GM search thread - all news and discussion here

[stevo61]

Hiring Holland would be stupid. Seems like something we might do

 

[koteka]

To what I've bolded, I think a lot of folks get hung up there.

I think Jarmo has built the roster toward being a certain kind of team, but the "identity" thing really only works when the team has success. It's hard for people to acknowledge a "skill" team when your team stinks.

I can say my identity is sexy male exotic dancer but if my diet is donuts and Cheetos and I don’t go to the gym, does it matter that I picked an identity?

I don’t know whether Jarmo didn’t have an identity and just reacted (my personal belief), Jarmo had an identity in mind but didn’t follow through (me as an exotic dancer), or Jarmo had an identity but was unable to put together a team and a coaching staff that could successfully implement that identity. I do know he had his hand forced on the Laine/Roslovic acquisitions and kind of lucked into Johnny Hockey. When he made deliberate moves entirely of his own choosing (Gudbranson, Severson, Provorov) the last few seasons, they don’t seem to have helped the team get better. I don’t feel like he has successfully built a coaching staff since Torts left.

Anyway, I would love a 6 month ban on Jarmo discussions. You morons will suck me into a Jarmo discussion every time if we don’t ban such things.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I can say my identity is sexy male exotic dancer but if my diet is donuts and Cheetos and I don’t go to the gym, does it matter that I picked an identity?

I don’t know whether Jarmo didn’t have an identity and just reacted (my personal belief), Jarmo had an identity in mind but didn’t follow through (me as an exotic dancer), or Jarmo had an identity but was unable to put together a team and a coaching staff that could successfully implement that identity. I do know he had his hand forced on the Laine/Roslovic acquisitions and kind of lucked into Johnny Hockey. When he made deliberate moves entirely of his own choosing (Gudbranson, Severson, Provorov) the last few seasons, they don’t seem to have helped the team get better. I don’t feel like he has successfully built a coaching staff since Torts left.

Anyway, I would love a 6 month ban on Jarmo discussions. You morons will suck me into a Jarmo discussion every time if we don’t ban such things.

See we're talking about intention versus execution. The team sucks, so it doesn't appear to have an identity. But there was a plan, it just thus far has failed. But that's two different conversations. It's a valid conversation in a thread titled "what do you want from the next GM" based on the referenced Weekes/Demers comments.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Hiring Holland would be stupid. Seems like something we might do

As a GM sure, but Bucci is suggesting him as a replacement for JD which could be OK since he has "been there and done that" in Detroit.

 

[squashmaple]

I recoiled in horror. So I expect this to happen.

 

[koteka]

See we're talking about intention versus execution. The team sucks, so it doesn't appear to have an identity. But there was a plan, it just thus far has failed. But that's two different conversations. It's a valid conversation in a thread titled "what do you want from the next GM" based on the referenced Weekes/Demers comments.

And the third version - we had a plan but we kept getting distracted from it because of reasons like our team was getting pushed around or we had an unanticipated free agent sign with us so we had this great plan that we intended to execute but never really did so it isn’t even that we executed our plan badly. Which maybe I am moving to this camp.

 

[majormajor]

there was a clip last week of weekes and demers on nhl network talking about the jackets and how they currently lack an identity, and how finding an identity doesn't necessarily mean becoming a 'tough' team.

they specifically pointed to carolina as an example of a team whose identity is skill-based. doesn't mean they don't have two-way players (they do) but they have a system and identity that empowers their skill guys and leverages their talent.

darche, tulsky and macfarland all come from teams that have had success building a skill-first roster and supplementing with toughness at the margins. from a roster build standpoint, this makes the most sense for the jackets given who their current top pieces are.

the alternative path is trying to set a "hard to play against" identity a la john tortorella, and reshape the roster to fit that. which aligns with the current coaching staff, but requires significantly more player/salary movement. which is a significantly bigger undertaking for a new GM.

Do we really think the Jackets FO never talked it through about what kind of identity they wanted the team to have? I think we can take it for granted that they did have those conversations.

That and the Carolina suggestion as a skills-based team is mighty confused. For years Carolina has been the #1 dump and chase team in the NHL, by a good margin. No other club has dumped it in more, no other club has rushed less. Their best skill players in Svechnikov and Aho are good at it too. It's been an issue for Necas though, he is a poor forechecker and has stuck out like a sore thumb from the rest of their roster, although I hear he has meshed with the plan better lately.

With Laine and Gaudreau as our top offensive players, the Jackets are much more like Necas than the rest of the Canes. We do not forecheck well. Certainly not as a group. Now if we wanted to build a badass forechecking identity where skill players take part in that, and just have one or two guys who weren't great at it, then I would love that. You win playoff games with that style. That's a very intentional program though that takes a single minded coach like Torts or Rod, it requires so much synchrony from all the guys who are on the ice.

