A case has been made to have Luke Richardson fired from the Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks looked like a team who was disorganized, against a well-pu- together, Vancouver Canucks team.
The 6-3 loss, showed some glaring weaknesses in the play of the team as there was a defensive lapse, and the team suffered from missed calls by the zebras.
The question arises regarding the current Blackhawks team, where are the structural weaknesses? Well, have we taken a look at coaching lately?
Luke Richardson is in his third season as the Head Coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, and since he's been a coach during a rebuilding time, you don't expect him to win a cup with a record of 51-105-14. However, by adding competitive pieces in free agency you want to see improvement.
Mismanagement of Young Players
His third year as Chicago Blackhawks head coach has seen him practice questionable deployment.
From removing Ryan Donato from the lineup, and scratching Lukas Reichel who needs more time in the fray. It was questionable placing him between Craig Smith, and Pat Maroon aging veteran grinders, for another weird and unproven experiment. Somehow Reichel would produce despite it all.
Reichel's inconsistency has been noted, but then again he's been mismanaged by Richardson as well.
Nolan Allan Philipp Kurashev and Isaak Phillips
Other players like Nolan Allan, and Isaak Phillips have seen their playing time reduced in favor of players like Alec Martinez, who is in the latter end of his career. Allan played well against Utah and would ride the pine.
Instead of giving a 23-year-old defenseman Isaak Phillips more ice time, he's given TJ Brodie, another aging veteran who played disappointingly more ice time rather than letting Phillips get another game in the NHL. Questionable choices all around.
He decided to scratch Philipp Kurashev while keeping Pat Maroon in the lineup, who at this point hasn't contributed much to the offensive outlook of the Blackhawks at all.
Maroon is a fourth-liner who at best can protect Bedard but is way past his prime. Instead of placing him on a line with Connor Bedard, who he has chemistry with he's been flanked by Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi. In the long run, it made no sense for him to center his own line.
Lack of Experience
Luke Richardson's learning on the go, meaning he's never been on a rebuilding team before. His experience as a coach as an assistant with the Montreal Canadiens during the bubble-cup run, and helped keep the Habs competitive two out of the four seasons there, as they made the playoffs.
But his past experience in Ottawa, and the New York Islanders showed some success in the post-season, as during his time with the Senators they saw the playoffs as well.
But he's never been in a position to develop prospects correctly, like some NHL coaches have. It's showing on the ice, and while Richardson does want to win his decision-making is at times puzzling.
He hasn't been developing players properly, and while you don't want to lose all the time you need to give younger players time to develop and earn their spot, rather than riding TJ Brodie into the dirt.
