*Photo from The Rink*
As the summer advances, the coaching carousel continues to spin. The Chicago Blackhawks are finalizing a deal with Luke Richardson to make him their next head coach, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.
Richardson comes to Chicago after some time as an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens. He had been an assistant in Montreal since 2018. He has NHL assistant coach experience with the New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators as well, and served as the head coach for the Belleville Senators, the AHL affiliate of Ottawa.
The hiring of Richardson would mark another rookie coach hire by the Blackhawks, after they hired Jeremy Colliton from their AHL affiliate in November of 2018. Exactly 3 years after Colliton was hired, he was fired by the Blackhawks, who rode with Derek King as interim head coach for the remainder of the regular season. Now, they have their next man in Richardson.
The coaching change in Chicago comes as the team comes off a disappointing 2021-2022 season. The Blackhawks finished considerably far away from a playoff spot, placing 7th in the Central Division with a 28-42-12 record and 68 points in the regular season.
In the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, interim Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme was placed in Covid-19 protocols to a positive test, elevating Richardson to acting head coach for 6 games, with the Canadiens going 3-3 in those games, one win being the series clinching win against the Vegas Golden Knights to send Montreal to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 5 games.
When the Blackhawks finalize the deal with Richardson, which is expected to be in the coming days, the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, and Winnipeg Jets would be the remaining teams with a head coach opening.
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