that.<\/p>\n The salary cap numbers hadn\u2019t been released the last time you spoke to the media. Danny Wirtz has always made it clear that he\u2019s going to allow you to spend what you need to spend. There has been some speculation that not all teams are going to be willing or able to be near the cap ceiling. Could that become an advantage for teams like yours?<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s not exactly clear to me how that\u2019s all going to play out. I think that\u2019s something that we\u2019ll have a better handle on in the next few years around the league. So, yeah, I just don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t fear that it\u2019ll be a disadvantage for us, but I just don\u2019t know if other teams won\u2019t. I don\u2019t have that insight yet.<\/p>\n Bringing in Chris O\u2019Hearn as vice president of hockey operations, do you see him helping you navigate the cap in the coming years?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, for sure. I think having someone with Chris\u2019 experience, both in negotiations and cap management and cap strategy, I think that\u2019s something that\u2019s really exciting for us \u2014 and obviously, with the salary cap going up, is going to be something that we\u2019ll certainly have to navigate. And so, we\u2019re really excited to add Chris and his viewpoint into our group to help move that whole area forward.<\/p>\n How important will Bedard\u2019s next deal be to build that whole picture?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think any of our better young players in their contracts are going to paint a pretty big picture on how much is obviously spent on them but then what you\u2019ve got to fill in around. And so, I think that goes for any team, right? You kind of see what your top players earn and then you piece things around them, and hopefully it\u2019s a situation where you\u2019ve got enough that you can afford depth throughout the lineup and you can build a really strong team unit with your salary cap. So we\u2019ll see how everything shakes out with a bunch of our young players. A lot of them take some time to develop and then they\u2019ll hopefully have lots of success and we\u2019ll have some healthy dialog with their agents and representatives over the next number of years and we can figure out where we\u2019re at when we get there.<\/p>\n You haven\u2019t had the type of players so far to play a very specific style of hockey. You\u2019ve drafted a lot of speedy and skilled forwards and big and skilled defensemen. When the rebuild takes shape, what playing style do you envision for this team? What do you hope the Blackhawks are known for?<\/strong><\/p>\n I hope we\u2019re known for a relentless style of play with pace and compete. When we lose the puck, I\u2019d like us to be aggressive in pursuit of gaining it back. I believe we\u2019ve drafted players that, once they\u2019ve developed and reached their potential, will be able to play the game in multiple ways and bring versatility to the type of style we need to play from night to night and situation to situation in order to put us in the best situation to succeed.<\/p>\n Do you have an idea of what college prospect might sign or burn years? Are you preparing to implement some players into the NHL lineup late in the season?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think we\u2019re prepared, yeah. I think we\u2019re prepared for anything. It\u2019s more so just we\u2019ll kind of have those conversations with their player reps or the players themselves, depending on the case. But I think we\u2019re prepared for it. I think it\u2019s something that would be exciting to see. But I don\u2019t think you really know until you get down to towards the end of these seasons before you figure out who\u2019s thinking what.<\/p>\n Do you see Oliver Moore as someone who is potentially ready for that next step?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think he\u2019s definitely potentially ready. I think that\u2019s something that a player like Oliver\u2019s got to take stock of and figure out where he feels his game is at and what he needs. But those are conversations we\u2019ll have when they\u2019re wrapped up. They\u2019re a pretty good team (at the University of Minnesota) and hopefully they can make a long run for some great experience for Oliver. But we\u2019ve seen some nice strides, and I think he plays a really projectable game to pro hockey. But we\u2019ll let him finish out the season and then figure out where the chips fall off after that.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Davidson spoke recently to The Athletic about where the Blackhawks’ rebuild is and where it needs to get to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-13747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chicago-blackhawks","tag-chicago-blackhawks"],"yoast_head":"\n
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