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

[CBJx614]

Probably not even then, really.

Eh we say that now, but winning changes everything. One season of winning? No, but a sustained stretch of 3-5+ years would change a lot

 

[CBJWerenski8]

There is a lot to like about the team in the long term, but in the short term, let’s accept there is a lot of work to be done.


Captain went through major personal tragedy at end of last season
No actual 1C yet
Defense can’t stop anybody
Goalie situation is not good
Star wings are not what we hoped they would be
Plenty of young players expressed dissatisfaction with team last year
Really weird locker room dynamic that we don’t understand
Most hyped draft pick in years had atypical/freakish injury and we haven’t heard much about his recovery
KJ hasn’t been used as a center
Jiricek can’t defend 1-on-1
Much of hope is pinned on young guys achieving full potential
Teams that finished 12-15th in Eastern Conference are ahead of us in rebuild so they will be hard to pass

Yeah, there’s a lot of work to be done. At the same time a lot of these are opinions. Some I can agree with, some I think are over stated or can/will be addressed with little issue.

 

[ClevelandJacketFan]

Not sure how Kent Johnson not being a center is a short term issue?

The team needs top 6 wingers too.

 

[JohnnyJacket13]

I think that's why he took the job. That and these guys love challenges.
Had an officer at the company I worked for for 30 years whose hobby was buying small, struggling companies and turning them around. He made this wine barrel making company which was about to fold into a success. Just liked to see if he was up to saving companies and people's livelihoods. He was a good dude.

You worked with John Taffer?

 

[GoChill]

Aren't the Jackets doing a Waddell presser at 1? Anyone seen a link?

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Aren't the Jackets doing a Waddell presser at 1? Anyone seen a link?

Don Waddell introductory press conference. | Columbus Blue Jackets (05/29/24)

Don Waddell meets with the media for the first time after joining the Blue Jackets as the club's new president of hockey operations, general manager, and alt...

www.youtube.com

 

[KJ Dangler]

Not sure how Kent Johnson not being a center is a short term issue?

The team needs top 6 wingers too.

KJ is our most talented prospect behind Fantilli.. He has the tools to be an all star type player in time . Jarmo screwed us in many ways .. his refusal to go out and trade for actual bridge gap centers , so players like KJ could marinate at the AHL level playing center .. Same applies to Sillinger . My guess is we will see a much different approach under Waddell . Jarmo had the mentality to rush players to NHL… We heard last week Columbus wouldn’t be a player in FA this summer , Waddell is announced and now it’s Columbus will be looking to bring In a center .. Centers drive good teams , offensive structure, etc …Honestly if I were a GM , if few players are at top of my board , and one is a center , that’s who I’m taking . They have huge value in the league …

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Anyone else thinks Pascal was calling and asking about his own job when the guy from Quebec was on the line?

 

[aRussian]

Missed a good chunk because I had to take a call but part that had me concerned was the plan to essentially eat both POHO and GM positions. Putting a lot of trust in one piece but I'll reserve judgement in the meantime until we start to see gears moving

 

[DarkandStormy]

Not much meat to the presser, imo. Waddell comes across very dry.

-No timeline about naming a GM. Sounds like he'll be both PHOPs and GM for the foreseeable future
-Punted on the future of HCPV. This could be read as "I don't like any of the available candidates" or he legitimately just doesn't know PV.
-A couple shots at Dundon being overly involved lol

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Not much meat to the presser, imo. Waddell comes across very dry.

-No timeline about naming a GM. Sounds like he'll be both PHOPs and GM for the foreseeable future
-Punted on the future of HCPV. This could be read as "I don't like any of the available candidates" or he legitimately just doesn't know PV.
-A couple shots at Dundon being overly involved lol

I’m guessing he just doesn’t know him.

 

[GoJackets1]

I personally read his answers related to coaching as Vincent is gone.

 

[CBJx614]

I personally read his answers related to coaching as Vincent is gone.

Same to me, this is what he was talking about as a quick fix imo

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

Sounded to me like he came to town 2 hours ago and had talked to Vincent for 3 minutes, so he hasnt blindly decided on coaching yet.

But I guess we'll see. Shouldnt take too many weeks to know

 

[cbjthrowaway]

Sounded to me like he came to town 2 hours ago and had talked to Vincent for 3 minutes, so he hasnt blindly decided on coaching yet.

i'm sure he's already made his decision but firing a head coach requires more than a three minute conversation on the way to a presser, and from a PR standpoint they probably wanted all the attention to be on waddell today.

i'd be shocked if he keeps vincent around much longer.

