Ulf Samuelsson is the leading candidate to fill the Chicago Blackhawks’ assistant coach vacancy, reports Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune. Chicago is looking to fill the job after firing Mike Kitchen on April 24.
Samuelsson, 53, is the current head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes’ American Hockey League affiliate, Charlotte Checkers. In his first season with the Checkers he guided Charlotte to a 39-29-7-1 record and a playoff berth. Charlotte took a 2-1 series lead but dropped back-to-back games to the Chicago Wolves, the Central Division’s top seed, on the road to crash out of the Calder Cup playoffs.