Columbus Blue Jackets president of hockey operations/GM Don Waddell: 5 things to know
Don Waddell will head the Blue Jackets hockey operations staff following the club's three-month search to find a replacement for Jarmo Kekalainen.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets' search for GM expands to identify new steward, Don Waddell | Arace
On Tuesday, Waddell was named the Jackets' president of hockey operations and general manager. Waddell, 65, is now in charge of handling a busy and critical Blue Jackets offseason, as former president of hockey operations John Davidson slides into a senior advisory role. After handling the same job with the Carolina Hurricanes for the past six seasons and leading the business side for that franchise since 2014, Waddell carries a wealth of executive experience into his new role.
He’s been a GM for two prior NHL franchises, has experience handling the business aspects of professional sports and now looks to take Kekalainen's rebuild effort to new stages of growth.
So, who is Don Waddell?
Here are five things to know about the Blue Jackets’ new head of hockey operations, GM and alternate governor:
Don Waddell brings extensive resume to Columbus Blue Jackets
The first three Blue Jackets’ GMs had one thing in common.
Doug MacLean, Scott Howson and Kekelainen were all first-time GMs at the NHL level. That’s not the case with Waddell, who’s in his third stint acting in a president/GM capacity with an NHL team — the previous two with the Atlanta Thrashers (1998-2010) and Hurricanes (2018-24).
Waddell started as team president with Carolina in 2014 before adding GM responsibilities four years later. He also has experience as a coach, scout and player at the professional level, including multiple president/GM roles in the minor leagues.
His experience is one of the biggest reasons the Blue Jackets picked him, and Columbus managed to fill its top two hockey executive spots in one swoop. Waddell essentially replaces both Kekalainen and Davidson, and his experience managing business interests for NHL teams meshes with that side of the Blue Jackets' front office.
Columbus Blue Jackets’ president of hockey operations/GM Don Waddell struggled running Atlanta Thrashers
Waddell spent 10 years as the first president/GM of the expansion Atlanta Thrashers before they were sold and moved to Winnipeg. He was hired after spending one year with the Detroit Red Wings as an assistant GM during a Stanley Cup championship in 1997-98.
During Waddell’s decade in Atlanta, the Thrashers went 308-401-66 with 45 ties, including one Southeast Division title and a loss in the first round of that season’s playoffs. It was the Thrashers' lone postseason appearance during his tenure, but the NHL’s expansion draft rules weren’t nearly as friendly to new teams when the Thrashers entered the league in 1999-2000 as they are now, and Waddell oversaw a significant climb in wins.
After winning fewer than 20 games in two of his first three seasons, Atlanta jumped to 31 victories in its fourth year of existence and continued to climb for Waddell's remaining six years there. That included back-to-back seasons with 40-plus wins in 2005-06 and 2006-07 under coach Bob Hartley.
Waddell also acted as interim head coach for the Thrashers in 2002-03 and 2007-08.
Carolina Hurricanes had a lot of success with Don Waddell as president/GM
Ron Francis was the Hurricanes’ GM when Waddell was hired as team president in 2014, and he lasted just four seasons. Waddell added general manager duties in 2018 and Carolina took off under his stewardship. The Hurricanes went 278-130-44 during his six seasons as GM, winning the Metropolitan Division three straight times (2021-23) and qualifying for the playoffs all six years.
The Hurricanes' .664 points percentage under Waddell was second only to the Boston Bruins’ .695 in that span, while the Hurricanes ranked third in the NHL in wins (278) and points (600) — trailing the Bruins (289 wins, 631 points) and Tampa Bay Lightning (283 wins, 601 points).
Playoff success was tougher to gain, as the Hurricanes didn’t advance past two trips to the Eastern Conference final and lost in the second round three times, including this season to the New York Rangers. By comparison, the Blue Jackets have only won one playoff series in their history and they’re one of only two teams that have never advanced to a conference final.
The other is the Seattle Kraken, who joined the NHL as an expansion team three years ago.
Columbus Blue Jackets president of hockey operations/GM Don Waddell isn’t afraid to trade veterans, draft picks or prospects
Waddell has traded veterans with expiring contracts for draft picks and/or prospects. He’s traded prospects for veteran help, and he has often been active at the NHL’s trade deadline.
This season, Waddell signed off on a deal that sent NHL forward Michael Bunting plus three prospects and two conditional draft picks to the Pittsburgh Penguins for left wing Jake Guentzel, a top-line forward with an expiring contract that could make him available July 1 in free agency.
The Hurricanes didn’t make it to the Stanley Cup Final, so neither condition was met on the draft picks, which means Carolina keeps its fifth-round pick this year and sends only its second-round pick to Pittsburgh to complete the deal.
Bunting, meanwhile, has two years left on a deal he signed with Waddell to leave the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the prospects are all forwards: center Vasiliy Ponomarov (2020 second round, 53rd overall), right wing Ville Koivunen (2021 second round, 51st overall) and right wing Cruz Lucius (2022 fourth round, 124th overall).
That’s just one example of Waddell’s trading style.
He’s also had varying levels of success trading prospects and picks for veterans, including offensive defenseman Brent Burns from the San Jose Sharks in 2022. Burns was aging at the time but has become a key component on the Hurricanes’ blue line and top power-play unit.
A deal that didn’t work out for Waddell was a one-for-one swap in July 2021, when he sent forward Warren Foegele, an effective forechecker, to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Ethan Bear. Foegele is a lineup regular with the Oilers, who are playing in the Western Conference final, and Bear played just one full season for Carolina before he was shipped off in another deal.
Waddell and Kekalainen struck multiple trades, including a three-way deal in 2022 that included the Florida Panthers. Max Domi went to Carolina in that trade, which was preceded by a spinoff of Kekalainen's blockbuster with the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2021 NHL draft. Waddell sent defenseman Jake Bean to Columbus for a second-round pick the Blue Jackets gained from Chicago.
Kekalainen left the Blue Jackets' cupboard filled with highly regarded prospects, draft picks and valuable NHL talent that Waddell could now use in trades to bolster the Columbus lineup.
Columbus Blue Jackets president of hockey operations/GM Don Waddell played one game in the NHL
Waddell is from Detroit and played four years at Northern Michigan University as an undersized defenseman with a left-handed shot. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the seventh round of the 1978 draft (111th overall) and spent eight seasons playing professionally before starting his coaching and executive career in the mid-1980s at the minor league level.
As a player, Waddell made his NHL debut for the Kings on Jan. 28, 1981, which was also the only game he played at that level. Waddell didn’t record a shot and finished with a –1 plus/minus for the Kings, who lost 6-2 to the New York Rangers.
Marcel Dionne, a hall-of-fame forward, was one of his teammates, and hall-of-fame defenseman Larry Murphy was another. Don Maloney, now the Calgary Flames’ president of hockey operations and former GM of the New York Islanders and Arizona Coyotes, played for the Rangers. His brother, Dave Maloney, notched two points on a goal and assist.
More: 5 key things for the Columbus Blue Jackets' next GM to do this offseason
Waddell is one of 386 skaters in NHL history to have played only one game, which is akin to baseball’s Archibald Wright “Moonlight” Graham playing in just one major league game for the New York Giants in 1905. Graham played three more seasons professionally in the minors before becoming a beloved doctor in Minnesota who practiced for 50 years.
Waddell stayed with his sport, building an impressive NHL executive career that has led him to Columbus.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 5 things to know about Columbus Blue Jackets' Don Waddell
