(Chicago) — Former Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill has been named the head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Blashill joins the organization after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“Jeff is an incredibly smart and talented coach who boasts more than 25 years of coaching experience across developmental leagues, the NHL and the world stage,” said Chicago general manager Kyle Davidson. “He’s thrived when in a position to develop young players and has shown he’s capable of blending that into overall team success, a vision and philosophy we share for where we are today and where we see our team in the future. We couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come under Jeff’s direction.”

Blashill served as head coach of the Red Wings for seven seasons from 2015-22. Under his guidance, the Red Wings logged a record of 204-261-72 . In his first season as bench boss in 2015-16, Blashill led Detroit to a 41-30-11 record and a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Blashill departed the Red Wings ranked fifth in franchise history in games coached (537) and sixth in wins (204).

Local fans may remember Blashill as the head coach at Western Michigan from 2010-11.

He inherits a Blackhawks squad that hasn’t been to the postseason since 2017. As general manager, Davidson has been at the helm of Chicago’s rebuild since October 2021 and remains in the thick of it, as Chicago has finished 31st (out of 32) overall in the league standings the past two seasons.