Jeff Blashill was named coach of the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.
The 51-year-old replaces interim coach Anders Sorensen, who led the team for the final 56 games of the season (17-30-9) after Luke Richardson was fired on Dec. 5.
Blashill, who was an assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning the past three seasons, previously coached the Detroit Red Wings for seven seasons from 2015-22.
"Jeff is an incredibly smart and talented coach who boasts more than 25 years of coaching experience across developmental leagues, the NHL and the world stage," Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said. "He's thrived when in a position to develop young players and has shown he's capable of blending that into overall team success, a vision and philosophy we share for where we are today and where we see our team in the future. We couldn't be more excited for what's to come under Jeff’s direction."
Detroit made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Blashill's first season in 2015-16, losing in five games to the Lightning in the first round, but failed to qualify in his final six seasons. Blashill went 204-261-72 in 537 games with the Red Wings.
Chicago, which went 25-46-11 this season, has missed the playoffs for five straight seasons and in seven of the past eight. The Blackhawks have finished no higher than sixth in their division since finishing first in the Central Division in 2016-17.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Seattle Kraken each remain without a coach, and the Boston Bruins ended the season under interim coach Joe Sacco. Rick Tocchet (Philadelphia Flyers) and Adam Foote (Vancouver Canucks) were each hired on May 14, Joel Quenneville was named coach of the Anaheim Ducks on May 8, and Mike Sullivan was named coach of the New York Rangers on May 2.
