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: A coach is coming
The Blue Jackets’ coaching search, which has transfixed the fan base in the middle of the offseason, is heading into its final stages. General manager Don Waddell confirmed to The Athletic that two candidates are coming to Columbus this week for in-person interviews.
It’s believed those two candidates are Dean Evason, former coach of the Minnesota Wild, and Jay Woodcroft, former coach of the Edmonton Oilers. Both Evason and Woodcroft were fired early last season when their clubs got off to slow starts.
“We’re only bringing in two,” Waddell said. “I have a third (candidate) who’s kind of on hold right now, but we have the top two guys that we’d like to bring in in-person.
“This week is an important week for us coming up here. Training camp is essentially the third week in September. Do I want this to go into August? Not a chance. Now, whether we announce something (this) week or if it’s done early the following week … we’ll see how the schedules line up.”
To understand where the Blue Jackets are in the coaching search, it’s important to grasp Waddell’s process.
Waddell and his staff initially highlighted 12 candidates that deserved consideration. Not interviews, necessarily, but consideration. The list was quickly whittled to three names, believed to be Evason, Woodcroft and Todd McLellan, who has coached with San Jose, Edmonton and Los Angeles.
One of those three told The Athletic he’d already had three interviews with the Blue Jackets, one of which lasted nearly three hours. This interview, like all the others to this point, has been via video or phone.
Before Waddell decides to move into the final stages with a candidate, he has an informal but important discussion about what the parameters of a contract would need to look like to attract that candidate.
It’s not yet a negotiation, per se, but a discussion about the framework of a possible deal — the yearly salary, the length of term, which assistant coaches the new coach would want to bring with him, etc.
Congrats to Coach Todd McLellan on picking up his 500th career win as an @NHL head coach!@LAKings | #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/5sM0adP9pD
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) January 2, 2022
It was at this stage of the process that the talks with McLellan, believed to be the Blue Jackets’ first choice, fell apart last week. It’s unclear if the talks stalled between the Jackets and the Kings, who still owe McLellan $5.5 million for this coming season, or if they stalled between the Blue Jackets and McLellan.
A source involved in the process told The Athletic the snag with McLellan was “not just about money.”
The Blue Jackets must already know they are amenable to the contract demands of both Evason and Woodcroft or they wouldn’t be bringing them to town. The challenge may be deciding between the two, and determining if it makes sense to circle back on McLellan, who is most likely the third candidate Waddell referenced as being “kind of on hold right now.”
Waddell had hoped to have a coach in place by now, but more important, he said, is getting the right person hired no matter how long that takes.
The Blue Jackets’ last three coaching hires have lasted a total of three seasons. Brad Larsen, who replaced John Tortorella in 2021-22, made it two seasons before his firing became “absolutely necessary,” according to then-GM Jarmo Kekäläinen.
Then, last summer, the Blue Jackets made a controversial hiring in Mike Babcock, who had been accused in two previous stops of verbal and emotional abuse of players. Babcock didn’t even make it to training camp before he was fired for perusing his players’ private cellphone pictures as a way, he said, to get to know them.
The Jackets then turned to Pascal Vincent, who they’d passed over as coach when Larsen and Babcock got the job, putting him in charge only four days before the start of training camp. Vincent was fired about two weeks into Waddell’s tenure with the club.
“We’ve been thorough, and we have a lot of people involved internally to make sure we really dig in on guys before we move forward,” Waddell said. “I’m not one to bring in five people. That, to me, doesn’t make any sense.
“If it doesn’t go the way we want it to go (this week), there are still people we can bring in. We’d like to get it done as soon as possible, but we have to get the right person, even if that takes a little longer.”
Item No. 2: Nash’s growing role
Waddell confirmed that Rick Nash has taken on a larger role within the organization since Waddell’s hiring, even though Nash remains, for now, the Blue Jackets’ director of player development.