We could develop into a team like that. Fantilli and Brindley can fetch a puck, the Russians can all fetch a puck. I'd love it if Vincent was more inclined to go in that direction! You say he is in the "hard to play against" category while the talent is not fitting that, it can be argued the other way around.

 

[behemolari]

Sell Laine

 

[Sdrawkcab321]

Sell Laine

And Johnny.

 

[CBJx614]

And Johnny.

Laine can go, It's too early to ditch Gaudreau

 

[Sdrawkcab321]

Laine can go, It's too early to ditch Gaudreau

31 next season. Play is declining every year. I’d get what we could for him.

 

[CBJx614]

31 next season. Play is declining every year. I’d get what we could for him.

Or the more likely scenario is that he went from playing on a team that was contending for the playoffs if not the West on a yearly basis, to the youngest team in the league in the middle of a rebuild. He's not the problem. He's not the person we're building around. And as long as he's hovering around a PPG, he's worth his contract.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Ken Holland is not a GM for a rebuilding or young roster. No thank you

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Spark notes version, don’t expect the GM search to be public. They’re going to try to keep it under wraps. They have lots of interest, and they don’t expect to have a new one in place until the summer.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

31 next season. Play is declining every year. I’d get what we could for him.

I think his numbers (and his age as you pointed out) since he signed his new contract would require close to a 50% (maximum allowed) retention of salary. I'd only think that he'd require a bad contract back in a player trade. I'd just suck it up and retain salary (if possible).

17 games since his last goal which was on December 29. Tracking for mid 50s points on an almost $10 million/yr deal with over 5 years left to go.

Thanks, Jarmo and JD.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Let's try and minimize the player discussion in this thread. I realize it could be topical but there are so many other spots for that. Let's try and keep this thread for big-picture stuff and as a sort of de facto "search" news/discussion thread.

Thanks and sorry for the iron fist so early on a hump day.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

weird thought here (and different roster builds) but there's an interesting parallel between the blue jackets and the florida panthers.

florida was struggling to get out of a rebuild and tried to accelerate that by signing bobrovsky to a huge contract. he struggled and was seen as an unmovable albatross contract. tallon got fired, zito got brought in, and the roster got reshaped to play a more aggressive style. now bob is back to his old self and the team around him is absolutely sick.

wonder if a new GM can pull some levers that put gaudreau in a better position to succeed and get 'back to his old self' the way bobrovsky did.

 

[DarkandStormy]

It's still baffling to me that JD will apparently be heading up this search? He was the one who publicly stated the Lars Bar comment and he went to bat for Babcock, mentioning their "due diligence" of talking to three people who like Babcock.

We don't know the ins and outs behind the scenes, but given that Jarmo reported to JD (except for the two years when JD fled to NY) he probably rubber stamped most of Jarmo's moves? So if Jarmo's vision or whatever became fireable, shouldn't JD follow?

Regardless, I'd like a GM that's not stuck in the early-to-mid 2010s style of hockey. The length of experience depends on if JD sticks around or retires this summer. Kind of hard to give a rookie the GM position with no PHOPs around, though I suppose other clubs do it.

I don't particularly care about if they played here or had ties here (Darche, Whitney, etc.) but I can see ownership leaning that way.

I think Jarmo was a good scout and talent evaluator. I'm not sure he hired people around him to shore up his shortcomings. So ideally you would find a GM who was aware of his strengths and weaknesses and hired good people to help in areas where they're not experts.

Also, pick a plan and stick to it. This team has never gone through a full tear it down rebuild. If you want to build through draft and development, then do it and don't waste a season picking 12th again where you're much less likely to draft elite talent. Obviously with the team's current prospects that route seems unlikely in the short term, but if you have a plan and a vision, stick with it and see it through.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I think Jarmo was a good scout and talent evaluator. I'm not sure he hired people around him to shore up his shortcomings. So ideally you would find a GM who was aware of his strengths and weaknesses and hired good people to help in areas where they're not experts.

Pulled out this part because...

We've had brief periods of revelatory (to whatever degree is debatable) stuff about how the organization is run. There was the bit a long time ago about the jet. Then a few years ago we had the whole let's hire sort of a concierge to improve the acclimation of players to the pros or the city or whatever. Whether steps taken on those topics have proven beneficial is also another conversation.

These things just speak to an overall second-rate kind of operation, whether that's a lack of understanding or lack of commitment to the cost I don't know. Anyway, I suppose the support in the player personnel department is another manifestation of that.

I don't mean to just "dump on" the organization. But I am trying to understand how we so often seem to fall short of hopes and expectations.

 

[squashmaple]

Pulled out this part because...

