A conversation with Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell
"We want to start making the playoffs and stop talking about making the playoffs."
The Blue Jackets are returning from the Olympic break to make a playoff push. The Crew are kicking off a new season. You need Disrespect. Sign up by Crewsmas, March 7, and your first month of a Silver Level subscription is free. Exclamation point.
Schedule permitting, Blue Jackets president of hockey operations/general manager Don Waddell goes to the Super Bowl every year. He likes the experience of being a fan at big events. This year, with the Olympic break, he got to spend four days in the Bay Area and watch the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots.
Waddell did not, however, have the Ultimate Experience.
"I get some privileges, but no, I was not a part of the halftime show," he said.
It has been just over five weeks since Waddell fired coach Dean Evason and replaced him with Rick Bowness. The Jackets won their last game under Evason and went 10-1 under Bowness before they hit the Olympic break. With seven consecutive victories, they were the hottest team in the NHL before the winter vacation.
The break came to an end Wednesday, when the Jackets took the ice for the first day of a weeklong minicamp. Bowness wants his players physically primed and his systems well-ironed by Thursday the 26th, when the Jackets resume the regular season with a game against the Bruins in Boston.
The most intriguing portion of their season lies just ahead of them.
The Jackets are four points behind the No. 2 wild card spot in the East and they're four points back of third place in the Metropolitan Division. Beginning with the game in Boston, the Jackets will play five games in eight days before the trade deadline arrives at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 6.
It's not exactly Super Bowl Week, but the five-game interlude may well define their ambitions for the remainder of the season and into the future. The Jackets have three key veterans who are on expiring contracts – captain Boone Jenner, center Charlie Coyle and left winger Mason Marchment. What happens next with them will become much clearer by deadline day. For now, there are only questions.
Will the Jackets' winning ways continue immediately after the break, which would likely mean that Waddell would hang on to his potential UFAs for a continued playoff push? Regardless of whether he can extend one or any of them?
Will Waddell turn out to be a buyer at the trade deadline?
If the Jackets stumble from Boston to the trade deadline, does that mean Waddell should sell off his potential UFAs in the interest of intelligent management of assets? Get what he can rather than risk losing them for nothing this summer?
Where do things stand when it comes to negotiating extensions for Jenner, Coyle and Marchment?
Coyle is fairly representative of the three UFA's point of view when he says that he and his family are fond of Columbus, he likes playing here, and he has a chance to win here.
"That's all you can really ask for, really," said Coyle, who has a resume-polishing five goals and 12 points in his last six games. "It has been a great experience so far."
Of course, these are professional athletes and among their top priorities is to contend for championships. Coyle, for instance, has been in the playoffs every year since he entered the league in 2013. Marchment has been to three consecutive conference finals. Jenner, for all his loyalty, has to think about his options. Doesn't he?
They're all in their 30s. They're at a point in their careers when they have some say in where they want to play. And we can't know everything they're thinking.
Thursday, Waddell picked up the phone for a brief interview with Disrespected Media. Waddell was asked about the lead-up to last month's coaching change, whether he was surprised about the Bowness Bump and what his thoughts are on his pending UFAs.
Interesting times.
Disrespected Media: What was your conversation with ownership like ahead of last month's coaching change?
Don Waddell: The first thing you've got to do as a GM is you've got to look in the mirror and say, 'Are we better than what our record is?' Because you don't want to fool yourself. I kept watching and looking at the stats and looking at the analytics and we were a plus team in (goal differential) in the first and second periods, and we were minus, bad, in the third periods. How we were losing games was very frustrating and, as you know, after the Pittsburgh game (Jackets lost 5-4 in OT at home Jan. 4), we had some players come out and were pretty outspoken about how it was going (see link below).