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

i'm sure he's already made his decision but firing a head coach requires more than a three minute conversation on the way to a presser, and from a PR standpoint they probably wanted all the attention to be on waddell today.

i'd be shocked if he keeps vincent around much longer.

Why do you think he would decide on something without knowing the person he is firing and without discussions with the players? There's more than enough other reasons why the team was bad, so you can't just make the decision purely based on performance

I just don't see it. It's easy to fire people in forums, but people don't behave so ruthlessly in actual jobs. You get to know the person, the staff, the emplyees (players in this case), and then you make decisions when you arent just looking in from the outside anymore.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

There is a lot to like about the team in the long term, but in the short term, let’s accept there is a lot of work to be done.


Captain went through major personal tragedy at end of last season
No actual 1C yet
Defense can’t stop anybody
Goalie situation is not good
Star wings are not what we hoped they would be
Plenty of young players expressed dissatisfaction with team last year
Really weird locker room dynamic that we don’t understand
Most hyped draft pick in years had atypical/freakish injury and we haven’t heard much about his recovery
KJ hasn’t been used as a center
Jiricek can’t defend 1-on-1
Much of hope is pinned on young guys achieving full potential
Teams that finished 12-15th in Eastern Conference are ahead of us in rebuild so they will be hard to pass

lol Columbus

 

[TaketheCannoli]

Because fundamentally, the franchise will never shake the stink of "lol Columbus." Florida has been a juggernaut for three years now and still hasn't shaken their own stink.

There's also a guy on the Sens board right now claiming that Columbus drafted amazingly between 2008-2013 and has been a barren wasteland of terrible drafting since 2015. No one who isn't one of us is going to bother looking at facts. It's always just "lol Columbus."

This franchise can shake that stink if and it's a big if, enough changes are put into place that make this a well run franchise, top to bottom.

Unfortunately it seems like in professional sports that doesn't happen very often. When it does it takes a while before people trust the changes. Honestly, I believed the Blue Jackets were becoming a well run franchise once they made the playoffs several years in a row. They had a solid roster with a good core with players like Foligno, Bobrovsky, Jones/Johansen, Werenski etc. Then it all fell apart. It was a mirage. How or why doesn't matter.

This time it will take a much longer, more successful run to win back the trust.

 

[TaketheCannoli]

Missed a good chunk because I had to take a call but part that had me concerned was the plan to essentially eat both POHO and GM positions. Putting a lot of trust in one piece but I'll reserve judgement in the meantime until we start to see gears moving

Will Waddell still build a collaborative FO like Carolina?

 

[CBJWerenski8]

I took the Vincent stuff as he’s brand new to the organization and hasn’t had a chance to take a look at everything. He wants to hear about Vincent’s plan and relationships with the guys. Basically he’s going to give Vincent an opportunity to pitch why he should keep the job.

 

[KJ Dangler]

Why do you think he would decide on something without knowing the person he is firing and without discussions with the players? There's more than enough other reasons why the team was bad, so you can't just make the decision purely based on performance

I just don't see it. It's easy to fire people in forums, but people don't behave so ruthlessly in actual jobs. You get to know the person, the staff, the emplyees (players in this case), and then you make decisions when you arent just looking in from the outside anymore.

Or maybe he has scouted Columbus pretty extensively , and knows what the biggest issues are that needs fixed … legit Center to play alongside Gaudreau while they give Fantilli time to grow into #1… Notice , last week it was Columbus will be quiet in FA this summer to a few days later , Friedman says Columbus will go after a center …. Also , clearly the word is out Columbus wasn’t thrilled with the job PV did .. Portzline has hinted at it .. National media types have speculated they make a change … not hard to understand why .. his player utilization , and lineup juggling every game is pretty indefensible…

 

[cbjthrowaway]

I took the Vincent stuff as he’s brand new to the organization and hasn’t had a chance to take a look at everything. He wants to hear about Vincent’s plan and relationships with the guys. Basically he’s going to give Vincent an opportunity to pitch why he should keep the job.

so basically a "you know our players well, tell me about each of them" followed by a "thank you for your service, there's the door" and then sharing those notes with whoever they end up hiring.