Blackhawks latest boneheaded decision won't solve the team's issues

The Chicago Blackhawks hoped that the 2024-25 season would be different. Sure, the team had finished with 60+ points in only one of their last four seasons and hadn't made the playoffs since the 2019-20 campaign, but this year was going to be the one when their rebuild finally took a meaningful step in the right direction.

Unfortunately, things have not played out that way thus far. The Blackhawks are not only losers of four in a row and eight of their last 10, but they are just 8-16-2 on the season. Their 18 points are the fewest in the NHL as of this writing.

As a result of the team's miserable start, the Blackhawks made the decision to fire head coach Luke Richardson, according to Frank Seravalli of Sportsnet. On one hand, firing a head coach who went 57-118-15 in parts of three seasons with Chicago makes sense. On the other hand, what exactly does this solve?

Blackhawks make Luke Richardson scapegoat after team's dismal start to season

This isn't to say Richardson is an excellent coach. His record is what it is, and he did not prove that he was worthy of being the team's long-term leader. With that being said, though, what exactly do the Blackhawks gain here, other than getting a look at new interim head coach Anders Sorensen?

The main reason why this team has the record that it does has nothing to do with coaching. The roster is simply not good enough. They were the second-worst team in the NHL last season, and all they did this past offseason was sign uninspiring veterans like Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen, Ilya Mikheyev and Patrick Maroon. These are fine role players mostly, but are far from needle-movers. What exactly did GM Kyle Davidson expect?

Should the Blackhawks be better than they are right now? Probably, but their roster is still among the worst in the NHL. Sure, Connor Bedard has gotten off to an incredibly slow start in his sophomore year, but how much of that is on coaching? Could it be that his linemates are 33-year-old Taylor Hall, who was healthy scratched, and Bertuzzi, who has one season with more than 21 goals?

What makes this even worse is that if the Blackhawks knew that Richardson's seat was hot, why didn't they just do what the St. Louis Blues did and hire Jim Montgomery when they had the chance? Montgomery's Boston Bruins got off to a slow start this season, but his track record before this season began was awesome. And surprise surprise, the Blues have looked much better since making the switch.

The Blackhawks might get the same kind of boost most teams do when they fire a head coach, but at the end of the day, their biggest issue is their lack of talent. Until Davidson puts together a roster truly capable of competing, they'll be nowhere near a playoff team no matter who is behind the bench.