GM search thread - all news and discussion here

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Hardly. The team drafts fourth this year at worst and are likely to draft high next year.

Not at worst. They could get passed by someone behind them if that team wins the lottery. Unlikely but they could fall to 5th or even 6th depending on how the balls fall.

 

[Crede777]

Edit - I guess Scheig is using Gorton and Holland as examples of guys who hold dual positions, not guys the Jackets would be hiring. Thankfully.

 

[Indy18]

Edit - I guess Scheig is using Gorton and Holland as examples of guys who hold dual positions, not guys the Jackets would be hiring. Thankfully.

Considering JD's relationship with Gorton I wouldn't be shocked if he doesn't make it deep into the process though

 

[squashmaple]

Considering JD's relationship with Gorton I wouldn't be shocked if he doesn't make it deep into the process though

But why would he want to? He's already got the better job, with an org having a better rebuild with resources the McConnells could never dream of, in a better city with a better fanbase. Why in the world would he leave that for Columbus?

 

[CBJWerenski8]

i believe Lou Lamoriello was POHO in Toronto before stepping down to be GM of the isles. Which is a demotion and smaller hockey market.

GMs like to GM. And especially how it ended for Gorton in New York I bet he would like another kick at it. Being in the same division as them is just gravy too.

I think Gorton and Hunter are the two early favorites.

 

[Indy18]

i believe Lou Lamoriello was POHO in Toronto before stepping down to be GM of the isles. Which is a demotion and smaller hockey market.

GMs like to GM. And especially how it ended for Gorton in New York I bet he would like another kick at it. Being in the same division as them is just gravy too.

I think Gorton and Hunter are the two early favorites.

Reminds me of the old quote from House of Cards "What would you rather have money or power"? If Gorton could get both roles he could possibility be interested in the job is my thought. Like you said he's done it twice why not a third round?

 

[Fred Glover]

I want someone who will build the team from the back
I want someone who’ll clean house starting with the coaching staff
I want an experienced head coach
I want assistant coaches who can teach
I want him to overhaul our offseason training to cut down on the injuries
I want professionalism
I want a winner

 

[EDM]

FG, you are soooooooo demanding. But your desires are dead on.

 

[Cowumbus]

I want someone who will build the team from the back
I want someone who’ll clean house starting with the coaching staff
I want an experienced head coach
I want assistant coaches who can teach
I want him to overhaul our offseason training to cut down on the injuries
I want professionalism
I want a winner

Can we please add in
- No more chilli chant
- Bringing back highlights around the league between periods

 

[Fred Glover]

Can we please add in
- No more chilli chant
- Bringing back highlights around the league between periods

Probably not his responsibility
More of a marketing and game presentation thing but I would agree on both

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Probably not his responsibility
More of a marketing and game presentation thing but I would agree on both

I wonder whose responsibility it is. i remember when we hired the guy from Nashville everyone gave credit for their Game Ops and then we didn't change a thing.

 

[The Last Red]

Reminds me of the old quote from House of Cards "What would you rather have money or power"? If Gorton could get both roles he could possibility be interested in the job is my thought. Like you said he's done it twice why not a third round?

Geoff Molson made it clear in an interview this weekend that Jeff Gorton is not free to leave and permission will not be granted to any team to interview him.:

«J’ai lu les rumeurs dans les journaux aussi. Le premier appel que j’ai fait, c’est à Jeff Gorton, a raconté Molson lors d’un entretien exclusif avec Renaud Lavoie diffusé sur les ondes de TVA Sports. Personne ne m’a appelé. C’est une invention, cette histoire.»

Et si une autre équipe a l’intention de contacter Molson pour obtenir son aval, cette discussion risque d’être assez courte.

«Les chances que je permette aux Blue Jackets de lui parler sont de zero», a-t-il catégoriquement affirmé.

 

[KJ Dangler]

Geoff Molson made it clear in an interview this weekend that Jeff Gorton is not free to leave and permission will not be granted to any team to interview him.

