COLUMBUS, Ohio — A collection of notes, insights, ruminations and did-you-knows gathered throughout the week that was for the Columbus Blue Jackets:

Item No. 1: Farewell, Jarmo

It pained Blue Jackets president of hockey operations John Davidson to fire GM Jarmo Kekäläinen this week, not just because the two have been good friends for more than 20 years, but because he feels as if Kekäläinen is well-suited to be a GM in the NHL.

Davidson, though, concluded that the Blue Jackets had reached a point under Kekäläinen where a new voice and new perspective were needed at the top. The decision to fire Kekäläinen was made two days after his 11th anniversary with the club.

Here are 11 thoughts — one for each year — on Kekäläinen’s legacy, his firing and his future:

1. A good run

It wasn’t good enough, obviously. Kekäläinen’s stated goal was to win the Stanley Cup with the Blue Jackets, and they only once made it to the second round of the playoffs, losing to Boston in 2019.

But Kekäläinen’s tenure in Columbus was not without some success. They made the playoffs five times under his watch, including four straight berths from 2017-20. The 2019 first-round sweep of Tampa Bay stands as the high-water mark for the organization.

Lasting 11 years in an NHL GM’s chair is an achievement in its own right. He was the third-longest tenured GM in the league (behind St. Louis’ Doug Armstrong and Winnipeg’s Kevin Cheveldayoff) when he was fired.

2. On good terms

Davidson said Kekäläinen left him and the other remaining hockey operations staffer with all of his notes from trade talks and other conversations with rival GMs. That should be proof enough, but there are other signs that Kekäläinen left the organization on good terms.

In fact, with one year remaining on his contract, Kekäläinen may yet continue to work in some capacity for the Blue Jackets until such time that he joins another NHL front office.

In a text exchange with The Athletic, Kekäläinen said he had “zero bitterness” toward the Blue Jackets, including Davidson.

On Saturday, while the Blue Jackets played in San Jose, Kekäläinen watched AHL Cleveland’s game vs. the Chicago Wolves. Once a scout, always a scout.

3. Stick with it

Kekäläinen, 57, likely won’t have any trouble landing another NHL job. Will he get another shot to be GM? That’s a better question.

Expect Kekäläinen to take a breather, but he won’t be out of the game long.

In fact, we’re told he’s already planning to scout the IIHF World U18 Championship (April 14-20 in Denmark) and the IIHF World Championship (May 10-26 in Czechia) plus take trips to see some of the top prospects in this year’s draft.

Kekäläinen has probably already heard from several of his colleagues around the league. For any of them to interview him for openings, they’d need the Blue Jackets’ permission as long as he’s under contract. They won’t stand in his way, obviously.

4. Odd timing

Once the Blue Jackets’ 10-day break at midseason for their bye week and the NHL All-Star Game passed, Kekäläinen must have thought he was in the clear through the end of the season. The timing of his dismissal was surprising, to say the least.

It wouldn’t have been a surprise after the Mike Babcock debacle before the start of training camp. The nine-game losing streak in November would have made sense.

But once the Blue Jackets started up on the other side of the break, you wondered if Kekäläinen was safe until the end of the season. As it stands, he was fired three weeks and one day before the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline, once again raising the question: when is the best time to fire a GM?

To hear club president Mike Priest explain it, the ownership group had begun to lose faith in Kekäläinen’s ability to see the club out of its current funk. So it didn’t make much sense to let him navigate through the next trade deadline.

5. Babcock debacle

The decision to hire Babcock was a major risk, and it backfired tremendously. Babcock stepped down four days before training camp, when it was revealed that he’d scrolled through the cellphones of young players, invading their privacy, in pre-camp meetings.

That was probably the beginning of the end for Kekäläinen. Majority owner John P. McConnell, who prefers to exist out of the spotlight, stepped forward with a tersely worded statement that put Kekäläinen and Davidson on notice.

At the very least, it was probably that gross miscalculation that first prompted McConnell to start considering life after Kekäläinen. And once that seed is planted…

6. Moves blocked?

There has been speculation that Kekäläinen was fired when it became apparent that his ideas for digging out the Blue Jackets no longer aligned with ownership’s ideas, or perhaps the ideas of others within the hockey operations department.

