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koteka said:
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.
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One retread I don’t want to see anywhere near Nationwide Arena is Ken Holland, whose name I’ve seen in several articles.
 
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MoeBartoli said:
One retread I don’t want to see anywhere near Nationwide Arena is Ken Holland, whose name I’ve seen in several articles.
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What if Edmonton wins the Cup this year. Would that change your mind?

I lean against Holland as well, but if he managed to fill in the missing pieces and they win it all........
 
Aaaarrgghh said:
Sure seems like it. Bummer. I guess Davidson's not inactive after all. Either that or the Panthers are proactive to an unresonable degree.
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Davidson said he'd be willing to move out of the President's chair so they could make President + GM offers (I believe you can't talk to current GMs or other execs about a lateral move), so it seems obvious that they were targeting current GMs / execs. No reason to think that JD is inactive, obviously you can't start talking to those people during the season.
 
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majormajor said:
Davidson said he'd be willing to move out of the President's chair so they could make President + GM offers (I believe you can't talk to current GMs or other execs about a lateral move), so it seems obvious that they were targeting current GMs / execs. No reason to think that JD is inactive, obviously you can't start talking to those people during the season.
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Yeah a move like this feels like a mix of "unofficial sidebar conversations" and Zito using "those conversations" as leverage. Good for him to make his money!
 
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Indy18 said:
Yeah a move like this feels like a mix of "unofficial sidebar conversations" and Zito using "those conversations" as leverage. Good for him to make his money!
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Definitely. I always assumed that people on that level would get together for drinks and JD would hint that they're prepared to make big offers. Obviously JD can't come out and say any of that publicly. He can't say "we've been very active in talking to current GMs", as much as we'd like to hear that.
 
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Unless I missed it, JD didn’t talk to the media today, and thus gave no update on the GM search. Which I found odd, because he and jarmo usually always talked on media day.
 
“Our culture … it needs to be improved, absolutely,” Davidson said. “We have to improve it. That’s just what it is, that’s just me being honest.

“When you make changes at (the GM level), it should stimulate everything in the organization, from A to Z. This guy is going to come in and make up his mind on things. He’ll have a look at the entire organization. Everybody here now understands that, that we’re going to look at everything.”

Davidson, along with president of business operations Mike Priest, have spent the last six weeks sifting through the scores of names that have reached their desks as candidates to replace Jarmo Kekalainen, who was fired in mid-February.

Now, with those names whittled down to a “reasonable size,” Davidson said, the second step in the process can get started.

“We’re going to find out who’s available and who’s not, see what names are there and get going,” Davidson said. “The sooner the better, but there’s no rush.

“We know lots of people we want to talk to, but can we talk to them? We don’t know yet. We’ll have to wait and see. You have to go through the proper channels and have respect for the other organizations, and we’ll most definitely do it that way.”

“I’ll do whatever is necessary to get the right guy,” Davidson said. “I’ve always been that way and I will always be that way. I want to get this right. I have a deep affection for Columbus and the organization and I want to get it right.”
There is no shortage of candidates — Davidson would only say that “scores of names” have thrown their name into the ring — but a select few will meet the requirements. Davidson and Priest want a GM who has worked in that capacity previously in the NHL or has had a front-row seat to the action.

They also want a candidate who can change the culture of the Blue Jackets organization. It’s been healthy a few times through the years, most recently when coach John Tortorella set the standards behind the bench and in the dressing room.

But it’s slipped badly in recent seasons, with several veterans moving along to other franchises and a turnstile in the coaches’ office. Pascal Vincent is the second coach in three seasons (third if you count Mike Babcock), and his future will likely be decided by the new GM.

Nothing will be spared a hard evaluation under the new GM — the coaching staff, scouting staff, training staff, you name it.

The next GM will have to hit the ground running in the dressing room, too.

The Blue Jackets are going to have another high pick in this summer’s draft after finishing with the fourth-worst record in the NHL. They’ll take a hard look at their goaltending position, where starter Elvis Merzlikins could be on his way out. They have seven prominent players who are restricted free agents as of July 1.

As Davidson said, the sooner the better.

“The most important thing is that we get the right person to lead our club,” he said. “There’s no hard date when that has to happen, but it has to happen.”
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Ice9 said:
Disrupt JD and Priest out the door. Can't be a disruptor when the guys most needing disrupted are hanging on at the top. Need a culture change? Then make a culture change!
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Enh. The fact that JD is actually looking for that type - and willing to step aside to get him - suggests that he's at least making an effort. I'd still rather have someone else doing the search simply because of his track record, but he's at least (per all available evidence) doing and saying the right things. So I'm trying to give some benefit of the doubt in spite of it all.
 
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