Columbus fires Jarmo Kekalainen

[Kimota]

It's funny how the first Euro GM constructed such a very North American-style team. Maybe he was afraid of being criticized for favoring Europeans or Finns or being soft, but went too far in the other direction to compensate?

Have you seen the guy? He clearly loves the testosterone. lol

 

[archangel2]

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

I agree. Some of the stuff the they did? Has JDs prints on it

 

[Kimota]

should’ve been fired after the Babcock fiasco

I mean it wasn't a bad hire on paper. How could he have predicted that Babcock would go on guys' phone? That was next level stalker creepy stuff. I don't think he was hired for that.

 

[GKJ]

I mean it wasn't a bad hire on paper. How could he have predicted that Babcock would go on guys' phone? That was next level stalker creepy stuff. I don't think he was hired for that.

Best indicator of future events is past behavior

 

[Crede777]

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.

In 2021 they lost Dubois which was a major blow to the center position and they lost Jones which blew up the defense.

Best indicator of future events is past behavior

If we're considering past behavior then we also need to consider past success. Babcock was one of the winningest coaches in the league.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

In 2021 they lost Dubois which was a major blow to the center position

He was traded January 23, 2021. Go back and refresh yourself with why it happened, especially by perhaps looking at PLD's on-ice "effort" and comments right before he got traded. If you want to nitpick and say well, they should have gotten a center back, fine - but let's not pretend the front office was sitting around one day doing shots of Fireball and decided you know what, I got a f***ing brilliant idea, let's trade PLD for some magic beans and shit.

and they lost Jones which blew up the defense.

Jones was traded July 23, 2021 when he made it clear he wasn't signing an extension. It was a team coming off an 18-26-12 season, that had shipped out David Savard at the deadline to Tampa, whose defense was otherwise Weresnki, Gavrikov, Mikko Lehtonen, Michael Del Zotto and then a revolving cast of warm bodies. There wasn't much left there to blow up.

I don't know what you were expecting JK to do there: hang on to Jones for another year, not trade him, let him walk for nothing as well? Hang on to him for who knows how long, go to all lengths to try to trade him for a similar player who would sign long-term in Columbus knowing the team needed a lot more help than that?

Regardless, both PLD and Jones fall outside "2017-20" in your post.

If we're considering past behavior then we also need to consider past success. Babcock was one of the winningest coaches in the league.

Randy Carlyle was the head coach for a Stanley Cup-winning team, so given that past success I would absolutely hire him as a head coach.

Same thing for Brian Burke and a GM spot.

 

[GKJ]

In 2021 they lost Dubois which was a major blow to the center position and they lost Jones which blew up the defense.


If we're considering past behavior then we also need to consider past success. Babcock was one of the winningest coaches in the league.

Babcock was also, very clearly and not so subtly, perhaps the most toxic coach in the league. Jarmo bet his job and perhaps reputation on him having had adjusted his philosophy to a newer generation of players who are less keen on that type of authoritarian personality, and needing to personally accountable for with zero room for error. That’s a bet both guys lost and it was so spectacularly wrong given that he didn’t even make it training camp. As a result Jarmo has neither.

 

[GhostfaceWu]

He should have been fired the moment after the Babcock shit.

 

[brock hughes007]

Who would be a good replacement

 

[Bandit]

Wish the Kings would do the same and save us from whatever horrors Blake wants to unleash upon us this TDL.

 

[Stealth JD]

Meh. Expected move. Jarmo may have worn out his welcome, but he’s still a better GM than Bill Geurin or Kevyn Adams.

 

[abo9]

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.

And can he really be blamed for losing all those guys in 2019? Can he be blamed that these players decided to go the free agency route? HF gives so much shit for the Price contract; letting Bob leave should be seen as a win no?

In any case, the message he sent while he was there was that the Jackets were serious about winning. Unfortunately, through no fault of his own, his tenure also made it abundantly clear that Columbus is playing with a huge negative handicap through players not wanting to go play/live there.

 

[stevo61]

Who would be a good replacement

Mark Hunter is a name some have thrown around as possibly a good option

 

[3074326]

I thought Jarmo drafted pretty well and won a decent amount of trades. I liked when he went all in with Panarin/Duchene. He did some things I like.

Ultimately though.. the Jackets have basically been in a perpetual rebuild since he started. They had some glimpses, but really not even close to enough success for 11 years. Also, contract negotiations always seemed to be very tense.

Hope the Jackets can find someone who can get them to the next level. There is talent there. The Babcock situation felt like the beginning of the end to me.

 

[abo9]

In 2021 they lost Dubois which was a major blow to the center position and they lost Jones which blew up the defense.

All things considered they got quite a haul for Jones, whose performances dont match up to his contract in chicago. Bullet dodged there.

Same with Dubois, who wanted out. Sure, Laine didnt turn it around, and injuries are taking a toll, but Dubois is looking like an anchor right now. .

 

[Michoulicious]

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.

He is an awesome GM, you are right.

They should have kept him even longer.

 

[crazy8888]

I thought ownership stated earlier this year that they were going to let him stay and f*** shit up even more.

 

[Viqsi]

He is an awesome GM, you are right.

They should have kept him even longer.

Your logical fallacy is black or white

You presented two alternative states as the only possibilities, when in fact more possibilities exist.

yourlogicalfallacyis.com

 

[mattihp]

It was time. Skilled individual, but not doing enough and not doing the right things.

 

[ItWasJustified]

Jarmo bet his job and perhaps reputation on him having had adjusted his philosophy to a newer generation of players who are less keen on that type of authoritarian personality, and needing to personally accountable for with zero room for error.

And look where this newer generation of players have taken the Blue jackets. What a great success they are having right now.

 

[GKJ]

And look where this newer generation of players have taken the Blue jackets. What a great success they are having right now.

No one could know, they keep getting benched for underachieving veterans by a coach who seems to be a poor communicator. The GM is responsible for that no matter where the fault is. Based on the actions of this past offseason, it seems like it’s with the underachieving veterans.

 

[TheFamousFart]

Hopefully he gets a new chance somewhere else, the start of the build was great and made columbus a playoff team for many years whereas they only made playoffs once before him. last few years were bad but i still think he is a great gm

 

[Quinning]

Some of these GMs are like cockroaches - borderline unkillable

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Some of these GMs are like cockroaches - borderline unkillable

We're not talking about Brian Burke.

 

[CBJx614]

And can he really be blamed for losing all those guys in 2019? Can he be blamed that these players decided to go the free agency route? HF gives so much shit for the Price contract; letting Bob leave should be seen as a win no?

In any case, the message he sent while he was there was that the Jackets were serious about winning. Unfortunately, through no fault of his own, his tenure also made it abundantly clear that Columbus is playing with a huge negative handicap through players not wanting to go play/live there.

He let Bob go, moved Anderson because he didn't want to pay for that contract. Moved RyJo for Jones right before Johansens big deal and then was able to turn what would've been 9M for Jones and a late first into Sillinger, Boqvist, Bean and Jiricek. Boqvist could be a legitimate top 4 dman if he could stay healthy and get some pp time. Bean is likely on his way out but both Sillinger and Jiri should be core pieces moving forward (Sillinger is arguable but Jiri isn't)