“We haven’t changed his title or done anything like that yet,” Waddell said. “But he has taken on a bigger role, that’s true.”
Late last month in Las Vegas, when the Blue Jackets selected Cayden Lindstrom with the No. 4 pick in the NHL Draft, Waddell sent Nash to the microphone when it was time for Columbus to announce the pick — perhaps a way of making him more visible to the rest of the league.
Nash has spoken openly about his desire to be an NHL GM, and there was some thought across the league that the Blue Jackets might even consider him a candidate this time around after longtime Kekäläinen was fired in February.
That was quickly quashed when the Blue Jackets announced they were looking for somebody with previous NHL experience as a GM or assistant GM. They landed on Waddell, who has worked in NHL front offices for more than 30 seasons, including the last several with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Nash’s time is coming, though. For three seasons now he’s been in charge of the player development program, which is tasked with guiding the club’s draft picks and other young players through their formative seasons before they reach the NHL.
That’s no small task for a franchise like the Blue Jackets that, three seasons ago, committed to rebuilding its roster.
But Nash, who has also done some scouting, has played a significant role in the coaching search, helping to interview candidates and running background checks of a sort. Nash retired as a player after spending the 2017-18 season with Boston.
“Rick is very thorough and very smart,” Waddell said. “He’s still close with a lot of players in the league, guys who played for (the coaching candidates), and so it’s great to get that feedback. Not that that alone is going to sway us one way or another, necessarily, but you can find out things that maybe you want to dig into a little deeper.”
When Waddell says Nash is “very well-spoken,” he means that in a couple of ways. He’s articulate, of course, but he’s also judicious with his words. It was true during his playing career, too.
“Rick doesn’t talk a lot,” Waddell said. “But when he does speak, what he says is going to be informed and it’s going to be important. I think he’s got a bright future in management, I really do.”
It’s all ahead of Nash, whether he wants to be a GM or president of hockey operations. But there’s also no hurry, either. Waddell said he has stressed that to Nash, who turned 40 last month and has a young family here in Columbus.
“I want to put him in the right role at the right time,” Waddell said. “He doesn’t need to be gone all summer and winter looking at players. I don’t know what that role is going to be just yet, but I’m really sensitive to that.
“I’ve told him 100 times to make sure you spend time with your family and your kids, because they grow up way too fast.”
Item No. 3: Jet set
The story started with little fanfare, just a mid-summer transaction when the rest of the hockey world was deep into the offseason.
On July 30, 2021, goaltender Jet Greaves signed a minor-league contract with AHL Cleveland. It was his first pro deal, and though it allowed him to play in both the AHL and ECHL, the depth chart was such in Cleveland that Greaves was targeted for duty with ECHL Kalamazoo.
A few weeks later, he was invited by the Blue Jackets to play for them at the Traverse City prospects tournament, which is how most Blue Jackets fans were introduced to him. Then, after a strong first half of the 2021-22 season, he signed an entry-level deal with the Blue Jackets.
Ever since those early days, Greaves had been on a slow and steady climb toward the NHL. He took another stride forward last week.
Greaves, who had been a restricted free agent, signed a two-year contract with a $813,000 salary-cap hit. He’s still on a two-way contract this coming season, but the second year of his new deal includes a one-way NHL contract for the 2025-26 season.
“I’m excited about it and my family’s excited,” Greaves told The Athletic. “It’s moments like this that we’re extremely grateful for, and you never take them for granted. But, at the same time, nothing really changes for me in the way I approach the summer or how I handle myself.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve loved being part of this organization. They’ve given me an opportunity and they’ve shown belief in me throughout. This is another example of that.”
Greaves played nine games with the Blue Jackets last season when injuries struck Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov. He also played 46 regular-season games and 13 playoff games with AHL Cleveland, helping it reach the AHL Eastern Conference Finals before losing to eventual champion Hershey.
In all, Greaves played 66 games, more than any other goaltender in the organization. He had a .926 save percentage in the postseason.
