(670 The Score) The Blackhawks on Tuesday named interim general manager Kyle Davidson to the role permanently.
Davidson becomes the 10th general manager in franchise history. He was elevated to his interim general manager role after president of hockey operations Stan Bowman stepped aside last October in the fallout from the organization’s sexual assault scandal.
At 33, Davidson is currently the youngest general manager in the NHL. Davidson has worked for the Blackhawks since 2010, when he started as a hockey operations intern. He then worked as a hockey analytics/video analyst, as a hockey administration coordinator and hockey operations manager before being elevated to assistant general manager in 2018.
“Today is another step not just for me but for my Blackhawks teammates within the organization and Blackhawks fans across the world," Davidson said in a statement. "I’m committed to building a winning team on and off the ice the right way — improving our internal framework and processes and working closely with a strong team of people to make decisions. I share the vision of the leadership team to create a positive culture throughout the organization and the game of hockey and promise to uphold our values in everything we do.
"I am thankful for the support of Rocky (Wirtz), Danny (Wirtz) and Jaime (Faulkner) throughout this process. We all learned a lot and I'm excited to share the work with this leadership team, my colleagues throughout the organization and Blackhawks fans. Leadership has challenged us to ‘reimagine the potential of hockey’ and I look forward to that challenge in building a hockey operations department for the future. It is an honor to serve as general manager for the Chicago Blackhawks, and I promise to be dedicated, transparent and utilize all resources available to me to contribute to this organization.”
Lightning director of hockey operations Mathieu Darche and Cubs assistant general manager Jeff Greenberg were believed to be the other two finalists in a search that included interviews with at least seven individuals.
Davidson will be introduced at a press conference at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the United Center.
“We have a vision here for the future of Blackhawks hockey and today we are a step closer to that coming together," Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz said in a statement. "As an organization, we know we have a lot of work to do on and off the ice, and Kyle is the leader we trust to oversee our hockey operations.
"The thorough process we undertook affirmed much of what we believed we had in Kyle and he stepped up to lead and make tough decisions during his time in the interim role. He without a doubt met every qualification we were looking for, is passionate about the game and represents the high character across everything we do.
"I’d like to thank Jaime and the members of our advisory committee for their help in this process. We had several strong candidates; I am confident Kyle is the right answer. I look forward to working with him for years to come and I am excited about what this means for the future of the club.”
The Blackhawks are 19-27-8 this season, sitting seventh in the eight-team Central Division with 46 points.