Story by
Why Columbus Blue Jackets fired GM Jarmo Kekalainen: 'Results haven't been good enough'
- Story by
- Why Columbus Blue Jackets fired GM Jarmo Kekalainen: 'Results haven't been good enough'
Blue Jackets president of hockey operations John Davidson said firing general manager Jarmo Kekalainen was emotional for him. He called Kekalainen, the Blue Jackets longest-tenured general manager until his dismissal Thursday after 11 years in the role, a friend.
That does not mean firing Kekalainen was a difficult decision for the organization to make.
Advertisement
"Unfortunately as a team, our results haven't been good enough," Davidson said. "We all, starting with myself as head of hockey operations, share responsibility for that. While our team is improving and we have some very talented players and prospects, it became apparent that we needed a new voice to lead us forward as we turn the page."
Feb 15, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets president John Davidson speaks during a press conference after firing general manager Jarmo Kekalainen at Nationwide Arena.
Through 52 games, the Blue Jackets sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 16-26-10 record. The team is on pace for its fourth-straight losing season, last making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2019-20.
And after the Blue Jackets' back-to-back losses to the Tampa Bay Lighting and the Ottawa Senators , Davidson said the change had to be made. He informed Kekalainen on Wednesday before telling the players and coaching staff Thursday.
Advertisement
"It just felt now is the time," Davidson said. "We have a lot ahead of us. We've had an up and down, sometimes turbulent season. I just think that going forward, now is the time to turn that page and go forward with all of the decisions that we have to make that are ahead of us."
Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner also addressed Kekalainen's dismissal at a press conference following the team's practice, which was held as Davidson and team president Mike Priest met with reporters about the Kekalainen decision.
"Jarmo drafted, traded (and) signed everyone in that room," Jenner said. "We're all in there. We take responsibility for it, too, where we are as a team."
Advertisement
According to Davidson, there is no set timetable to hire a new GM, but the organization will start by focusing on external candidates. Until a hire is made, all hockey-related decisions, including those made leading into the trade deadline March 8, will be handled by Davidson and his hockey operations staff ― including assistant GMs Josh Flynn and Basil McRae.
Feb 15, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent speaks during a press conference after general manager Jarmo Kekalainen was fired at Nationwide Arena.
That means Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent will now be reporting to Davidson.
"When you start the season, the 32 teams, if you ask them the question 'What's your goal this year?' (They'll answer) make the playoffs," Vincent said. "It seems like we won't. What are we learning from that? And how are we growing as a team from that, so next year when we start the season, we're a little bit further ahead."
Advertisement
Columbus Blue Jackets begin 'process' of replacing former GM Jarmo Kekalainen
Feb 15, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets captains, from left, Sean Kuraly, Erik Gudbranson, Boone Jenner and Zach Werenski speak during a press conference after general manager Jarmo Kekalainen was fired at Nationwide Arena.
Davidson told Blue Jackets players and coaches that Kekalainen's departure marked the start of a "process" to become a better and more consistent team. It's a process that Davison said the Blue Jackets have been through before, although it led to just one playoff series victory among five playoff appearances during Kekalainen's tenure.
That postseason triumph was in 2019, when Kekalainen opted to "go all in," at the trade deadline by adding four players through trades, including forwards Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel from the Ottawa Senators . Duchene played a big role in the Blue Jackets pulling off a stunning sweep of the Presidents' Trophy winning Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, but Dzingel was a bust as a rental option.
Advertisement
Neither were re-signed and the Blue Jackets also lost to free agency two of their top players in goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and left wing Artemi Panarin — whom Kekalainen had acquired two years earlier in a blockbuster trade with the Chicago Blackhawks . The Jackets haven't fully replaced what they lost with either, which is a big reason Kekalainen felt forced to undergo the current retooling effort that ultimately cost him his job.
"We were close," Davidson said. "Now we're in a different situation, where we're waiting for some players to pop. It's going to be up to the new general manager to come in and assess what we need, how we need and how he's going to do it."
Vincent is not waiting around to start the process.
"We're getting paid to play 82 games," he said. "And we're going to play 82 games."
Advertisement
Columbus has 30 games remaining, and Vincent intends to use those to build up the culture, accountability and eventually "playoff style" of his team moving forward. Defenseman Erik Gudbranson said the team is on board with that plan.
"You want to be a part of guys getting extensions and making those people who believe in you look good," Gudbranson said. "For us, there's a process of bringing in whoever's coming in next. We've got to come out and just do our jobs, really, and just take it as basic as that ... take care of what we have in front of us."
( Dispatch Blue Jackets beat writer Brian Hedger contributed to this report )
Get more Columbus Blue Jackets talk on the Cannon Fodder podcast
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Why Columbus Blue Jackets fired GM Jarmo Kekalainen
