Proposal: John Davidson

[Robert]

Simple question, is CBJ President John Davidson giving you as a fan what you expected?

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[Jackets16]

Simple question, is CBJ President John Davidson giving you as a fan what you expected?

Are we a better organization now than we were before he got here? IMO, we are. So, yes, he is.

 

[alphafox]

Yes and no. When JD came in I expected and wanted a culture shift and full rebuild, ala Murray in Buffalo. JD has accomplished the house cleaning and culture change, but the rebuild never happened because of the teams surprisingly competitive play the last two years. Overall I'm pretty happy with the direction the team is going given the constraints that the team is facing.

 

[SuperGenius]

Yes, of course.

Building and developing a team takes time, folks. He hasn't been on the job 2.5 years yet for goodness sakes. Even still, he's added a level of legitimacy that this organization has never had previously.

The 'blame game' is getting downright silly in here. The last thing this organization needs is a change at the top.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Since I expected blazers and dress shirts with two buttons undone, I'd say yes.

 

[Socks]

He's hella good at inspirational commercials. Name one other CBJ member that gets you to pump your fist and say "Yeah!" after an ad. Okay maybe Dubi but with him I'm mostly digging for my credit card to place an order at Meyers Jewelers.

 

[Robert]

Yes, of course.

Building and developing a team takes time, folks. He hasn't been on the job 2.5 years yet for goodness sakes. Even still, he's added a level of legitimacy that this organization has never had previously.

The 'blame game' is getting downright silly in here. The last thing this organization needs is a change at the top.

So, 25th in the NHL after TWO seasons under CBJ President John Davidson; as a fan, is that what you expected?

 

[SuperGenius]

So, 25th in the NHL after TWO seasons under CBJ President John Davidson; as a fan, is that what is you expected?

Of course not. You are foolish to use that as the only evaluation. Regardless of this year's results, the future is clearly bright, and likely the best it's ever been in this young franchise's history.

You don't want to use injuries as an 'excuse' because it doesn't fit your usual nonsensical arguments to fire, trade or otherwise change things unnecessarily. Yet, despite the denial, you cannot take a team that is still young and developing and take out key, core pieces for lengthy stretches and expect success. if this were a veteran team, or a team with youngsters pushing for NHL time, I would expect more, but the fact of the matter is, the CBJ are right about where they ought to be - building, not built.

And before you say it, I could not possibly care less about this franchise's past or 'we've heard it all before'. I believe in what the FO doing, particularly JD, and I believe this year is an aberration. I would like to see improvement in JK, but I also believe he is fully aware of what stage the CBJ are in 'the plan' and is making moves, or not making moves, accordingly. I think it's easy to get impatient with him given his tepid record so far, but I'm not sure that tepid is really a bad thing in the long term. I'm certainly happy with the draft results so far.

 

[stevo61]

So, 25th in the NHL after TWO seasons under CBJ President John Davidson; as a fan, is that what you expected?

Most man games lost is what everyone expected huh. I cant wait for next season because some peoples views on things.... confuse me we'll say

 

[Fro]

What rdriesen and sg said

 

[blahblah]

Umm... What? He's the best president we've had. No idea why this "lost year", prompted in a large part by injuries, is forcing these types of silly questions. The GM hasn't even had a chance to fire his first head coach yet.

Talk to me again in 2017.

 

[Robert]

Of course not.

That is all CBJ nation needs to hear SG.... the rest is just rant...

 

[Cyclones Rock]

Simple question, is CBJ President John Davidson giving you as a fan what you expected?

I really didn't know what to expect from him.

He's nothing special, that's for sure. He completely botched the negotiations with future star center Ryan Johansen. We'll have him for 2 more years (after this season) at $3 and $6 million and year 3 will be arbitrator decided. Should have signed him up to 6 years at $6-6.5 million per, but was hell bent on "taking advantage of the CBA". When Johansen walks as a UFA or is traded in his arbitration year, Davidson's strategy will be exposed for being extremely short-sighted.

His most profound action to this point has been his GM hire, so I'll comment on that.

His hire of Jarmo Kekelainen as GM looks pretty mediocre at this point. His trades have been mixed (Gaborik for Matt Frattin....terrible) (Umberger for Hartnell.....awesome) and it's too early to judge his drafting. His one foray into expensive free agent acquisitions has been a disaster as Nathan Horton was damaged goods when he got to Columbus and now may never play again although it's only fair to point out that his apparent career-ending back issues weren't obvious when he was signed.

Kekelainen sat on his hands while the Jackets were decimated by injuries earlier this year. I'll assume that Davidson supported this. His negligence during the early season in taking any action essentially cost the Jackets any shot at the playoffs. So, in his first major test, he failed pretty badly.

Kekelainen was passed over for GM in St. Louis and was a GM in Finland when Davidson fired Scott Howson. His background in the NHL was on the scouting side with both St. Louis and Ottawa. His hiring feels like cronyism to me which is obviously not a good reflection on Davidson. Me thinks that Davidson likes being the "face" of the franchise and had he hired a well known, experienced GM then he might have to play second fiddle which I don't think would fit his self image.

