The news has been swirling around all parts of the hockey internet for the last week or so and now it seems to be all but official: the Blackhawks new head coach is going to be current Tampa assistant coach Jeff Blashill.
The Wednesday afternoon tweet below from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period is the latest reporting on the matter, indicating that a decision has been made and an official announcement is imminent:
Word out of Chicago is the #Blackhawks have found their new Head Coach (all signs point to Jeff Blashill, we shall see). An announcement is expected later today or Thursday, and will include additional coaching staff changes.
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) May 21, 2025
Blashill, who’s 51, was a head coach with the Detroit Red Wings for seven seasons, taking over in 2015-16 and handling the team through the 2021-22 season. He made the playoffs only one time and compiled a 204-261-72 record during that tenure, as the Red Wings steadily trended downward from the heights of their success earlier this century. After leaving Detroit, he became an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he’s been for the last three seasons.
The other stops on Blashill’s tenure include head coach and GM of the USHL’s Indiana Ice back in 2008, one season as the Western Michigan University head coach and three seasons as the head coach of the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins — which included a Calder Cup championship season back in 2012-13.
We’ll provide updates once this news becomes official, but there’s been enough smoke around this exact topic over the last week or two to suggest Blashill is going to be the guy.