David Carle informed the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday that he was withdrawing his name from their head coaching search this offseason. This was a gut-punch to fans, as many viewed the 35-year-old as the “must hire” candidate as soon as Luke Richardson was relieved of his duties behind the bench in December. The Blackhawks truly haven’t had a championship-caliber coach lead the charge since they let go of Joel Quenneville during the 2018-19 season.
This head coaching hire is arguably the most important one that the organization has had to make in quite some time. The current state of the rebuild has taken a positive turn, with all of the young pieces that made their NHL debuts this past season ready to hit their first full offseason with the team in stride this summer.
Plenty of Chicago fans are hoping that Carle does not take a different NHL job, with the logic behind him passing on the Blackhawks opening being pretty confusing to most. Chicago had a lot to offer with this job between the history behind being an Original Six franchise, having a young budding core and being a premier organization in all of hockey. There has to be more behind Carle not taking the position now, and it appears that he won’t be around an NHL bench this upcoming season.
David Carle is “likely” to return to Denver
NCAA Hockey: Frozen Four Denver Pioneers forward Connor Caponi (22) dumps blue Powerade on head coach David Carle after defeating the Boston College Eagles for the national championship at the 2024 Frozen Four college ice hockey tournament at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images
On insider Elliotte Freidman’s “32 Thoughts: The Podcast”, he made it known that Carle will likely be back at Denver for another season this fall.
“I’m told it’s likely he goes back to the University of Denver,” Freidman said. There is definitely still plenty of interest in Carle across the league, however, it’s not done until it is done.”
While Blackhawks fans will still certainly be on edge waiting to see if Carle takes another NHL job, this report from Freidman should ease their worries a little bit. The Anaheim job is one that could concern certain people about Carle making the jump from the collegiate game to the NHL. Ironically enough, there are rumblings around the league at the moment that Quenneville has spoken with the Ducks about their vacancy.
Carle has had great success so far in his tenure with the Denver Pioneers program. He has a 179-73-17 record in his time at the University and has led the program since 2018 and has a 12-2 NCAA tournament record across his seven seasons. Him wanting to be back at a place that feels like home and he has history with is completely understandable. If he takes a different NHL job this offseason, there will surely be questions to follow for the Chicago Blackhawks management group.
It will always be “what if” with Chicago Blackhawks and David Carle
NCAA Hockey: Frozen Four Championship Game Denver vs Minnesota State Apr 9, 2022; Boston, MA, USA; Denver Pioneers head coach David Carle talks with his team during a timeout during the third period of the 2022 Frozen Four college ice hockey national championship game against the Minnesota State Mavericks at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
The idea of having a young head coach as an exciting hire will always be a fantasy now for Blackhawks fans. Carle would have been to the Blackhawks what Ben Johnson was to the Bears when they hired him away from the Detroit Lions to be their new head coach in January.
Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel all played under Carle in 2024 when the team won gold in Sweden, which was another connection that fans made for him to this role. While Chicago struck out in these sweepstakes, there will still be other solid options to step in as the bench boss who have prior NHL experience that will be ready to take this team to new heights.