“There’s so much that goes into it,” Greaves said. “The guys did a really good job in front of me, boxing out and blocking shots and making it pretty clean for me. I just really enjoyed being part of that situation, the high-pressure situations. That’s why you play.”
Greaves will come to Columbus in early September ahead of training camp, he said. He’ll open camp as the organization’s No. 3 behind Merzlikins and Tarasov, but something will need to give before next season. The Jackets won’t likely have three goalies on one-way NHL deals.
“I’m just trying to get something out of every day,” Greaves said. “If I keep getting better and we keep winning hockey games, the rest is going to take care of itself. That’s been my approach so far.”
Item No. 4: Snacks
• With the Greaves signing, winger Kirill Marchenko is the club’s last remaining RFA who has filed for arbitration. The Blue Jackets have discussed both long-term and short-term deals with Marchenko, including a conversation that Waddell expected to have with Marchenko’s agent, Dan Milstein, on Saturday. Milstein and Marchenko are pushing for a longer deal, and that’s prompted Waddell to do some deep-digging on the player before he considers it. Waddell, after all, has only been on the job for two months. “I’m trying to get a good feel from everybody who’s been here,” Waddell said. “Some guys you want to be careful about going long-term, right?” What’s his digging revealed so far? “I haven’t heard too many negatives, that’s for sure,” Waddell chuckled.
• Marchenko’s arbitration hearing, should it get to that point, is scheduled for Aug. 4. Needless to say, Waddell would like to have a deal in place before then. The Blue Jackets have never gone through arbitration with a player.
• Earlier last week, the Blue Jackets signed defenseman Jake Christiansen to a one-year, two-way contract that will pay him a league-minimum $775,000 in the NHL and $350,000 in the AHL. The contract guarantees a minimum salary of $400,000. With three players cleared out from above him on the depth chart — Adam Boqvist, Jake Bean and Nick Blankenburg — Christiansen may have his best chance yet at significant NHL playing time in 2024-25. He’s played 44 games in Columbus over the past three seasons.
• This week’s Sunday Gathering trivia question: Defenseman Jack Johnson, who signed with the Blue Jackets as a free agent earlier this month, will turn 38 years old on Jan. 13, 2025, making him the oldest player in the dressing room. Who is the oldest player to ever dress in a game with the Jackets?
• The Jackets have two other RFAs, but neither Cole Sillinger nor Kent Johnson have arbitration rights, so Waddell was able to put those talks on the backburner until this past week. Talks are underway with Sillinger’s agent, Craig Oster, and Johnson’s agent, Pat Brisson.
• Waddell is still hopeful it’s not too late to find a trade partner for Patrik Laine, who asked the club for a change of scenery after a difficult last season in Columbus. Laine is still in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. While the Jackets can trade him while he’s still in the program, neither they nor any other club can speak directly to Laine, and Waddell said all interested parties have asked to speak to Laine before putting together a trade package for him. “Teams keep checking in to see if there’s anything new,” Waddell said. “I tell them, ‘You guys have to be comfortable with (Laine), and I can’t help you.’ I don’t know the player personally. I’m not one to try and trick people either, so (we) made him available to chat (when he’s cleared).”
• The prime time to trade Laine — the NHL Draft and the start of free agency — have both passed, but Waddell remains hopeful. “There really aren’t a lot of free agents out there,” he said. “If (teams) have the (salary) cap (space) today, they’ll probably still have it tomorrow. I know there are teams that are still interested.”
• Trivia answer: Defenseman Adrian Aucoin was 39 years, 298 days old when he played in the 2012-13 season finale (April 27, 2013), making him the oldest player to skate in a game for Columbus. It also was Aucoin’s final game in the NHL after an 18-year career. Only three other 38-year-old players — Kevin Dineen, Sergei Fedorov and Vaclav Prospal — have played for the Jackets.
(Photo of Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell: Dave Sandford / NHLI via Getty Images)
