Five Coaching Candidates For The Chicago Blackhawks: Sorensen Gets First Crack

The Chicago Blackhawks fired coach Luke Richardson Thursday. Here are five potential candidates to be their permanent bench boss, including interim coach Anders Sorensen.

The Chicago Blackhawks fired coach Luke Richardson late Thursday afternoon, which immediately raises the question of who'll be the next permanent bench boss.

Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson replaced Richardson on an interim basis with Anders Sorensen, who had worked as coach of the Hawks’ AHL affiliate in Rockford, Ill.

The dismissal of the well-regarded Richardson came after Chicago lost to Boston Wednesday night to remain in last place in the NHL with an 8-16-2 record. But in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, Richardson paid the price with his job. 

Attention now turns to who will eventually be the Blackhawks’ permanent bench boss. Here are five of the handful of coaching options out there.

Sorensen is known for his work developing Maple Leafs star right winger William Nylander and his brother, Alex Nylander, in Sweden as youngsters and in North America. 

The first Swedish-born head coach in league history has a reputation as a solid developer. That’s exactly what the Blackhawks need, considering how they need to bring their prospects to an NHL caliber and their young NHLers to a higher level.

The 49-year-old Sorensen bounced around Sweden, France, Norway and the ECHL as a player, but his connection to young players likely made Hawks GM Kyle Davidson choose him to guide Chicago for at least the rest of this season. It’s essentially an audition for Sorensen for the rest of this campaign, and if he can steer the Blackhawks out of the basement of the NHL, he’ll probably have the ‘interim’ label removed, and he’ll officially be Chicago’s coach to start the next season.

Speaking of well-regarded young coaches, Woodcroft has to be in the mix to be Chicago’s next coach. 

The 48-year-old proved with the Edmonton Oilers that he could work with phenoms, including Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Woodcroft could be Davidson’s choice to help develop youngsters, including centers Connor Bedard and Lukas Reichel and blueliner Kevin Korchinski.

Woodcroft put together a 79-41-13 record in parts of three seasons with the Oilers – a solid mark that speaks to Woodcroft’s ability to get great performances out of players and teams still finding their way. 

He was unfairly fired in Edmonton when the Oilers stumbled out of the gate with a 3-9-1 mark last season, but he showed enough coaching savvy to make him a legitimate candidate to get another shot with a different team. Chicago could be his gateway back into NHL head coaching.

Carle has earned kudos for his work coaching the NCAA’s University of Denver. He coached the team to two NCAA National Championships, and he led the American world junior team to a gold medal in 2024. That’s an incredible resume for someone who is still only 35 years old, but Carle is using the lessons he learned as a player – and the disappointment he went through when a heart issue prematurely ended his playing career – to guide his teams to glory.

Carle could be the perfect candidate to lead a young Hawks core to better days. Davidson has already gone the route that features a former NHLer in Richardson, so he may want to go a different route with someone like David Carle, who didn’t get to play in the NHL but who thrived in his own way once he embarked on his own path.

Currently an associate coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Lambert had just a year-and-a-half running his own NHL team when he worked for the New York Islanders from 2022 to 2024. 

Lambert must be patient for another opportunity, but he can convert any success he has with the Leafs into another opportunity to guide a different team.

Lambert may not be Davidson’s first choice at the moment, but things can change quickly, and Lambert may get the chance to re-establish himself as an NHL coach if he gets the nod in Chicago. He’d be getting a Hawks team that invested in many veterans last summer, and he may be tasked with squeezing as much as he can get out of Chicago’s veterans and youngsters.

Gallant hasn't coached in the NHL since 2022-23 with the Rangers. But in the coaching business, beggars can’t be choosers, and Gallant’s reputation as a player-friendly coach could resonate with Davidson if he chooses to go with a proven winner – and a Jack Adams Award-winner in 2018 – in Gallant.

The 61-year-old's career NHL record of 369-262-70 with four ties is a solid accomplishment. If Davidson wants a proven winner, he could do far worse than Gallant. Experience does count for something when deciding who'll be the next Blackhawks coach, and Gallant could wind up beating the odds and getting another shot at running an NHL team.

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