Blackhawks make decision on potential front office changes

With the kind of season the Chicago Blackhawks had in 2019-20, many fans were wondering whether changes to the coaching staff and other head office positions would be coming before 2020-21 hits. The short answer from Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz is no. He told The Athletic that president John McDonough, general manager Stan Bowman, and head coach Jeremy Colliton will all return next season regardless of what happens with NHL play between now and then. 

To be clear, Wirtz understands Hawks' fans are frustrated after not winning a playoffs series since 2015. But, he insists that's not on the staff. 

"Oh yeah, absolutely,” Wirtz said. “There’s not going to be any changes in the front office.”

As for a rumoured contract extension for GM Stan Bowman, it seems that's coming. 

“I’ll let John (McDonough) get into all the details,” Wirtz said of Bowman’s contract. “But there’s not going to be any changes, so let’s put that away.”

Wirtz added McDonough, Bowman and Collition have his full confidence. 

“Well, if I wasn’t confident, they wouldn’t be employed,” Wirtz said. “Yeah, I’m very confident. Like I said, we had a good run, but that doesn’t mean when you’re drafting 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th … You know it’s a young person’s game. You have to put work in there. Stan, right or wrong, after ’10, ’13 and ’15, you essentially had to trade half your team away. Yeah could we have been a dynasty if it was back in the Edmonton days? Of course. The 2010 team could have been around for a long time. But with the salary cap, you couldn’t do that. It is what it is. You got to work within the system.”