We've had brief periods of revelatory (to whatever degree is debatable) stuff about how the organization is run. There was the bit a long time ago about the jet. Then a few years ago we had the whole let's hire sort of a concierge to improve the acclimation of players to the pros or the city or whatever. Whether steps taken on those topics have proven beneficial is also another conversation.

These things just speak to an overall second-rate kind of operation, whether that's a lack of understanding or lack of commitment to the cost I don't know. Anyway, I suppose the support in the player personnel department is another manifestation of that.

I don't mean to just "dump on" the organization. But I am trying to understand how we so often seem to fall short of hopes and expectations.

Why would hiring a "concierge" to assist players point to the org being second-rate? That is a completely bonkers way to read that. First-class organizations bend over backwards to serve their players. It's the ones that don't that would be considered second rate.

 

[MoeBartoli]

This all sounds good to me.

I've never been a big JD guy but it seems wild to me that many folks think we can do this process better without him. To me that sounds like having Priest find a new hockey guy, and then that person finding the new GM. That could go badly. Let JD oversee the GM search and then he'll retire soon anyways.

Certainly Priest would not be someone to lead the GM search. Despite his faults I have no issue with JD leading the GM hiring. He’s made two GM hires in his NHL career - Doug Armstrong and Jarmo. Army had a successful run culminating in a Cup and Jarmo had a good run until his run of poor decisions in the last few years. Yes, Jarmo could have been fired earlier, but we are talking about hiring, not firing. So based on those two hires, I feel JD knows what to look for in this search.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Why would hiring a "concierge" to assist players point to the org being second-rate? That is a completely bonkers way to read that. First-class organizations bend over backwards to serve their players. It's the ones that don't that would be considered second rate.

Sorry fopr the lack of clarity. I was working out my thoughts while typing them. The previous modus operandi would have indicated a second-rate approach, in the way I was thinking through it. Sort of a "here is a thing we had to start doing that we weren't doing but probably should have been doing all along."

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Item No. 1: Davidson’s plan​

It’s a fair question, but not an easy one: Blue Jackets president of hockey operations and now interim general manager John Davidson celebrated his 71st birthday last Tuesday. When he decides to retire, it’ll end one of the most unique careers in major sports.

What is Davidson thinking in that regard? Is his current undertaking with the Blue Jackets — running the NHL trade deadline later this week, finding the franchise’s next GM, etc. — his last hurrah before he rides off into the sunset?

“Ultimately, that’s all up to (club president) Mike Priest and the ownership group, whatever they want,” Davidson told The Athletic this week. “I just want to get us going. I just want to get us back on track. I haven’t even thought about retirement, to be honest.

“When we get it all straightened out, we’ll figure things out. I have a gigantic affinity for this franchise and our city. I just … I like a lot of things that are here. Now we need to get it to the next level.”

Asked if he planned to stay on until he felt the franchise was in good hands and headed in the right direction, Davidson said: “That’s it.”

For now, the focus is on the trade deadline, which arrives at 3 p.m. on Friday. The Blue Jackets are expected to be minor players, with only one significant unrestricted free agent (Jack Roslovic) on the roster and a cluster of young players trying to find their way in the league.

The search for Jarmo Kekäläinen’s replacement won’t begin in earnest until after the trade deadline, Davidson said. He said the Blue Jackets have been contacted by “dozens” of potential candidates in the three weeks since Kekäläinen was dismissed.

“There are young, up-and-coming people, there are experienced people, there are people who have done the job before and aren’t working now … everything from A to Z,” Davidson said. “We’re going to go through (the process), Mike Priest and I. Nothing is out of bounds and no ideas are wrong.

“Mike and I will have a strong discussion about what exactly we’re looking for. We’ve already had some discussions in that direction. When that’s in place — when we settle on the characteristics that we think will really benefit our club, in our situation — that’s when you can go through the list and narrow it and start talking to people.”

Example: When Davidson fired Scott Howson back in February 2013, he already knew where he was headed. The Blue Jackets, he believed, needed to focus heavily on the draft, so Kekäläinen (whom Davidson knew well from their time together in St. Louis) was the obvious candidate.

It’s not as if the Blue Jackets no longer need a talented amateur evaluator; every NHL club does. But what’s imperative at present is team-building and roster construction, sorting through the collection of young talent to find the right fit.

“There’s been considerable interest, and that’s great to see,” Davidson said. “We’ve got a big week ahead with the trade deadline. That needs to take most of our energy now, and it is. But once that passes, finding the right GM will be the focus.”

 

[koteka]

He hasn’t thought about retirement? Guess we’ll need to resort to more extreme measures to get rid of him.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

Read "hasn't thought about retirement" as "no way am I going to give up $2 million per year. they'll have to fire my a$$".