The Blue Jackets had extensive talks earlier this season with the Calgary Flames regarding center Elias Lindholm before Lindholm was traded to Vancouver. There has also been extensive trade interest in Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner, who ownership considered almost untouchable.

Is this where Kekäläinen’s vision and ownership finally clashed? We’re told that was not an issue, actually.

The Blue Jackets strongly considered trading for Lindholm, even though it would have cost them young players and picks. Lindholm has a history of working with Gaudreau, and he’s an excellent two-way center.

But the cost of acquiring Lindholm, and the price of signing him to a new contract after the trade, was considered a little rich, especially with big-ticket players like Gaudreau, Patrik Laine, Zach Werenski, etc., already on the payroll.

7. Biggest regret

Kekäläinen’s best work during his tenure in Columbus was his trades and his draft picks. Not all of them worked out, of course. Such is life in the GM’s chair. But those were his strengths.

As for his biggest regret? He’s not willing to have these conversations publicly yet — hopefully someday, right? — but we’d guess that it was the handling of young center Pierre-Luc Dubois, who requested a trade before the 2020-21 season.

Dubois made it five games into the season before he started intentionally dogging it during shifts, hoping to force Kekäläinen’s hand. It worked. The Blue Jackets rushed to trade Dubois, and quickly landed on a deal with Winnipeg for Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic.

If Kekäläinen had it to do over again, we’re guessing he’d handle it differently, by not allowing Dubois to dictate the timing of the deal. He would tell Dubois to sit in the press box, watch a few games, and let Kekäläinen, his coaches and his teammates know when he’s ready to play again.

Dubois could have benefitted from that, too. He asked out of Winnipeg, too, and is currently struggling after signing a mongo deal with the Los Angeles Kings.

8. Leadership void

Kekäläinen traded captain Nick Foligno and veteran David Savard at the 2021 trade deadline. A month later, it was announced that coach John Tortorella and the Jackets were parting ways. Then, a few months later, veterans Seth Jones and Cam Atkinson were traded.

Those were talented players, to be sure, but they were also the club’s leaders, including — and especially — Tortorella. The franchise held it together the following season, hovering around .500, but the floor has given out since then.

Kekäläinen refused to call it a “rebuild,” but that’s exactly what it was. Jenner and Werenski instantly became the club’s leaders, but it prompted a seismic shift in the dressing room that’s taken a long time to fix. That process is still in the works.

9. Going for it

Kekäläinen’s big moment was the 2019 trade deadline. Not only did he decide to hang on to forward Artemi Panarin and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky — both had expiring contracts and plans to sign elsewhere — but he made bold moves for Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel and others.

It was the only time the Blue Jackets have really “gone for it” at the trade deadline, but the level of Kekäläinen’s aggressiveness was shocking even to those who agreed with him. (The Jackets were not among the East’s top eight clubs when he made the moves, and they qualified as the No. 8 seed.)

Was it worth it? Many Blue Jackets fans would say yes, based purely on the historic first-round sweep of the Lightning and the joy that brought the city.

Others would argue that losing in the second round, and losing Panarin and Bobrovsky for nothing as free agents, was too high a price to pay by Kekäläinen.

10. Who could say no?

The Blue Jackets had “player retention” issues under Kekäläinen. Panarin had a lifelong dream to play for the New York Rangers. Bobrovsky wanted to be the NHL’s highest-paid goaltender. Jones, after stints in Nashville and Columbus, wanted to play in a big market.

There’s not much Kekäläinen could have done to change their minds — they offered Panarin $12 million per season! — but a reputation was forged that Columbus was a highway exit for top players, not the destination.

By the summer of 2022, the Jackets had fully embraced a rebuild … and that’s when Johnny Gaudreau became available via free agency in a way the organization never expected.

In the spirit of a true rebuild, the Jackets could have justified telling Gaudreau “thanks, but no thanks,” that they weren’t ready for a grade-A talent (and contract) and that juncture.

But signing Gaudreau gave the Blue Jackets an opportunity to dispel the notion that top players don’t want to be in Columbus. Here was the most sought-after free agent flirting with them, not the other way around. They were actually suspicious at first that Gaudreau was using the Jackets to get a better deal out of Philadelphia or New Jersey.

