Sean Kuraly knows what’s at stake for the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2024-25. He understands that under new leadership, everyone is under evaluation.
The new season takes on even greater importance for Kuraly as it marks the last season under his current contract. He signed a 4-year, $10 million contract on July 28, 2021.
Kuraly has endured three tough seasons for the team. Dean Evason will be his fourth head coach since joining the Blue Jackets (Brad Larsen, Mike Babcock and Pascal Vincent.) At age 31, Kuraly knows with each new passing season, chances to win the Stanley Cup dwindle along with that.
After helping build the 13th Blue Jackets’ playground at Ward YMCA Friday, Kuraly stopped by for an exclusive 1-on-1 interview. While cooling off under the pavilion, we discussed several things including his offseason, thoughts on the new leadership and how much thought he’s put into his future.
Here is our conversation.
Sean Kuraly Q&A
THW: Sean, thanks for doing this. How’s the summer been for you?
Kuraly: “It’s been good, obviously a long summer, so by this time you’re ready to get back at it and excited to get back at it. It was good though. It was relaxing prior to training. Excited to be back in Columbus. I’ve mostly been here, but excited to have all the new additions here and get everybody together and see what that group looks like up close.”
THW: What did you want to prioritize this offseason for yourself?
Kuraly: “As you start to get older, I think the number one thing it seems like in this league is speed. You see guys that find their way out of the league. It’s usually a step a little slow. For me it’s just try and get faster. You’re getting older and you can only do so much. But if you can maintain or get a little bit faster, I think you’re going to be in good shape. It’s fine tuning and building a good engine and an engine big enough to make it through a season. And then as things get closer, now it’s fine tuning and making little tweaks but you got to have the engine size, which to me is enough speed to make it through an NHL season.”
THW: How closely did you pay attention to all the moves from the general manager to the new head coach?
Kuraly: “Really closely. You can say you get away. I was in Europe for a bit early in the summer taking time off. You still get those (notifications) on your phone and you can’t help (but pay attention.) This is our lives, such a big part of our lives. Any time those things happen, it’s big news. It’s big news for us. You hear from other people about those decisions. By all accounts, it sounds like we’re headed in the right direction.”
THW: I’ve already talked with Don Waddell and Dean Evason. They said that they’ve talked to most of you. What were your impressions of talking to them?
Kuraly: “I have talked to both of them and I think first impressions of Don is it’s no nonsense. He’s here and he’s trying to get as much information as he can and he’s making decisions based off that information. And the rest of us, I think we’re going to be evaluated and everyone’s going be evaluated as they should. It’s a big evaluation year. I think there’s a lot up in the air going into this season about what the future’s going to look like. But I think from my perspective, I think Don is here to make decisions and he’s shown to make some hard decisions already. I think we’re excited about that. We’re excited about this group we have moving forward.”
Kuraly’s Future
THW: You alluded to it already. You said your fourth season, which means it’s your last one under the current contract. Have you put a lot of thought into what the future might hold yet?
Kuraly: “Well Mark, it definitely crosses your mind. I think you’d be lying if it didn’t. For me it’s just try and help this team as much as I possibly can. You hope we get headed in a good direction and I make sense for a team like this. I think that’s the goal. Sometimes it doesn’t all have to do with how a player does if he’s not on a team. This is my hometown. I love being here. I want to be a part of a solution like most of the guys in that locker room. You think about it and it’s there. I don’t think you need to hide from it. You try and play good hockey. You try and be a good teammate and you try to be a good person in the locker room. We’ve got a lot of young guys and I was lucky to grow up in a locker room where there was a ton of support and a ton of help from older guys. I think that it’s starting to be my time to pass it forward. I think it’s a fun part of it too. It’s not just a one-way street.”
THW: Along those lines then, how important is it to have guys like Sean Monahan and Jack Johnson come into the locker room? Guys that have been in the league for a long time and know what it’s like?
Kuraly: “Yeah, two guys that have experience. Sean has played a lot with Johnny (Gaudreau) and been teammates with Johnny. They seem like they’ll be comfortable together. And like I’ve said about these additions by all accounts, you just hear only good things. We’re excited about Sean. We’re excited about Jack. Jack’s obviously come from a team where he knows what it looks like to win a Stanley Cup and he’s been in Columbus so he can help us with that. He’s been around the block. He’s experienced. We’ve got two experienced guys that I think our locker room and especially our leadership group will lean upon to help. And we’re going to need everybody pulling the rope in the same direction. It’s just not going to be enough for a few guys to do it. Everyone’s going to be expected to help. Everyone’s going to be expected on a daily and nightly basis to help us win games. And, and we’re going to need to do it by committee if you look at our group.”
Why 2024-25 Can Be Different
THW: The center depth and the job Waddell has been able to do to address that with Monahan, Adam Fantilli, Cole Sillinger, yourself, Boone Jenner, Dmitri Voronkov. That’s good depth.. How important is that factor going to be going into 2024-25 for the Blue Jackets?
Kuraly: “Well, it’s huge. I mean, it’s deep on paper and now it’s on the players to make sure it’s deep on the ice. We’ve got some work to do and management can put as much as they want into everything. But we need to execute. We’re at a time where we’ve got pieces and now we’re expected to take the next step. The whole group of centers is expected to take the next step. We’ve got what we need in terms of tools. For better or for worse, there’s a good amount of us. There’s competition and if you want to play center, you don’t want to be the one that’s left out.”
THW: Why can this season be different for the Columbus Blue Jackets?
Kuraly: “Well first, it is going to need to be different. There’s no question about that. And talking to some of our guys and how we move forward this season, I think there’s some clear things and clear areas that we can address. They’re being addressed all summer. I think that’s a good thing. We know where we were falling short. It’d be a different thing if you’re wondering, well, why were we bad last year? I think it was pretty clear from on ice, off the on ice, the defensive zone. We’re giving up too many goals. It’s pretty evident where we fell short. I think when the reason that you fell short was so obvious, at least you know where to start. I think we know where to start when we’ve got a ton of work to do. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a lot of work. But I think if we get everyone pulling in the right direction, I think we’ll be good shape.”