Confirmed with Link: CBJ hire Don Waddell as President of Hockey Operations and General Manager. JD to serve as Senior Advisor

[Fred Glover]

Vegas won the Cup last year with a 1st time GM
Colorado won 2 years ago with a 1st time GM
Tampa won 3 and 4 years ago with a 1st time GM

It's been since '18-19 since an experienced GM won the Cup.

With this type of reasoning then the Jackets should have won multiple cups by now

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

"Been there" helps but there's also natural leadership ability and ability to pull your teammates up to higher standards. We saw that Nick Foligno and Brandon Dubinsky had that, despite not having "been there". We brought in Greg Campbell who had been there and he didn't help.

24/32 teams don't go to the second round so there's a lot of great players available for the World Championship every year. It's a pure positive for Johnny that he has been so successful in international play.

It's definitely a positive on international play but the fact he plays in it so much because he's not had success in the NHL playoffs means something as well too.

We definitely could really use some experienced guys who can lead and have been there. That combo of both can be key in changing the vibe of the organization to drag people into the fight.

 

[Viqsi]

With this type of reasoning then the Jackets should have won multiple cups by now

Your logical fallacy is strawman

You misrepresented someone's argument to make it easier to attack.

yourlogicalfallacyis.com

The argument is merely against the notion that "first time GM" is somehow inherently bad, not that it's an automatic win.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Your logical fallacy is strawman

You misrepresented someone's argument to make it easier to attack.

yourlogicalfallacyis.com

The argument is merely against the notion that "first time GM" is somehow inherently bad, not that it's an automatic win.

Sure but that was a counter to the idea that every CBJ GM was a first-timer. None of it follows.

 

[Viqsi]

Sure but that was a counter to the idea that every CBJ GM was a first-timer. None of it follows.

The context of pointing out the "every CBJ GM was a first-timer" bit was an implication that this was not helping and thus that it would be an inherently bad move. So the counterargument is valid, if a little nitpicky.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

The context of pointing out the "every CBJ GM was a first-timer" bit was an implication that this was not helping and thus that it would be an inherently bad move. So the counterargument is valid, if a little nitpicky.

The argument was that it hasn’t worked thus far and the poster felt that was enough to suggest it might be worth it to try something else.

 

[Viqsi]

The argument was that it hasn’t worked thus far and the poster felt that was enough to suggest it might be worth it to try something else.

Okay, fair, I can see how it might be read that way too. I guess I didn't consider that possibility because it seems to me obvious to give More Experience a try.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

My point was specifically about Rick Nash at first and the idea that he needs 5 more years experience. He's been retired 6 years already, so that would be 11 years after he retired and it does seem the current GM's that were former players has at least 10 years experience prior to being hired, so it goes with how the NHL thinks. Ron Francis, Danny Briere, Rob Blake, Bill Guerin are the exceptions and they had over 5 years.

 

[JacketsDavid]

Traditional thought is that culture begins at the top Probably true - certainly in business. But in hockey (and most sports) the on ice and locker room culture is established by the coach as we saw under Torts. To me, the coach that Waddell hires will be his greatest impact on the culture.

I agree to the point that there needs to be alignment from the top down on what the organization is or wants to be. I think that was an issue with Jarmo and JD where it was more about they were collecting talent without (IMO) a clear vision on who the team should be and how they should play (IMO they collected a lot of puck moving d-men, playing in front of pretty shaky goaltending for the last couple of seasons). At the same time they hired coaches who couldn't enforce a defensive system so you often had 5 skaters on the ice all with a different plan.
So yes I agree a great start will be Waddell hiring the right coach and getting the right players on and off the bus, and not necessarily adding random peices.

 

[TaketheCannoli]

When I think of Don Waddell, the first thing that goes through my mind is the Atlanta Thrashers and how badly the Thrashers were mismanaged. Did he make all of the bad moves or were they made or perhaps dictated by the clown show that was their management group?

I hope Waddell learned a lot from his time there. Assuming the rumors are true and the deal gets done, we can all just hope he did.

 

[DarkandStormy]

I guess we wait to see what his official title will be. I've heard/read he'll be PHOPs, he's taking over Priest's role, he'll combo as PHOPs & GM until he hires Holland or Gorton, etc.

Supposedly an official announcement is coming today/tomorrow, but nothing is official until it's signed.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

When I think of Don Waddell, the first thing that goes through my mind is the Atlanta Thrashers and how badly the Thrashers were mismanaged. Did he make all of the bad moves or were they made or perhaps dictated by the clown show that was their management group?

