fifth-round draft pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. Quenneville named Ward the team's starting goaltender as Crawford missed the first five games of the 2018–19 season with concussion-like symptoms. The Blackhawks opened the season with a promising 6–2–2 start despite Crawford's initial absence. However, after losing their next five games, head coach Quenneville (as well as assistant coaches Kevin Dineen and Ulf Samuelsson) were fired on November 6, 2018. Jeremy Colliton, previously the head coach of the Blackhawks' AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, was named the 38th head coach in franchise history. The team adjusted their roster by trading Nick Schmaltz to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini. The Blackhawks then dealt Brandon Manning to the Edmonton Oilers for Drake Caggiula. The team struggled despite these changes and plummeted to the bottom of the NHL's standings by the All-Star break, but then rebounded with an 18–10–3 record during the second half of the season, and missed playoffs by six points, while finishing in sixth place in the Central Division. After missing the playoffs for the second straight season, the Blackhawks won the third-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft at the NHL Draft Lottery, which they used to select Kirby Dach. Prior to the 2019–20 season, the Blackhawks signed center Ryan Carpenter and goaltender Robin Lehner on the opening day of free agency. The team made three separate trades to acquire Olli Maatta, Calvin de Haan, and Alex Nylander. The team reacquired fan-favorite Andrew Shaw in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens. The Blackhawks also inserted rookie Dominik Kubalik into their roster, whom they acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in the previous season. The Blackhawks posted a 32–30–8 record and finished last in their division before the remainder of the regular season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team fired John McDonough, who served as the Blackhawks' president for 13 years. The Blackhawks obtained a spot in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, which used a 24-team playoff format among the top 12 teams in each conference. The 12th-seeded Blackhawks defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the qualifying round of the playoffs to advance to the Western Conference first round, where they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games. The 2020–21 NHL season would be delayed to January 2021 and condensed to 56 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Blackhawks