Good to hear … maybe other teams like this will help minimize Davidsons incompetence, and reliance on his old boys club network. If we are dangling a double role to attract a top end candidate McFarland , and Zito should be at the top of the list . McFarland still has many good friends in the front office

The two trades that helped shape Chris MacFarland’s ascent to Avalanche general manager: “He did this the hard way”

The AHL team was Chris MacFarland’s baby. Late one season, holding a sizable lead in the standings as the playoffs neared, he kept marching into work with a testimony, as though the general m…

www.denverpost.com

 

[CBJWerenski8]

I find it humorous that we complained about Vincent being a retread and there’s a portion of people who would bend over backwards and almost grant complete hockey power to two “retreads” in Zito and McFarland.

Granted, Zito is a different story since he wasn’t fired and oversaw the most successful era of the franchise. But McFarland is certainly a retread.

I’m open to it, I guess more open to Zito than McFarland, but I extremely doubt it’s actually possible. Both teams they’re with would probably do what they could to keep them

 

[koteka]

Three people who deserve interviews:

Scott White - Assistant GM Dallas Stars and GM Texas Stars

Darren Yorke - Assistant GM Carolina Hurricanes

Scott Nichol - Director of Player Personnel Nashville Predators and GM Milwaukee Admirals

Criteria I was looking for:
Not a Blue Jacket
Hockey guy with decent tenure
Experienced, but not a retread
Team is not a destination team or O6 team
Don’t depend on superstars
Care about defense

 

[majormajor]

I find it humorous that we complained about Vincent being a retread and there’s a portion of people who would bend over backwards and almost grant complete hockey power to two “retreads” in Zito and McFarland.

Granted, Zito is a different story since he wasn’t fired and oversaw the most successful era of the franchise. But McFarland is certainly a retread.

I’m open to it, I guess more open to Zito than McFarland, but I extremely doubt it’s actually possible. Both teams they’re with would probably do what they could to keep them

I'm not sure what "retread" means other than someone with experience who was fired. When it comes to coaches you're either hiring a first timer or a retread and the cynics will attack either way.

Vincent is a first time NHL head coach, not a retread.

Do you just mean an internal hire?

I don't believe Zito or MacFarland were fired by anybody? I checked the news reports and there's nothing to suggest the Jackets fired MacFarland.

Zito's record building the Panthers is amazing while MacFarland still hasn't managed a great supporting cast for his stars in Colorado.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

I'm not sure what "retread" means other than someone with experience. When it comes to coaches you're either hiring a first timer or a retread and the cynics will attack either way.

Vincent is a first time NHL head coach, not a retread.

Do you just mean an internal hire?

I don't believe Zito or MacFarland were fired by anybody? I checked the news reports and there's nothing to suggest the Jackets fired MacFarland.

Zito's record building the Panthers is amazing while MacFarland still hasn't managed a great supporting cast for his stars in Colorado.

Retread in this sense means a former CBJ coming back. Vincent isn’t a “retread” but he was a continuation of what people wanted to go away from (Larsen). Yes, I know they’re different coaches with different ideas. But that’s what the common fan would say and think.

McFarland was pushed out, as was Paul Castron and Tyler Wright as head scouts, when jarmo came aboard. McFarland was replaced by Zito and Castron was replaced by Siren. Maybe not “fired” but certainly wasn’t wanted.

 

[majormajor]

Retread in this sense means a former CBJ coming back. Vincent isn't a “retread” but he was a continuation of what people wanted to go away from (Larsen). Yes, I know they're different coaches with different ideas. But that's what the common fan would say and think.

McFarland was pushed out, as was Paul Castron and Tyler Wright as head scouts, when Jarmo came aboard. McFarland was replaced by Zito and Castron was replaced by Siren. Maybe not “fired” but certainly wasn’t wanted.

Gotcha.

I think it is a little silly to have MacFarland and Zito listed as CBJ targets, it's difficult to even get an interview with someone who is a GM of another club.

Though if there is one guy I'd be comfortable with getting the President + GM gig it would be Zito.

