Don Waddell Could Be the Answer for the Columbus Blue Jackets
Consequences had to come to the Carolina Hurricanes after not going far in the playoffs during their Stanley Cup contention window, and it may be the Columbus Blue Jackets’ gain.
On Friday, GM Don Waddell stepped down from his role as team architect. Nobody would be surprised if Waddell is back running an NHL team in relatively short order.
Waddell had spent nearly a decade as a management member of the Hurricanes while taking on the GM job in 2018. The team made the playoffs in each season Waddell was GM but failed to win a single third-round game in that span.
Now that he’s removed himself from Carolina’s management picture, Waddell will have interest in his services from more than one market. However, the biggest job currently available is the GM position of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Some speculation is out there that the Blue Jackets could wait to see what happens with Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland after their season. But if the Oilers win the Stanley Cup, Edmonton brass could retain Holland, and Waddell might just be the best option available to Columbus.
SN/The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that Waddell had permission from the Hurricanes to speak to other teams before he resigned, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman believed he interviewed in Columbus on Thursday.
We suspect Waddell would see the Jackets’ job as a worthwhile challenge. There are many assets Columbus could trade to pull itself out of the basement of the Metropolitan Division, whether it’s one of their first-round draft picks in the next three drafts or top veteran forwards in a rejig. While the team ran into some injury troubles, they could use a nice increase in their goals-for total (24th-most in the NHL) and a big decrease in their goals against (second-most in the NHL).
Waddell wouldn’t necessarily need the GM title to make a major impact with Columbus. If it’s true that longtime Jackets star Rick Nash is interested in the GM role, perhaps Waddell could join him as a mentor of sorts – a senior consultant, let’s say – and Nash could ease himself into the position. His track record of producing a Cup-contending roster with the Hurricanes would make him an easier sell to passionate Blue Jackets fans longing for better days, and he wouldn’t have to be a huge media presence in that position.
The Hurricanes became an excellent regular-season team under Waddell’s watch, finishing in first or second place in their division in the past four seasons. He couldn’t get the team over the hump in the playoffs, but he’s hardly the first GM to see his team struggle in the post-season despite having a strong roster. At this point, the Jackets would be happy just to get into the playoffs, and Waddell could push them into the next competitive level over the course of the next two or three years. Waddell has earned the respect of his colleagues for the job he’s done for the Hurricanes, so he deserves the attention he will get any time a GM or management role comes available. Either way, it makes a lot of sense for Columbus to bring in Waddell, let him do his job, and see what results he can deliver. They should move quickly to do so before another team scoops him up and adds a proven wise man to its ranks.