Michael Arace
When I met with ownership, I just said, 'I can't guarantee you wins, but I can tell you this: Our young players are not getting any better right now.' Kent Johnson had 24 goals last year and he had four, playing on the fourth line, playing nine minutes a night (under Evason). These players are our future, too. Of course, we've got our immediate needs in front of us, but like my plan has been, as I've said: We want to start making the playoffs and stop talking about making the playoffs, and how do we take that next step? I just felt we weren't going in that direction and so when I met with ownership and Mike Priest, who's my boss, I explained that to them, and they were very supportive of my thinking, and we made the change.
DM: You couldn't have predicted the team was going to win 10 of its first 11 games under Bowness. Generally speaking, though, what would you say about his run so far?
Waddell: If you look at his track record, first of all, he has taken over teams before at midseason. Rick, I believe, has coached more games than anybody as a head coach and an assistant coach (true). And assistant coaches are normally great communicators. I knew that this was what our team needed. We needed leadership and a different voice. I'm obviously pleasantly surprised by the results, but not surprised that the players enjoy playing for him. I think it's something our players were looking for; even during the break, I know he was texting players, checking in with them to see how they were doing, how the break was going ...
They're professional athletes, but sometimes we forget that they're people. And people need people to care about them, and Rick certainly cares about everybody in the organization.
DM: Bowness is signed through the end of the season. Any discussions about his future?
Waddell: No. We want to let it set. We've had small talk, but I think we all agree that we've got something going right now. Let's not upset the apple cart. Let's keep it going. There will be a time when we can deal with this. We'll see how things go coming out of the break here.
DM: I've tried to come up with 10 ways to ask you about what you're going to do at the trade deadline, but all I've come up one: What are you going to do at the trade deadline?
Waddell: We've got five games coming out of the break, before the trade deadline. I believe we're going to be in the race. I don't believe we're going to go 0-5 coming out of the break. A lot of times you go out and you try to add ... I'm not looking to add more UFAs unless it's just an easy piece that fits in that we think fits into our lineup. If we're going to make a trade, it's got to be for somebody with term. We have enough unrestricted free agents at the end of the year that we've got some work to do with.
I also believe – and Rick and I talked almost every day during the break on this – we like what we have here. It's not like we feel that there's a big hole somewhere that we need to try to fill. And the thing about trading UFAs ... You know, we went into the year thinking we were good enough to make the playoffs and we still believe that. So, to trade a player and get a second-round pick or a prospect, I mean, we have nine picks in this draft. I'm not worried about that right now. We've got lots of chips to play.
We'll see how things play out here off the (restart) but, more than likely, if we do anything, it'll probably be chipping around the edges, unless there's a deal that brings a player back that we like that has term left.
DM: Where do contract negotiations stand with Jenner, Coyle and Marchment?
Waddell: We've talked to all the agents. Haven't discussed term or money yet, it was more how they like it here, how they fit in so far. You've got to be careful, too, because if you get into a contract negotiation that doesn't go well, it can upset what you've got going on here. We'll continue to talk to them. A lot of guys are worried about whether they're going to get traded or not. I've assured everybody that, let's see how things go, but my intention as we speak is not to trade away a bunch of guys because we do feel like we have a team that can make a push. We like the way our team is built – we're built for the playoffs – but we've got to get there first. And once we get there, you know, you never know what happens.
DM: I know you want to build something sustainable, but is there anything to getting the team back into the playoffs this year, just because it has been too long and the market needs it?
Waddell: There's always that part. The fans have been very patient. I can't say enough good things about our support that we've had in my two years here. Saying that, we have to make smart decisions not just for today, but for the future. To say we're just going to always sit pat and let all these guys play it out and hopefully we can sign them ... We're very aware of the situation. I have a pretty good idea of what players are thinking as far as talking to their agents. To your point, these fans deserve – and ownership deserves it, too.
I hear sometimes people take little shots at ownership, and it's just so unfair. Ownership is in multiple businesses that have been very successful. They're not hockey experts, so they hire people to do the job. And I can honestly say that I've been around a long time and this is by far the best ownership I've been involved with.
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Michael Arace