Davidson was a talking head for a quarter of a century and he parlayed that into becoming a Team President (St. Louis). He never paid his dues, if you will, in becoming a top executive. It was handed to him based on his name recognition as a media mouth. While I'm sure he learned a great deal about organization building during his tenure in St. Louis, it was from the vantage point of a top manager not as an operative. I'm not convinced that he has the background one would want for the top man in one's organization.

I look at Davidson as a "Hollywood" executive. Too much flash and dash without a ton of substance. Maybe he'll prove me wrong. Wouldn't bother me a bit.

 

[Robert]

Umm... What? He's the best president we've had. No idea why this "lost year", prompted in a large part by injuries, is forcing these types of silly questions. The GM hasn't even had a chance to fire his first head coach yet.

Talk to me again in 2017.

Blah.... duh, the only real President... Unless you think the homer Mike Priest was our first...

 

[CBJx614]

I really didn't know what to expect from him.

He's nothing special, that's for sure. He completely botched the negotiations with Johansen. We'll have him for 2 more years at $3 and $6 million and year 3 will be arbitrator decided. Should have signed him up to 6 years at $6-6.5 million per, but was hell bent on "taking advantage of the CBA". When Johansen walks as a UFA or is traded in his arbitration year, Davidson's strategy will be exposed for being extremely short-sighted.

His hire of Jarmo Kekelainen as GM looks pretty mediocre at this point. His trades have been mixed (Gaborik for Matt Frattin....terrible) (Umberger for Hartnell.....awesome) and it's too early to judge his drafting. His one foray into expensive free agent acquisitions has been a disaster as Horton was damaged goods when he got to Columbus and now may never play again.

Kekelainen was passed over for GM in St. Louis and was a GM in Finland when Davidson fired Scott Howson. His hiring feels like cronyism to me.

Davidson never has really learned the ropes of managing an NHL operation. He was a talking head for a quarter of a century and he parlayed that into becoming a Team President (St. Louis). He never paid his dues, if you will, in becoming a top executive. It was handed to him based on his name recognition as a talking head.

I look at Davidson as a "Hollywood" executive. Flash and dash with very little substance. Maybe he'll prove me wrong. Wouldn't bother me a bit.

Oh god not this again.


But on topic i think he did what was needed most and that was a complete change in the attitude and culture of the team. The playoffs last year and the atmosphere in Columbus are proof of that. We had a tough year with injuries and just about everyone in the league knows that. We have one of the best young centers in the game, one of the best goaltenders in the league and one of the best young defenseman in the league and a fully stocked prospect pool to develop over the next 2-3 seasons with 6 more picks in the first 3 rounds with a draft specialist as a GM. Things are definitely looking bright and if we're not in the ECF talks within the next 4 years then i have some concerns.

However somethings have been iffy most importantly trades. But this team is getting built from the ground up (the draft) not from the outside (trades) which is the correct way to do it.

 

[SuperGenius]

He's nothing special, that's for sure. He completely botched the negotiations with future star center Ryan Johansen. We'll have him for 2 more years (after this season) at $3 and $6 million and year 3 will be arbitrator decided. Should have signed him up to 6 years at $6-6.5 million per, but was hell bent on "taking advantage of the CBA". When Johansen walks as a UFA or is traded in his arbitration year, Davidson's strategy will be exposed for being extremely short-sighted.

Very good points in your post except the above. Unless you're some kind of soothsayer, I think it's pretty tough to judge a guy on what you think will happen.

Was it really short-sighted? Or was it the best way to get the most out of a young player who had plenty more to give. Time will tell, but I think it's kind of silly to think he'll walk. Did Bob?

 

[Socks]

That is all CBJ nation needs to hear SG.... the rest is just rant...

Lolol way to completely ignore EVERY SINGLE POINT of his post. Good job Bobby.

 

[Robert]

Oh god not this again.


But on topic i think he did what was needed most and that was a complete change in the attitude and culture of the team. The playoffs last year and the atmosphere in Columbus are proof of that. We had a tough year with injuries and just about everyone in the league knows that. We have one of the best young centers in the game, one of the best goaltenders in the league and one of the best young defenseman in the league and a fully stocked prospect pool to develop over the next 2-3 seasons with 6 more picks in the first 3 rounds with a draft specialist as a GM. Things are definitely looking bright and if we're not in the ECF talks within the next 4 years then i have some concerns.

However somethings have been iffy most importantly trades. But this team is getting built from the ground up (the draft) not from the outside (trades) which is the correct way to do it.

HF rates us as 10th for prospects, weak on wing... look it up...

In the end this poster says our goal tending is sub par, offense is subpar and management is subpar.... Our defense is our strength including Wis... If they trade Wis he will be the scape goat!!!

 

[Cyclones Rock]

Very good points in your post except the above. Unless you're some kind of soothsayer, I think it's pretty tough to judge a guy on what you think will happen.

