Kyle Davidson: Blackhawks' goal is to 'raise the bar'

(670 The Score) After a couple difficult rebuilding seasons, the Blackhawks are hoping to take the next step this season, even if general manager Kyle Davidson can't define exactly what that means.

Davidson isn't setting the playoffs as a defined goal just yet, instead explaining that he wants to see the Blackhawks improve as an organization as Chicago relies on core pieces like reigning Calder Trophy winner Connor Bedard and a cast of key veteran additions.

“Making the playoffs, especially from where we were coming from last year, it would be a monstrous feat,” Davidson said on the Mully & Haugh Show on Thursday morning. “But we’ll let the players and the coaches figure out what’s possible. At the management level, we put the team together. Our stated goal coming out of last season was we wanted to take a positive step. I think we’ve put ourselves in a really good position to do so while also giving ourselves an opportunity to be responsible with the development of our young players. So, there’s a couple boxes being checked here.

“We wanted to raise the bar on what was happening on the ice here in Chicago, and we believe we’ve put the personnel in place to do that. So, when young players do come up, they're coming into an environment that has a higher bar and a higher standard than perhaps we’ve seen in the past the last few years.

“As far as what that means at the end of the regular season, we’ll let the players and the coaches do their thing and figure out what’s possible. But we definitely believe we’re in a position to take a positive step forward.”

The Blackhawks went 23-53-6 last season, which was the second-worst record in the NHL. They made key additions in free agency by signing forward Teuvo Teravainen, forward Tyler Bertuzzi, defensemen Alec Martinez and defenseman T.J. Brodie.

The Blackhawks open the regular season on Oct. 8, when they visit the Utah Hockey Club.