 

[Aaaarrgghh]

Zito would be amazing but surely there's no way he leaves Florida in the near future. He's not done there yet. Portzline mentioned that a candidate like that would be someone to keep in mind with regards to a GM & President spot. But I find it hard to believe that such a role would be so attractive that Zito would be willing to leave what he's got going for himself in Florida.

Regarding the coach under the new GM, I am generally skeptical towards only giving a coach a single season unless they clearly do very poorly. Vincent should in all fairness probably get another season, I think, though I wouldn't lose sleep over it if the Blue Jackets replaced him with Craig Berube or someone like that.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

Three people who deserve interviews:

Scott White - Assistant GM Dallas Stars and GM Texas Stars

Darren Yorke - Assistant GM Carolina Hurricanes

Scott Nichol - Director of Player Personnel Nashville Predators and GM Milwaukee Admirals

Criteria I was looking for:
Not a Blue Jacket
Hockey guy with decent tenure
Experienced, but not a retread
Team is not a destination team or O6 team
Don’t depend on superstars
Care about defense

I can't speak to the quality of any of the 3 candidates whom you mentioned, but I'll assume that at least one of the three is a potential NHL GM.

There is probably a pool of 10-30 legitimate candidates who could reasonably expected to do a good job as an NHL GM. Once again, my confidence level is very low in John Davidson (or his staff) doing the necessary work to sift through all of the potential hires. Davidson would not appear to have the appetite for the hard work needed to find the ideal GM.

My best guess is that the next GM of the CBJ will be a name that is well known. Which could be good. Or could be very bad.

As for Macfarland and Zito, why in the world would they want to come back to Columbus? They both have plum jobs and have teams that are currently Stanley Cup contenders.

 

[koteka]

I'm not sure what "retread" means other than someone with experience who was fired. When it comes to coaches you're either hiring a first timer or a retread and the cynics will attack either way.

I meant it as already fired twice. For a GM.

Coaches are weird. Some are good at taking a young team and making them better, but can’t get over the hump. Some come in and have 2 or 3 good years but then the team stops listening. Some can’t develop players, but know how to lead a playoff team.

I am more ok with a retread coach than a retread GM.

 

[majormajor]

But I find it hard to believe that such a role would be so attractive that Zito would be willing to leave what he's got going for himself in Florida.

You'd really have to back up the money truck for it to be even considered a serious offer.

Some Presidents make $4m+, some make $1m or maybe even less. It wouldn't be a $1m offer. How long is JD's contract? Arrangements where he slides out of the President's chair but keeps his ($2m?) salary in an advisory role would be hard to imagine if we're also paying multi-millions to the new President.

 

[koteka]

I can't speak to the quality of any of the 3 candidates whom you mentioned, but I'll assume that at least one of the three is a potential NHL GM.

There is probably a pool of 10-30 legitimate candidates who could reasonably expected to do a good job as an NHL GM. Once again, my confidence level is very low in John Davidson (or his staff) doing the necessary work to sift through all of the potential hires. Davidson would not appear to have the appetite for the hard work needed to find the ideal GM.

I am a hockey dad who does data analysis / project management for data systems. I am sitting on my couch on a Sunday afternoon with an iPad. My main concerns today are hoping to win the 7th / 8th place game for the HF CBJ fantasy league and getting my kid to finish mowing the lawn (he needed a break).

Anyway, in about half an hour I came up with a list of what I think are reasonable criteria and then surfed the websites of about 8–10 teams and then googled their executive personnel. I should probably charge the Jackets a $200K consulting fee. It is not hard.

I don’t know if any of these guys are good. Heck, they may be wife beaters or flat earthers or just general idiots, but it is a way to start a search.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

My biggest concern with JD's willingness to move aside into a probable advisor role is that we may be after Ken Holland or something.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

My biggest concern with JD's willingness to move aside into a probable advisor role is that we may be after Ken Holland or something.

Any GM or Team Prez who'd want JD as an advisor wouldn't be a good candidate

Ownership needs to suck it up, fire him/pay him and send him to pasture. He should have nothing to do with the new management team. He's had his chance(s) and enough is enough.