LAS VEGAS — Blackhawks chairman Danny Wirtz spent the first round of the NHL draft Friday sitting at the Hawks’ table on the floor of the Sphere, not because he needed to but because he finds the draft process fascinating.
For the second day Saturday, he returned to a more conventional vantage point, looking down from above in a suite.
And from that high vantage point, assessing the state of the franchise as he approaches his one-year mark in the chairman role, he feels “very pleased” with the progress of the rebuild that general manager Kyle Davidson is orchestrating.
“The care and steps that [Kyle] has taken to not only rebuild internally and build the right capabilities that we need to have to be effective but also acquire the assets and players, build our pipeline and create the environment for development [will help us] ultimately field a team that’s competitive,” Wirtz told the Sun-Times.
“That will continue to bear fruit over the years. It’s hard to be patient. We’re all antsy to see us shoot back up the standings. But I know if we’re doing the things I’ve seen, that will come. And when it comes, our goal is to get there in a really sustainable fashion.”
Wirtz has done plenty of work on the business side of the franchise since taking over, and he’s expected to share more information about that later this summer.
He’s more hands-off toward the hockey operations side, instead trusting those responsibilities to Davidson and his staff. For example, he stands behind Davidson’s decision to move on from Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews last summer and not reopen the door on Kane this summer.
“These are [instances] where my deference [is] to Kyle to make the right decision,” Wirtz said. “These players mean the world to our fans and our organization, but we also need to do what we need to do to build the team. Our day will come to celebrate these players in the best way possible.”
Wirtz does write the checks, though, so his permission will be required when Davidson intends to spend to the salary-cap ceiling, which could be near $100 million come 2026-27.
And that permission will be given. Wirtz made it clear this current rebuild isn’t about saving money and the Hawks are comfortable spending as much as any other club when the right time comes.
“This is a league where you have to be prepared to spend to the limit to be able to win the Stanley Cup,” Wirtz said. “But it has to be done not out of desperation. It should be done out of logic and planning.
“Even those financial decisions around salaries are now rooted not only in roster-building but also the analytics and value assessments, [so] I feel much better that Kyle is making those financial decisions with really good, grounded information.”
That spending on player salaries could begin to tick up — although probably not all the way to the cap — once free agency opens Monday. Wirtz was happy to hear Davidson declare a few months ago he finally wants the team to start “pushing the gas a little bit more,” as Wirtz put it.
That should help appease the portion of the fanbase who are growing impatient, even though Wirtz’s sense is the majority of fans remain fully on board with the slow-and-steady approach.
“I got a fan note the other day emphasizing, ‘Don’t rush this. I like what they’re doing,'” he said. “[It was] a really validating thing that they want to see this done right. But I think all fans want to see some better success on the ice. A blend of that and…developing our players in the right way is the right path.”
Wirtz enjoyed witnessing Alex Vlasic’s emergence as an unexpected star last season, and he continues to be impressed by Calder Trophy winner Connor Bedard’s “pure desire, work ethic and commitment to his game.”
Those individual positives hardly dull the sting of losing 59 games last season and 56 the season before, but when more young players — including some of the Hawks’ just-drafted prospects — make similar leaps in coming seasons, he’s confident those loss totals will decrease significantly.
“Losing is not fun, but if that is an element of the process or an unfortunate byproduct of the stage we’re in, and you know that it is part of a plan, it’s a little easier,” Wirtz said.
“I know that better days are ahead of us. It’s not just hope and a dream; it’s because I believe in the plan we’ve put in place.”