Columbus fires Jarmo Kekalainen

[jetsforever]

Makes sense

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Long overdue. Ten years is a long time and he didn't produce results

 

[Beau Knows]

I was surprised it didn't happen right after the Babcock thing. But good to get it over with before the trade deadline.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

a win in my books

 

[Gustave]

I don't get the hate for Grier. He's only been there for a year and a half. Has he worn out his welcome already?

I have no idea why Seravelli pointed him out, he’s got a shit hand to play with.

 

[algernon]

I have no idea why Seravelli pointed him out, he’s got a shit hand to play with.

How long can he keep bungling before it's ok to fire..3, 5 years?

 

[TheNumber4]

The Elvis fiasco was the final straw I think. He had one chance to trade off Elvis by way of Jack Campbell and he f***ed it all up.

 

[Fro]

Let's be reality, Lumbus isn't exactly the top target for free agents, top players. Any GM is going to have that working against them.

just another awful take...stick to things you know

 

[Gustave]

How long can he keep bungling before it's ok to fire..3, 5 years?

The Meier trade was good.
Unmovable Karlsson got moved.

I don’t what else he could’ve done yet… the roster and cap, and cupboards, were awful. It’s going to take time…

 

[brentashton]

Dorion is available, CBJ fans.

I know as a Sens fan you will know much more than me, but Ottawa has a strong young base. CBJ would envy JK doing that I suspect.

 

[Michoulicious]

Get Shrek'd.

7 years too late. What a mess.

 

[Little Psycho]

Please let Blake be fired next.

 

[brentashton]

How on earth did they not just do this after the Babcock fiasco?

Organizationally it would have been beyond turmoil to fire a coach and GM the same week of camp opening up Methinks. Like they said at the time, JK and JD a we’re on very short leases after that Babcock fiasco.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Please let Blake be fired next.

And Bergevin replace him. Need a place to dump all the bums he stuck the Habs with.

 

[bleachdrinker]

The rebuild is over, time to bring in Chuck Fletcher.

 

[Crede777]

How on earth did they not just do this after the Babcock fiasco?

When Jarmo was re-upped in 2021, that was ownership giving him the greenlight to oversee a rebuild. Last year was a step backwards. So they basically gave him this season to see if last season was a fluke due to injuries or if the rebuild was not going as well as expected. Hence not firing him right after Babcock. The sense was "okay that was bad but let us see what the assembled roster can do."

After dropping two games post All-Star break, it's clear ownership is seeing this year as a second one in a row where the team is not meeting expectations. So out he goes.

In a nutshell:
2013-2016 Jarmo gets to build a roster.
2017-2020 The roster is competitive in that it consistently is making the playoffs. But they're losing major pieces each off-season.
2021 Jarmo gets the greenlight to try a 2nd rebuild.
2022 Expectation is not to make the playoffs but be better than they were in 2021. Ultimately they were worse.
2023 Expectation is to get close to playoffs. Again, they are significantly far odd. So he gets the axe.

 

[LOFIN]

7 years too late. What a mess.

7 years ago Columbus finished with 108 points, good for 4th overall in the league. The greatest regular season in club history. They lost in the 1st round against Pittsburgh, who went on to win the Cup.

 

[McGarnagle]

Surprised they didn't fire him last year after he delayed finalizing the Gavrikov trade to Boston then publicly whined about Don Sweeney taking a better deal during the meantime.

 

[DaveG]

It was a given that he wouldn’t be there after this season, but I am a little surprised about the timing.

I guess in the end, it was time to fire something other than that stupid canon.

Why? The deadline is less than a month away, they need to have someone else at the helm for that, unless you're asking why not earlier which I 100% agree with. He never should have survived the Babcock disaster.

 

[Fro]

Surprised they didn't fire him last year after he delayed finalizing the Gavrikov trade to Boston then publicly whined about Don Sweeney taking a better deal during the meantime.

I think that was my tipping point...I was fine giving him time to rebuild and the draft picks look like they're filling in nicely...but botching that trade, let alone trading someone that actually wanted to stay, just wanted term...that was when I had mentally checked out on him

 

[Jussi]

just another awful take...stick to things you know

Oh I must've missed all the high profile free agents they've signed then. Please list them.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

2017-2020 The roster is competitive in that it consistently is making the playoffs. But they're losing major pieces each off-season.

I'm going to nitpick this part.

2018 - the "major pieces" they lost were Ian Cole, Jack Johnson, Mark Letestu, Matt Calvert and Thomas Vanek.
* Cole was a trade deadline acquisition that cost a 3rd and a pick.
* Johnson was at best a 2nd-line pairing and a noted defensive wart.
* Calvert was a 3rd liner who'd go to Colorado, play 2 seasons and change, then be out of the league.
* Vanek was a trade deadline acquisition that cost 34-year old Jussi Jokinen and the serviceable, yet quite replaceable (and forgettable) Tyler Motte.

2019 - Bobrovsky, Panarin, Duchene, Dzingel. OK, they lost a shitload here, especially considering what was spent to get Duchene and Dzingel That's been well-documented, along with JK's attempts to keep Panarin.

2020 - they lost no one of any real note. There was a buyout of Wennberg, the trade of Ryan Murray to New Jersey, and trading Josh Anderson for Max Domi and a pick.

So one year where they really lost key pieces, which was the "go all in for the playoffs" drive and resulted in an unfathomable sweep of a 128-point Lightning team. Even if I go back to 2017, it's nothing more than Sam Gagner and post-Columbus he's got 55-72-127 in 342 games, which woefully underperforms his 18-32-50 in that last season in Columbus.

 

[Kimota]

The fantasm for HF Boards posters is now gone. lol Now everybody will want him as their GM.

I don't hate the guy but had a shaky "feuille de route". Still I predict he will find work pretty fast.

I'm sad for Pascal Vincent. He finally had a head coaching job and this happens. I don't blame him cause he had a bad roster. And Gaudreau and Laine are simply not gamers.

 

[Murky]

He had a run. It was not a very good run especially in the end. But yeh.

JD is still there so it's a half assed firing by the CBJ

 

[archangel2]

I remember when he was highly regarded on HFBoards...the man's tenure sucked.

I think he got off to a good start but thing just did not go his way. I was expecting him to get sacked a few years ago. But I also believe he was forced into the Johnny Hockey signing by Davidson--for me that is a massive outlier in how he usually worked