New Columbus Blue Jackets President and General Manager Don Waddell held his predraft media availability at Nationwide Arena on Thursday morning. He spoke for almost 30 minutes on a wide variety of topics.
We’re going to break this into two parts. In Part 1, we’ll discuss what Waddell had to say about the dismissal of Pascal Vincent as head coach, what he is looking for in the next head coach and the latest on Patrik Laine. In Part 2, we’ll turn to the NHL Draft, Free Agency, the impact of the Cleveland Monsters and more focused on the future.
Waddell on Vincent Firing
Thursday was the first time Waddell spoke to the media since firing coach Vincent. He wanted to take his time before making any kind of decision. But after a couple of weeks, he felt it was best to move on.
“I wanted to make sure I did my due diligence as the general manager to make sure that we made the right decision about moving forward,” Waddell said. “It took a couple of weeks obviously. I met with him multiple times and at the end of the day, it was my decision that it felt that we need to go in a different direction. I’ve said pretty publicly that we’ve been through some younger coaches for different reasons. And I think right now we need to look at an experienced coach to come in here.”
When pressed for exact reasons why, Waddell wouldn’t comment on the specifics. But he did say that hockey is a results oriented business and left it at that.
The key part to what Waddell said was the need to hire an experienced coach. The Blue Jackets felt they needed to hire an experienced manager. Now that manager feels an experienced coach is needed. Both Vincent and Brad Larsen were first time NHL head coaches when they were hired. It’s fair to wonder how the dynamic was in the locker room under their leadership. As for the latest on the search…
Head Coaching Search
Waddell confirmed he has a list of 12 names that are being considered for the Blue Jackets’ head coaching opening. However the team will not interview all 12 names.
Waddell did outline some of his thought process when it comes to this coaching search. There’s not a real rush to things. While they want to get someone as soon as possible, he’s more focused on getting the hire right.
“We’re the only team in the NHL looking for a head coach,” Waddell said. “The guys that are available today are gonna be available tomorrow. So a group of us are talking to general managers, players. We’re gonna do our due diligence very thoroughly. And once we get to a point that we’re all comfortable of interviewing then we’ll start interviewing whether that be three or four people at the end.”
“But right now, we got a little window here to make sure we get this right and the best way to get it right is make sure we unturn every rock that we possibly can about anybody that’s available that would want to coach this team.”
Waddell was asked about Joel Quenneville. However he deferred to the league as he is still ineligible to coach until he is reinstated. Also Bob Hartley did reach out but Waddell hasn’t spoken to him yet.
This has the makings of being not too long a process but not a quick one either. With the need of getting this right at the top, this could go past the NHL Draft and into free agency.
Latest on Laine
Patrik Laine reportedly asked the Blue Jackets for a trade before Waddell came on board. It sounds like there is mutual interest to find a trade.
Waddell gave an update on where things stand and what their preference is. They’re willing to make a hockey deal but will exhaust all options before considering salary retention.
“We’re still working with his agent. He’s still in the program. Once he gets out, we expect any day or sometime soon, teams I’ve talked about, they wanna talk to him. It’s too early to say about money. Our hope is we wouldn’t have to hold money. We want to make a hockey trade if we can and certainly exhaust every opportunity and every team that potentially has interest in it.”
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Until Laine is cleared from the program, he and his camp cannot talk to other teams. Expect some news on this front soon according to Waddell. Then we’ll start to get a better sense of who may be interested. Teams like Utah, Seattle and Chicago can fit the whole contract in. Other teams would potentially need help. This is trending to be a major draft day storyline should he get cleared from the program by then.
Side Dishes
- The Blue Jackets have said over 120,000 inquiries for the Stadium Series have been received to date. Presale information could be available by the end of July.
- Development Camp will go July 2-5 at the Ice Haus. That is when the on-ice portion will take place.
- The Blue Jackets have told the assistant coaches no decisions will be made at this time on their status until a new head coach comes in. Although Waddell didn’t directly address other staff, it sounds as though things are status quo for now.