Chicago Blackhawks Make Major Front Office Change as Team Continues to Struggle
Today the Chicago Blackhawks have announced yet another move to restructure their organization as they have hired a new Vice President of Hockey Operations.
The Chicago Blackhawks have struggled mightily this season leading the team to make a coaching change earlier this season firing Luke Richardson.
This move by the Blackhawks was expected to be the first of potentially many moves to restructure the organization with Kyle Davidson still at the head of operations.
With superstar Connor Bedard secured the Blackhawks have failed to build around him but now the Blackhawks have decided to make a change to the front office that could lead to Bedard getting major reinforcements.
According to a report from Michael Russo of The Athletic the Blackhawks have hired former Assistant General Manager of the Minnesota Wild Chris O'Hearn as their Vice President of Hockey Operations.
O'Hearn brings experience with the Collective Bargaining Agreement and contract negotiations from his time with the Minnesota Wild.
Before his time with the Wild O'Hearn was the Director of Hockey Administration and eventually promoted to Assistant GM with the Arizona Coyotes.
His past experiences and familiarity with several front-office roles will be key for the future of the Blackhawks as in a couple of seasons they will have to navigate extensions for much of their young core including Connor Bedard, Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar, and others.
According to insider Frank Seravalli, O'Hearn's responsibilities will include contract negotiations and managing the salary cap.
This move should also signal to Blackhawks fans that the team is likely going to be spending to the salary cap in upcoming years which means potential blockbuster trades or free-agent additions are on the horizon.
While this season for the Blackhawks is incredibly frustrating the future is bright and the team seems to be bringing in talent from top to bottom in the organization to push toward making the Stanley Cup Playoffs again.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Shea Theodore | - | 4 | 4 | |
| Charlie Coyle | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Matthew Knies | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Mitch Marner | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jared McCann | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Bo Horvat | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Nick Paul | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ryan Donato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Philipp Kurashev | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Elias Lindholm | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brad Marchand | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Auston Matthews | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jacob Middleton | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jamie Oleksiak | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| David Pastrnak | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Darren Raddysh | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Will Smith | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Chandler Stephenson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Capitals | 46 | 31 | 10 | 5 | 67 | |
Jets | 47 | 31 | 13 | 3 | 65 | |
Oilers | 46 | 29 | 14 | 3 | 61 | |
Golden Knights | 46 | 29 | 14 | 3 | 61 | |
Maple Leafs | 47 | 29 | 16 | 2 | 60 | |
Stars | 46 | 29 | 16 | 1 | 59 | |
Wild | 46 | 27 | 15 | 4 | 58 | |
Devils | 49 | 26 | 17 | 6 | 58 | |
Hurricanes | 46 | 27 | 16 | 3 | 57 | |
Avalanche | 47 | 28 | 18 | 1 | 57 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||