The Hurricanes are considering hiring former Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen to fill their vacancy, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Speaking on the “32 Thoughts” podcast on Monday, Friedman said Kekäläinen is a “contender” for the position. Their GM vacancy was created last month after Don Waddell resigned from his post, joining Columbus to replace Kekäläinen within days.
Kekäläinen, 57, is the first external candidate firmly connected to the Carolina opening. He was fired from his post in Columbus in February after 11 years with the organization.
It’s unclear if the Hurricanes have obtained permission to interview him from the Blue Jackets yet, but it would make sense as a virtual GM-for-GM trade. Carolina’s assistant GMs under Waddell, Eric Tulsky and Darren Yorke, are also strong contenders to replace Waddell, with the former serving as interim GM in his absence.
Notably, Friedman said the candidate pool for Waddell’s replacement isn’t terribly large due to how the organization wants to structure its front office. The team has made it clear to potential candidates that, unlike with other teams, their GM won’t be their sole primary decision-maker. Instead, they’ll work in a more collaborative environment with AGMs and owner Tom Dundon, with their main duties being facilitating communication with other teams. Evidently, that hasn’t scared off Kekäläinen, but Friedman reports it has swayed a few candidates away from having an interest in the role.
It’s also the first opening Kekäläinen has been connected to in earnest since his firing. While it’s been a tough go in Columbus lately, he did oversee the longest sustained period of success in franchise history, helping construct a Jackets roster that made the playoffs four years in a row from 2017 to 2020.
With Waddell heading over to Columbus, the Canes are the only team with an active GM vacancy. The Oilers are likely to end up with one after the Stanley Cup Final ends with Ken Holland in the final year of his contract and not expected to return.
Wow. Yikes.
I forgot, the NHL re-cycles GMs pretty much like they do with head coaches
A recycled GM and coach are in the finals. Three of the final four coaches are recycled. Is this another of those things that you have forgotten? Should every coach and GM be limited to one shot at the NHL?
Oh boy! The Blue Jackets Circus in Raleigh, or how to destroy a great organisation wich is really near of the top.
Could be a good move for Carolina. Jarmo will def get another GM gig at some point. He did a nice job bringing in talent to Columbus, just didn’t translate YET. Hurricanes are already contenders, so a tweak here or there & they can win Cup next yr.
WHAT? CBJ is a wreck and always has been. There are perennial lottery team with very little playoff success to show for it. They beat Tampa one year I guess. Jarmo is an awful GM and anyone who says differently is just disregarding his actual past performance. Playoff rounds bring in money for the franchise. Playoff rounds can turn into Stanley Cup appearances. Jarmo has done nothing that shows he knows how to build that kind of team. The guy they hired in CBJ has. Why would Carolina want to bring in a mediocre GM? I think I’m being kind with the term mediocre here too.
I get it. My take isn’t very popular & it’s true his overall body of work hasn’t been very good. But they do have a lot of young & veteran talent & have been hit hard by injuries the last couple yrs. There is a chance Columbus makes a big jump either this yr or next. The talent is there. They got their GM, just need the right coach.
The guy destroyed the Blue Jackets. How does he deserve another chance? Making Roddy earn his big raise if you bring in that dummy.
The Blue Jackets have never been good enough in their history to be considered destroyed now.
Dumbdon is a joke.
Hahahahaha oh man. “Hell of a job over there in Columbus, how’d you like to work at…wherever it is that I own that nhl team..? You know the one I mean. Whaddaya say?”
I know coaching “trades” have happened.
Can’t recall if two GM’s have swapped teams like this.
Also, good luck to both teams…
I need that clip from the Progressive insurance commercial where the actor gets up and says “But why?”.
Jarmo wasn’t that bad here in Columbus. His scouts always scouted well and the Jackets always drafted well during his tenure. He did play hardball in contract negotiations with a lot of players and that had a negative impact as there were players who wanted out or left that should have stayed. In the end, he had the pieces, he just couldn’t make them work. I thought the Jackets firing of him was poorly timed. He was canned in the middle of February which was pointless because the Jackets had to wait two months to contact executives from other teams. This left the entire organization in limbo for two months. Had he been fired at the end of the season they could have immediately began discussions with executives from half the teams in the NHL and within about ten days eight more teams as they would have been first round playoff casualties. My suspicion was they were really hoping to bring back Bill Zito or take a shot at Jeff Gorton, but because of the amount of time they had to wait after firing Jarmo to begin the interview process, they never had a chance to begin any dialouge with those two.
Beware – Nepo Baby Stan Bowman is not around for Jarmo to fleece.
Please, dear God, no.
Over-reactions here, for sure.
It is a “Rumor” and the Canes are smart to talk to all available candidates.