As we continue waiting for the Stanley Cup Final to begin, the buzz around the Blackhawks has been both trade rumors and their search for a new head coach. We have been profiling potential candidates over the past couple weeks. And, on Thursday morning, two new names entered the chat.
Earlier this week, Elliotte Friedman reported the Blackhawks are interested in Pittsburgh assistant Todd Reirdan. Now, Frank Seravelli of The Daily Faceoff indicates the Hawks have asked for permission to speak with two NHL assistant coaches.
Coaching updates, per sources:
> #Blackhawks have sought permission to intvw #GoHabsGo Luke Richardson & #Canucks Brad Shaw. Derek King still a strong candidate.
> David Quinn intvw'ing w #LGRW & #Flyers
> #Flyers intvw'd Jeff Blashill, believe Bruce Cassidy also on their list.— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 9, 2022
Brad Shaw
Shaw, 58, has been around the NHL for years. Originally a fifth-round pick by the Red Wings in 1982, he appeared in 377 NHL games with Hartford, Ottawa, Washington and St. Louis before retiring after appearing in just 12 games during the 1998-99 season.
He immediately moved into coaching. In fact, he didn’t wait for his playing career to end to begin exploring that career path; Shaw was a player/assistant coach with the Detroit Vipers in the IHL during the 1995-96, 96-97 and 98-99 seasons. He returned to the Vipers after serving as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 1999-2000 season and then moved up to the AHL. He served as the head coach of the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in the AHL before climbing to the NHL.
During the 2005-06 season, Shaw was start the year as an assistant coach with the Islanders before becoming their interim head coach. The Isles were a .500 team with him as the head coach. He left the island for St. Louis, where he was an assistant coach for nine seasons. Shaw moved on to Columbus in 2016 and spent the next five seasons as an assistant coach with the Blue Jackets.
This past season, Shaw was an assistant coach for the Vancouver Canucks.
Luke Richardson
Like Shaw, Richardson played in the league. Richardson was the seventh overall pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1987 NHL Draft. He appeared in 1,417 regular season games with six organizations, finishing his career appearing in two games for Ottawa in 2008-09.
Also like Shaw, Richardson immediately moved to the coaching ranks after his playing career ended. He joined the Senators’ coaching staff as an assistant for the 2009-10 season and was behind the bench in Ottawa for three years. He was then named the head coach of Ottawa’s AHL affiliate in Binghamton, where he guided those Senators to two playoff berths in four years.
Richardson, 53, spent the 2016-17 season as an assistant with the Islanders before moving to Montreal, where he has been an assistant coach for the past four years.