5 more questions about Columbus Blue Jackets' GM search
SAN JOSE, Calif. — John Davidson arrived Friday at SAP Center nattily attired for his first practice as the Blue Jackets’ stand-in general manager.
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A day earlier, the team’s president of hockey operations was equally all-business. Davidson held court during a lengthy press conference Thursday at Nationwide Arena, where he'd spoken about the reasons Jarmo Kekalainen was fired as GM in his 11th season.
He'd also laid out plans for finding a replacement.
The search has no set timeline. There are no “leaders in the clubhouse” starting out. External candidates will get the earliest attention. Davidson and the remaining hockey operations staff will handle Kekalainen’s responsibilities, including trade talks ahead of the March 8 deadline. Davidson and Mike Priest, the Blue Jackets’ president and CEO, will conduct the GM search jointly, arriving at a decision before getting it approved by majority owner John P. McConnell.
A lot of ground was covered that day, but the Dispatch had a few more things to ask and caught up with Davidson at practice Friday. As sticks clacked and skates slashed across the ice, the Jackets’ top hockey executive expanded a little more about the search for a “new voice” as Blue Jackets GM and how it could affect the future in Columbus.
Here are five questions with Davidson on the search for Kekalainen’s replacement:
How important will experience as an NHL GM be in Columbus Blue Jackets’ GM search?
The easiest way to say it is that experience as an NHL general manager can’t hurt.
Experience is an asset that typically goes over well in job searches, and the only thing that’s different in this case is the type of experience. The new GM doesn’t need “NHL general manager” on his resume to get the job.
“We’re in a position where we have a lot of talent and need to get to the next level,” Davidson said. “Experience is important, but it doesn’t have to mean that you’ve already been a general manager. You could be with a franchise as an assistant general manager and add great experience there working with good people and doing some winning. That’s what I think experience means.”
It could also mean experience gained from somewhere other than an NHL front office, which might be good news for Mark Hunter, GM of the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. Hunter, 61, has already had his name mentioned as a possible candidate by TSN insider Elliotte Friedman, and he's got built-in connections with the Blue Jackets.
Basil McRae, a Blue Jackets assistant GM, is also a part-owner of the Knights and Rick Nash, the Jackets’ director of player development, starred for the Knights before being drafted first overall by Columbus in 2002.
Davidson hasn't identified any candidates, so there's no confirmation that Hunter will even be considered. What we do know is that GM candidates won't be excluded simply because they're not working in the NHL currently.
“I’ve seen very experienced managers come out of junior that have been very good,” Davidson said. “There’s a lot of different areas you can look to, and there’s a lot of different levels of experience that are important and would work.”
Davidson pointed to Kelly McCrimmon as an example.
McCrimmon, a longtime owner/GM of the Western Hockey League's Brandon Wheat Kings, joined the NHL expansion Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 as assistant GM and is now five years into the GM role for a team that won the Stanley Cup last year. Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent also used the Golden Knights this season to illustrate his vision for what style of play he's trying to cultivate in Columbus.
How much importance will be placed on finding a new Columbus Blue Jackets GM who’s helped rebuild an NHL roster around young players?
Examples of what the Blue Jackets are hoping to become are scattered across the league.
The New Jersey Devils went through years of growing pains before putting it together last season. The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup twice after building a powerhouse roster with a “draft and develop” approach. The Colorado Avalanche endured frustrating seasons on their way to winning the Cup in 2022.
Davidson’s former team, the New York Rangers, are another rebuild success — even though he and former Rangers GM Jeff Gorton, now executive vice president of hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens, were fired just one season before it fully came to fruition.
So, does that mean candidates who’ve “been there, done that,” elsewhere in a rebuild get a leg up in the Jackets' GM search?
Maybe.