They literally couldn’t say no. And the rebuild, retool, revamp, re … what the hell do you call this? … has been a muddled message ever since.

11. Stocking the pond

Kekäläinen was hired into a pretty good situation in February 2013. Previous GM Scott Howson lost his way with a few bad trades (Jeff Carter) and bad draft picks (Nikita Filatov), but he made big-time trades to acquire Bobrovsky and Foligno and others.

So it will be for the next Blue Jackets GM. The roster that Kekäläinen leaves behind had some serious flaws, but it’s not without talent, especially young talent.

It says here that Kekäläinen’s legacy with the Blue Jackets will take on a different shine in the coming seasons, thanks to the surge of talent that’s in Columbus already and a batch of players on the way. Adam Fantilli, Yegor Chinakhov, Kirill Marchenko, Dmitry Voronkov, Kent Johnson, and Cole Sillinger are here. Denton Mateychuk, Gavin Brindley, Jordan Dumais, James Malatesta and others are on the way.

The next GM’s challenge will be keeping the correct players in Columbus, making a series of smart, bold trades, and letting this grow in the healthy way. But the cupboards are not bare, which is why Davidson and his staff will have so many candidates to sift through in the coming weeks.

Item No. 2: Outdoor official

The NHL made it official late Saturday: As reported on Wednesday, an outdoor game is finally coming to Columbus, with a March 1, 2025, Stadium Series matchup between the Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings in Ohio Stadium.

“The hockey side of the organization will have a lot to do with it, but it was the business side of the Blue Jackets who worked for a long, long time on this,” Davidson told Bally’s Sports Ohio before Saturday’s game. “It’s going to be a very special time for us.

“It’s going to be an event. If there’s one thing Columbus can do, it’s throw a party. Well, here it comes.”

The NHL has staged so many of these games in recent seasons that the novelty has begun to wear off for some fans. But the visuals of an outdoor rink in venerable Ohio Stadium — one of the last truly legendary buildings for the NHL to reach — should be special.

IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING!!

We’re taking it outdoors for the first time ever.
Bringing the BOOM to The Shoe!

3.1.25 | Ohio Stadium

Experience history. https://t.co/af2isQM72a#StadiumSeries | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/B3Ol4XJlKy

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 18, 2024

Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov has played in three outdoor games with the Philadelphia Flyers. Johnny Gaudreau played in two with the Calgary Flames, Sean Kuraly played in two with the Boston Bruins and Patrik Laine played in two with Winnipeg. Jack Roslovic played in one outdoor game with Winnipeg.

“It’s exciting,” Gaudreau said. “I’ve gotten to play in a few of them, and it’s an exciting time. You get bring a bunch of family and friends and have them come watch you play outdoors. It’s special, and I think the guys are really excited for it.

“I’ve only had the chance to see one (college football) game there (in Ohio Stadium). It was packed. 100,000 people, plus. That’s a lot of people watching you play a game. The guys are going to be excited. It’s gonna be a real fun evening.”

Item No. 4: Snacks

• Davidson and assistant general manager Josh Flynn traveled with the club to California on Thursday, hours after Kekäläinen’s firing was made public. The Jackets’ other assistant GM, Basil McRae, was expected to join the trip in Los Angeles on Sunday. Davidson said Kekäläinen took good notes and turned all the information over on his way out the door, so they plan to go club by club through the NHL and assess needs and wants heading into the March 8 NHL trade deadline.

“We’re going to be OK,” Davidson told Bally’s Sports Ohio. “I’ve already received a number of emails and phone calls and texts from the folks running clubs across the league. We just kinda have to grind it out. We know what we’re planning, what we’d like to do … can we do it? We’ll see. You always get the curveballs, too, just out of the blue, and we’ll have to deal with it. And while that goes on we’ll be doing (the GM) search. We’re going to turn over every rock and take a hard look at everybody who either calls us or we reach out to. That’s going to be a real serious search.”

