Chicago NHL team lifts interim GM tag for Ottawa's Kyle Davidson

Chicago hired Kyle Davidson as general manager on Tuesday, dropping his interim tag instead of going outside the floundering NHL franchise for new leadership.

Davidson has been with the club since joining as a hockey operations intern in 2010. The 33-year-old from Ottawa also has worked as a video analyst, hockey operations manager and assistant GM.

"Today is another step not just for me, but for my teammates within the organization and [Chicago] fans across the world," Davidson said in a statement. "I'm committed to building a winning team on and off the ice the right way — improving our internal framework and processes and working closely with a strong team of people to make decisions."

Davidson was among six known candidates for the job. The team said it interviewed Carolina Hurricanes assistant GM Eric Tulsky, former NHL forward Scott Mellanby, longtime NHL executive Peter Chiarelli, Tampa Bay Lightning executive Mathieu Darche and Chicago Cubs executive Jeff Greenberg.

Former Chicago forwards Eddie Olczyk, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp assisted CEO Danny Wirtz and president of business operations Jaime Faulkner with the team's search. Mike Forde, the executive chairman of Sportsology and a former executive with Chelsea FC, also helped in an advisery role.

"Kyle is one of the final pieces of this new executive team that will lead [Chicago] into the next generation," team chairman Rocky Wirtz said in a statement.

"Kyle's fresh lens, integrity, commitment and knowledge of the game are all characteristics I believe make him the right person to structure the team on the ice."

Davidson was elevated to the interim job after longtime GM Stan Bowman resigned in October in the wake of a report by an outside law firm that