Kyle Davidson Named Blackhawks' Full-Time GM After Serving in Interim Role

The Chicago Blackhawks announced Kyle Davidson as their full-time general manager Tuesday.

Scott Powers of The Athletic first reported Davidson landed the full-time job after serving as the interim general manager since replacing Stan Bowman, who resigned in October amid the fallout from an investigation into the team's handling of sexual assault allegations made against former assistant coach Brad Aldrich.

“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.” Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz said in a statement. “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."

Tampa Bay Lightning director of hockey operations Mathieu Darche and Chicago Cubs assistant general manager Jeff Greenberg were the other finalists for the job.

Davidson has been with the Blackhawks since 2010, working his way up from being an operations intern and video analyst all the way to the front office. He served as the assistant general manager under Bowman from 2019 until the former GM's departure, at which point he was given a chance at the interim role.

The Blackhawks are in the midst of a franchise-wide retooling, with their 19-27-8 record foreshadowing major changes likely coming across the roster. It's likely ownership felt they wanted to move forward with someone they're already comfortable with, and Davidson has a clear level of internal support.

Davidson showed decisiveness early in the season when he fired coach Jeremy Colliton after a 1-9-2 start and will likely continue reshaping the organization in his vision as the offseason commences this summer.