• Davidson went a step further than Kekäläinen ever would regarding the possibility of trading Jenner by March 8. In an interview Friday with Jeff Marek on Sportsnet 590 in Toronto, Davidson was asked how often teams call about Jenner. “Quite often,” Davidson said. “I’m being very transparent. We get a lot of calls on Boone, but Boone’s not going anywhere, and Boone doesn’t want to go anywhere.“

• Jenner and Zach Werenski were probably the two players in the dressing room with the closest relationship with Kekäläinen, and both players said they exchanged texts with Kekäläinen after his firing was announced on Thursday. “We’ve been through a lot,” Jenner said. “Eleven years together. We traded some (text) messages back and forth. I’m sure we’ll get together at some point. You think about the ups and downs that we’ve been through. For me, you think about the good memories and you’re thankful for everything he’s done for me personally and for the team and the city. He’s a true professional who did everything he could for our team. It was tough sharing those messages, but I try to think about the good times.”

• This week’s Sunday Gathering trivia question: Several players have had at least two separate stints with the Blue Jackets, including Gavin Bayreuther, Marko Dano, Aaron Johnson, Mark Letestu, Geoff Sanderson, Jack Skille, Jakub Voracek and Derrick Walser. But only one player has had three tours of duty with Columbus. Name him. (We’re looking for players who left the organization via trade, waiver claim, expansion draft, or free agency and later returned, not just call-ups from the minor leagues.)

• The Blue Jackets, for all of their turbulence through the years, have had only three GMs. Kekäläinen was in charge for 869 regular-season games, going 410-362-97, a .528 points percentage. The other two: Scott Howson (423 games, 174-190-59, .481) and Doug MacLean (492 games, 172-258-62, .413).

• Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent confirmed this week what Kekäläinen has always insisted was true, that he evaluated players constantly and had strong opinions based on his 30-plus years in the game … but he let the coaches pick lineups, allocate ice time, etc. The next GM may have an issue with what happened in Ottawa last Tuesday: Jenner played a career-high 26:42 in a regulation loss for a club that’s 18 points out of the playoffs and has several young centers on the roster — Cole Sillinger (14:31) and Dmitry Voronkov (11:55) — who are craving ice time and experience. Keep in mind, also, that Jenner has been out of the lineup with back injuries multiple times throughout his NHL career, including at least two seasons that ended prematurely.

• Jenner’s ice time vs. Ottawa was the fourth-most ever (and the highest in more than 20 years!) for a Blue Jackets forward in a game that ended in regulation. The top three ice times were all turned in by Ray Whitney, including a franchise-record 27:19 vs. Arizona in Nationwide Arena on Oct. 14, 2002.

• It wasn’t much better on Saturday in San Jose: Jenner played 22:46, more than any Jackets player other than Werenski. It was great to see Jenner score the game-winning goal, sure, but why tempt fate? He’s averaging 19:35 per game this season, tops among Columbus forwards. He’s up to 20:32 per game since he returned from a broken jaw.

• Vincent put the “Russian line” back together for Saturday’s game in San Jose, reuniting Voronkov between wingers Yegor Chinakhov and Kirill Marchenko for the first time since Jan. 4. What will keep them together? A more direct approach.

Here’s Vincent: “When you have the puck, you want to keep the puck, and sometimes (east-west plays) are your only option. When you start forcing it … that was the problem. We tried to play a game that was slowing us down. If it works, it’s not going to work for a long period of time, just because of the way the game is being played in the NHL. Maybe in other leagues, maybe in Europe. Moving, playing north-south, is what we promote, and that’s what they were doing early on to get together. But then they were slowing down and the numbers were showing that they were not productive, either offensively or defensively.

“We’re going to put them (back) together, give them a chance again. I believe they can work really well together. There’s potential there to see a line that can be effective for a long period of time. But we have to play a style that’s successful in the NHL, not in other leagues.”

On Saturday in San Jose, the line created goals from Voronkov and Marchenko, and two assists by Chinakhov. All three players had plus-2 ratings, and Voronkov won 10 of 17 faceoffs.

• Trivia answer: Defenseman Jamie Pushor played with the Blue Jackets three different times. He was selected by Columbus in the 2000 expansion draft and traded to Pittsburgh for a fourth-round draft pick on March 15, 2002. He signed with Columbus as a free agent on Dec. 10, 2003, then was traded to the New York Rangers on Jan. 23, 2004. He signed with the Blue Jackets as a free agent on Oct. 5, 2005.

(Photo of Jarmo Kekäläinen at the 2023 NHL Draft: Danny Murphy / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)