“If you find somebody who’s been through the same, exact thing and gotten them to the next part of the racetrack, that’s great,” Davidson said. “I can sit right here, right now and say, ‘I’d like to have an individual who has this, this, this and this,’ but try to find it. It’s hard. We have to go through a very detailed process of trying to find that right person who’s going to be here for a long time, and it’s hard to find people. You don’t see many of them changing their jobs (in the NHL) that often.”
Will candidates who don’t fit the typical NHL GM mold be considered for Columbus Blue Jackets’ vacancy?
Women, minorities and others who don’t fit the most common mold of an NHL GM are starting to climb higher up the rungs of management across the league. That means the NHL should be making progress toward getting its first female GM, but it remains a steep climb.
While the Blue Jackets are doing their best to keep interviews private, Davidson said candidates of all backgrounds will be considered if they impress he and Priest enough to warrant a call or visit.
“Male, female, I don’t care what they are or where they’re from as long as we think that person can do the job,” Davidson said. “That’s the only attitude to have. It’s the right way to think.”
Carolina Hurricanes assistant GM Eric Tulsky, for example, had no hockey background before his advanced mathematical mind paved a path to an NHL team’s executive suite a decade ago. Now, his name is usually listed as an option for open GM roles. There are also five female assistant GMs in the NHL plus a growing list of minorities working in front office roles.
“You don’t have to follow the cookie cutter avenue unless you find the exact right person,” Davidson said. “There’s nothing that says, ‘We’re going to do it this way.’ We’re going to do what’s right to get us to the next level.”
Davidson, it should be noted, went outside the box 11 years ago while hiring Kekalainen as the NHL's first European-born GM.
How much motivation does John Davidson have left as Columbus Blue Jackets president of hockey operations?
Is Davidson, who's 70, planning to retire?
That’s a question being asked more because of the Jackets’ turbulent season, but Davidson — who's recovered from a difficult back surgery ― doesn’t seem like a guy who's playing out the string. Things could change, but Davidson said he's re-energized and committed to getting the Blue Jackets into the discussion of the NHL’s top young teams.
“I’m driven to be part of the solution and make us win,” he said. “If ownership feels different, they’ll let me know. From my end, I just went through 2-1/2 months of (pain). (My doctor) in Columbus was great. He’s got me back on my feet, so I have a lot of energy right now. It wasn’t good, but I really want to be a part of the solution. I think I can help. If somebody up above me feels different, then we’ll take a different track, but I’m committed to Columbus. I’m committed to the Blue Jackets. I love it there.”
How does first-year NHL coach Pascal Vincent fit into Columbus Blue Jackets’ GM search?
Vincent interviewed with multiple teams last summer but stuck with the Blue Jackets for what was supposed to be the final year of his contract as associate coach.
He was working with Mike Babcock, preparing for this season, but that plan unraveled on the Blue Jackets less than a week before camp. Babcock resigned after allegations surfaced that he’d violated some players’ privacy during introductory “player-coach” meetings in the summer, leaving the Blue Jackets scrambling just days before camp.
Vincent’s resume as an NHL assistant and AHL head coach in Winnipeg, along with his two years working with Brad Larsen in Columbus, made him the choice. He was promoted to the head coaching role and signed a two-year contract, which presumably gives him a small measure of job security.
Should the Jackets replace him before next season, they'll be paying Vincent and Larsen after forking over whatever it took to get Babcock’s resignation. That’s a lot of dough just to clear the decks for a new GM to replace Vincent with his own immediate coaching hire. Don't rule out that possibility, though.
Davidson chose his wording carefully when asked about the job Vincent's doing, which mirrored how Kekalainen approached the subject during a recent interview before he was fired.
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“He’s an honest man,” Davidson said. “His staff works really hard. You’re seeing good things, especially with the young players, but we’re in a position now where everybody knows they have to keep getting it done here if they can. Keep working, keep driving, because when somebody new comes in, they’ve got the keys. That’s how it works, and everybody knows that.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: John Davidson answers 5 more questions about Blue Jackets' GM search