I hope Waddell learned a lot from his time there. Assuming the rumors are true and the deal gets done, we can all just hope he did.

Since then he's helmed the Carolina Hurricanes, who have been successful both on and off-ice. The same questions exist about his role in said, just as in Atlanta, but at least what is being assessed in that instance is a positive thing.

The further north he's gone, the better his teams have done. I think we all know what that means for the Jackets.

 

[Indy18]

Since then he's helmed the Carolina Hurricanes, who have been successful both on and off-ice. The same questions exist about his role in said, just as in Atlanta, but at least what is being assessed in that instance is a positive thing.

The further north he's gone, the better his teams have done. I think we all know what that means for the Jackets.

Well if its anything what this fanbase believes the second they step foot into nationwide they are completely ruined and irredeemable, ect

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Well if its anything what this fanbase believes the second they step foot into nationwide they are completely ruined and irredeemable, ect

Maybe he can remote work?

 

[squashmaple]

When I think of Don Waddell, the first thing that goes through my mind is the Atlanta Thrashers and how badly the Thrashers were mismanaged. Did he make all of the bad moves or were they made or perhaps dictated by the clown show that was their management group?

I hope Waddell learned a lot from his time there. Assuming the rumors are true and the deal gets done, we can all just hope he did.

So nothing he's done elsewhere in the last decade matters at all? Or are we really leaning into the whole "he was just a figurehead who did nothing and probably had to be actively prevented from harming Carolina by the Real People In Charge Behind the Curtain Who Weren't Him" schtick here? Carolina hadn't made the playoffs in ten years and finally broke through his first full season as GM (his fourth year with the team). That means something.

I'm sure the answer is somewhere in the middle, but again, since this is Columbus, the only Correct Answer is the most negative possible one.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

So nothing he's done elsewhere in the last decade matters at all?

i'm surprised we're not seeing more of the "ron francis made a lot of great moves that set the foundation for the waddell-era canes" critiques (this one is pretty valid, but also a clear parallel to what jarmo did here)

still, it's a home run hire imo. he's not just a roster builder, he's a department builder. in carolina, he built and oversaw what was unequivocally the smartest hockey ops department in the league. the waddell-era canes are basically the tampa bay rays of hockey – a small market team that out-evaluates and outsmarts the rest of the league despite having frugal ownership.

all of that is very translatable to a blue jackets organization that already has strong analytics infrastructure, has high-end player facilities, a war chest of assets and a young cornerstone player in fantilli.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Annoying for sure but if, as we have been told, there is some fluidity with regard to Waddell's immediate and future duties and that there may yet be another hire in the offing, you'd expect the details to be more complicated to hammer out. And while this is an important thing that you could understand a working weekend for, I'm also not going to begrudge folks, even (mostly sarcastic) pampered rich sports team owners and their pampered minions, a long weekend spent with family.

 

[CannonFire1]

While I was not a big fan of the teams he coached, I have enjoyed some of the leadership books written by Tony Dungy. One thing he writes about often is the importance of failure as a stepping stone to future success (provided one learns from past mistakes and remains open to trying new methods).

For those not familiar with Dungy's history, he was demoted from Defensive Coordinator back to DB coach by the Steelers in the late 80's, later became Head Coach of Tampa Bay and had a successful run in the 90's, but was fired from that job due to not winning a Super Bowl. He later won the Super Bowl as coach of the Colts. Dungy credits those setbacks with helping him re-evaluate, adapt, and finally reach his ultimate goal.

What does that have to do with Waddell? Maybe nothing. But I view it as a positive that he found much more success in his most recent role than he did with Atlanta. Unless he plans on reverting to things that didn't work for him in the past (which seems illogical and highly unlikely) then his Atlanta results don't concern me much.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[Crede777]

Did he delete his tweet after getting scooped by Portzline?

 

[CBJWerenski8]

The phrasing I think is important. It doesn’t say “Interim” GM. It says GM. Does that mean the Holland rumors are unfounded? Or could holland be coming here as another advisor? Guess we’ll see

Did he delete his tweet after getting scooped by Portzline?

Apparently.

 

[VT]

Make Columbus Blue Jackets Great Again (and better).

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Need more details but I have to say I don’t initially like the sound of multi years as PHOp and GM.

 

[MoeBartoli]

Did he delete his tweet after getting scooped by Portzline?

Who is “he”?