Chicago Blackhawks may have a new front runner for their head coaching vacancy

A very busy offseason has already begun for the Chicago Blackhawks and they received some bad news on Saturday in regards to their head coaching search. The rumored top coaching candidate for the franchise, David Carle, informed the organization that he intended to withdraw his name from the running of being the next bench boss in Chicago.

With all of the success that he has had with Denver and the USA Juniors squad, Carle was viewed as a home run hire across the league and he would have made plenty of sense in Chicago. He had coached a few of the Blackhawks young pieces to the future in his two years with Team USA in Frank Nazar, Sam Rinzel and Oliver Moore. This in itself could have been seen as a major recruiting tool to lure Carle away from the college ranks, but he has stood pat with his decision in not being interested in coming to the Windy City.

The Blackhawks will need to move forward in their search and will likely look to hire a candidate with previous head coaching experience in the NHL. The only thing against Carle as an option to take over in Chicago was the fact that he never coach an NHL game before, and the organization won’t have to worry about that being a factor in the rest of the candidates that they talk to. One potential big name that the Blackhawks front office could interview officially parted ways with his current franchise on Monday morning.

Chicago Blackhawks could have interest in Mike Sullivan

Mike Sullivan and the Pittsburgh Penguins officially parted ways on Monday morning after Sullivan spent 10 seasons leading the charge in the steel city. The 57-year-old finished his time with the franchise coaching in 753 games and posting a 409-255-89 record. Sullivan won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Penguins in the 2016 and 2017 campaigns, but did not take home the Jack Adams award in either one of those seasons.

Sullivan was the head coach for Team USA in the Four Nations Face-Off just a couple of months ago and is set to serve the same role in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games for the United States. With his loaded resume, Sullivan instantly becomes a top candidate for the Chicago Blackhawks. He is a proven winner and he knows what it takes to get to the top of the hockey mountain, which is exactly what the franchise is looking to accomplish multiple times in this rebuild.

Mike Sullivan would get the best out of the Chicago Blackhawks core

Sullivan made the playoffs in seven of his ten seasons with Pittsburgh, proving that he can get the best out of his roster regardless of how it is put together. Even though he mostly dealt with an aging core throughout his time with the Penguins, Sullivan oversaw a slight transition in some of the personnel on the ice in his tenure and was able to weather that storm just fine.

The hockey lifer would step into the Blackhawks’ dressing room and instantly gain respect from the veterans and youth movement that made its’ way up to the NHL this past season. It might be tough to convince Sullivan to enter a situation where his team might not win in the next year or so. However, if the Blackhawks front office can keep him hooked with their plan for the future and their solid veteran group right now, there might not be a better job in the league for him to consider.