Was it really short-sighted? Or was it the best way to get the most out of a young player who had plenty more to give. Time will tell, but I think it's kind of silly to think he'll walk. Did Bob?

Thanks to the first bolded.

Yes, to the second bolded

Bob was still an RFA.

I argued ad nauseam over the summer as to why Johansen should have been signed to a 6 year deal. Not going to revisit it now beyond this brief cap analysis.

I just look at it this way. Had he been signed to a 6 year at $6.5 per, we'd be looking at this:

2015-16, 16-17,17-18,18-19,19-20 at $6.5 million for Johansen.

Now we're looking at

15-16...............$3 million
16-17 ..............$6 million
17-18...............$8 million minimum
18-19 on.............?????????????????

Even if he resigns with the Jackets, his salary will likely throw a wrench in the salary cap starting in 17-18 where a long term deal would have delayed that unitl 2020-21. 3 years of potential cap issues which could have been avoided.

 

[blahblah]

Very good points in your post except the above. Unless you're some kind of soothsayer, I think it's pretty tough to judge a guy on what you think will happen.

Was it really short-sighted? Or was it the best way to get the most out of a young player who had plenty more to give. Time will tell, but I think it's kind of silly to think he'll walk. Did Bob?

The real question is. was that JD's strategy or what it JK's and JD backed his GM? There was obviously something that JK, and possibly JD, wanted to see from Johansen before they committed to a long term deal (but let's not forget they did offer him one, which their agent rejected).

I'm not sure committing that long for those dollars was appropriate at the time. Johansen is clearly talented, but at the same time he hasn't lived up to his clutch performances like he did last season. I haven't seen that same dominance that he showed last season. Perhaps he's missing Jenner a bit. He'll score more points but that is because he's playing 2 more minutes a night. I was curious to see if my perception was reflected in the stats. Last season he had 5 GWG's, I was shocked to see he has zero so far. Five of his first 14 were game winners. I'll need more research, but my first reaction is that his third periods have been fairly week this year.

I'm hoping he takes another step next season.

Man NHL.com has screwed with their stats page. I'm not even sure they even have what they used to have. Ugh. It's still there, but I don't like the new setup. The advanced stats is just garbage. It's not a shock that if your -500 in SoG's that your team is going to be poor, but some really good teams are down on that list.

 

[RyanOhReally]

You can't expect injuries (Horton is an exception). JD has done his best, and it's a really fantastic job. I can't think of any other team that has had a bigger shift in culture and just overall talent.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

The real question is. was that JD's strategy or what it JK's and JD backed his GM? There was obviously something that JK, and possibly JD, wanted to see from Johansen before they committed to a long term deal (but let's not forget they did offer him one, which their agent rejected).

I'm not sure committing that long for those dollars was appropriate at the time. Johansen is clearly talented, but at the same time he hasn't lived up to his clutch performances like he did last season. I haven't seen that same dominance that he showed last season. Perhaps he's missing Jenner a bit.

I'm hoping he takes another step next season.

He's tied for 19th among all NHLers in scoring. He's already surpassed his assist total from last year. He's 22.

What in the world do you need to see?

The long term offer submitted was a hastily put together deal which didn't hit the table until negotiations were months old and plenty of bad blood had been spilled.

 

[Robert]

The real question is. was that JD's strategy or what it JK's and JD backed his GM? There was obviously something that JK, and possibly JD, wanted to see from Johansen before they committed to a long term deal (but let's not forget they did offer him one, which their agent rejected).

I'm not sure committing that long for those dollars was appropriate at the time. Johansen is clearly talented, but at the same time he hasn't lived up to his clutch performances like he did last season. I haven't seen that same dominance that he showed last season. Perhaps he's missing Jenner a bit. He'll score more points but that is because he's playing 2 more minutes a night. I was curious to see if my perception was reflected in the stats. Last season he had 5 GWG's, I was shocked to see he has zero so far. Five of his first 14 were game winners. I'll need more research, but my first reaction is that his third periods have been fairly week this year.

I'm hoping he takes another step next season.

We could have drafted Fowler as you know.... over Joey.... just sayin.

 

[CBJx614]

He's tied for 19th among all NHLers in scoring. He's already surpassed his assist total from last year. He's 22.

What in the world do you need to see?

The long term offer submitted was a hastily put together deal which didn't hit the table until negotiations were months old and plenty of bad blood had been spilled.

Hindsight is 20/20, last year he was a 60 pt player.

 

[CBJx614]

HF rates us as 10th for prospects, weak on wing... look it up...

In the end this poster says our goal tending is sub par, offense is subpar and management is subpar.... Our defense is our strength including Wis... If they trade Wis he will be the scape goat!!!

How are we weak on the wing? All of our top prospects are wingers? Dano, Rychel, Milano and Bjorkstand all have top 6 wing potential. And its possible that Wennberg and Jenner become full time wingers.

Not to mention Heatherington and Reilly are looking like top 4 dmen if they pan out. I dont really put much stock into HFs rankings.