COLUMBUS, Ohio – A collection of notes, insights, ruminations and did-you-knows gathered throughout the week that was for the Blue Jackets:
Item No. 1: Ten questions
Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen was hoping to have a new coach in place before he left on Sunday for the IIHF World Championships in Finland and Latvia. It didn’t quite work out that way because it took longer to get some interviews scheduled.
“The phones work just as well over there as they do here,” Kekalainen said. “The most important thing is to interview the people we want to interview and find the right guy.”
The Blue Jackets have been looking to replace Brad Larsen since April 14, when Larsen was fired after two seasons behind the Columbus bench. So far, Peter Laviolette, Mike Babcoach and Pascal Vincent are known to have been interviewed, but there are surely others.
Here are 10 questions to ponder as the search plays out:
1. Has Kekalainen going too far?
The Blue Jackets interviewed Mike Babcock, who stands accused by former players with Toronto and Detroit of verbal and mental abuse. They’ve shown a willingness to consider Joel Quenneville, who resigned as coach in Florida following the Chicago Blackhawks’ investigation into the sexual assault of former player Kyle Beach by former Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich, at the time Quenneville coached there.
Those are two Stanley Cup-winning coaches, sure. But they’d both require massive public relations campaigns to make them passable to most fans, and some fans have vowed to immediately cancel their season tickets and find a new club to support.
Kekalainen is now on his fourth coach since he became GM 10 years ago. He’s under enormous pressure, after three straight non-playoff seasons, to get his “restart” back on the tracks. If this coach doesn’t work out, it likely won’t be Kekalainen hiring the next one.
His willingness to consider two coaches with immense baggage — this just isn’t how the Blue Jackets have operated — could be seen as a sign of desperation. They need a coach with an authoritative grip on the job, one who can push the standards much higher across the roster.
2. Will the Jackets wait on Quenneville?
The NHL plans to meet with Quenneville after the season to address his reinstatement, meaning it could still be three weeks — assuming he’s reinstated — before he gets the green light to formally interview with NHL clubs for openings.
It doesn’t seem likely that the Blue Jackets will wait that long before naming a coach. But they would definitely consider Quenneville if they learned he was interested in working in Columbus.
That’s not as far-fetched as you might think, either. The Rangers ruled out Quenneville almost immediately after firing coach Gerard Gallant. It seems that Quenneville’s ideal landing spot is a smaller-market club with a touch less scrutiny.
3. If they wanted to hire Pascal Vincent, why isn’t he already hired?
Kekalainen has repeatedly sung the praises of Vincent, who has been the associate coach in Columbus after a long run with NHL and AHL franchises in Winnipeg. Vincent was one of the first coaches to interview for the position, and it won’t be a surprise if he gets it.
But if that’s where they land … why wait this long? They could have hired Vincent on April 15. For that matter, they could have promoted him early last season when the Blue Jackets’ season first went off the rails under Larsen.
Vincent is very highly regarded around the NHL for his ability to communicate with players. He’s also a strong Xs and Os guy. The challenge in Columbus, though, would be promoting from within for a second straight coaching hire, when what many feel is needed is a totally fresh look from the outside.
Another way to view it: if they’re going to hire a coach without NHL head-coaching experience, it would be a surprise if it weren’t Vincent.
4. Is Laviolette the odds-on favorite?
It’s hard to handicap the race when you don’t know all the horses involved. But Laviolette does seem to fit what they’re looking for — a veteran coach, a strong presence in the room, etc. — without the baggage associated with some of the other names.
Laviolette mutually agreed to part ways with Washington after the season, ending a three-year run behind the Capitals’ bench. Since starting his coaching career in 1997 (ECHL Wheeling), he’s never been out of work, including six NHL stops.
The problem: Anaheim, Calgary and the New York Rangers are looking for coaches, too, and Laviolette is likely a candidate in at least two of those spots.
If Laviolette ends up with the Rangers or the Blue Jackets, you could call him Mr. Metro. He’s already coached half of the Metropolitan Division clubs: the Islanders, Hurricanes, Flyers and Capitals.
5. Are they still doing interviews?
Yes. Kekalainen told The Athletic on Saturday that he has two interviews scheduled for next week: one for Larsen’s old job, and the other to replace Manny Legace, whose contract as goaltending coach was not renewed after the season.
We use the word scheduled for a reason. Kekalainen could always add another candidate to his list before it’s time to make a decision. AHL coaches Todd Nelson (Hershey) and Mitch Love (Calgary) are seen as up-and-coming coaches. Nelson is coaching in the AHL conference finals. Love was just bounced in the semifinal rounds.
6. What about Patrick Roy?
Roy quit as Colorado Avalanche coach less than a month before training camp in 2016, but he reportedly wants back in the NHL after coaching for three seasons with the Quebec Remparts, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League franchise he owns.
The Blue Jackets would have to consider Roy (if he would consider them!), but there could be a wait involved here. The Remparts are currently playing in the QMJHL championship series, leading the best-of-seven series 3-2 heading into Sunday’s game vs. Halifax.
If Quebec wins, they’re on to the Memorial Cup, with the first game scheduled for Friday in Kamloops. Roy could certainly squeeze an interview in before the Memorial Cup, or he could ask clubs to wait until the Memorial Cup is completed early next month.
7. Will the coach have a say in the goaltending coach?
Early in the process, Kekalainen said the positions would be hired separately. That appears to have changed, as he said on Saturday that he’d like the coach to have a say in the goaltending coach.
That makes sense, especially if a legendary goaltender like Patrick Roy ends up taking the job.
8. Will the Blue Jackets pay the going rate for a veteran coach?
An established, veteran coach in the NHL can make $3.5 million and more per season. One with a Stanley Cup on the resume usually perches around $5 million per season.
Several veteran coaches contacted by The Athletic saw that as the No. 1 challenge in Columbus landing a coach like Laviolette, who made $4.9 million per season in Washington. If the Rangers want Laviolette, too, for instance, the Blue Jackets would be unlikely to win a bidding war.
Kekalainen insists it won’t be an issue. But let’s just say the coaching fraternity will believe it when they see it.
9. Are the Blue Jackets’ assistant coaches safe?
Larsen is still in Columbus, pondering his next step. His fate was sealed quickly after the season, but his assistant coaches — Vincent, Steve McCarthy, Kenny McCudden and Jared Boll — have been twisting in the wind for more than a month now.
It’ll be up to the new coach to decide if any of them remain.
10. Will a coach hiring wait until Kekalainen returns from Europe?
No. Kekalainen said on Saturday that they’d make the announcement, have the press conference, etc., with him still abroad, which means the week ahead now becomes the target for a hire.
President of hockey operations John Davidson could easily handle the introductory press conference.
Item No. 2: Foligno’s future
It’s been three weeks since Nick Foligno and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins were bounced from the playoffs in the first round by Florida.
“I’m doing OK … now,” Foligno said. “Well, not really.”
Foligno, one of the more beloved players to wear the Blue Jackets’ sweater, is heading into an uncertain summer as a 35-year-old unrestricted free agent, but it’s the way the Bruins’ season ended — and the fact that he was a healthy scratch in the Game 7 loss to the Panthers — that’s really eating at him.
“I was extremely disappointed,” Foligno said. “The whole season was like a fairy tale. We were so good, and so deservingly good. You can tell when a team is just hot, or when a team is really good. We were just a good team with really no weaknesses.
“We just seemed really well-built and that’s why it shocked me, because right when it mattered most — the depth, the confidence, all that stuff — that’s when it just seemed to dissipate.”
Foligno has been on the other side of a similar upset, of course. He was the Blue Jackets’ captain in 2019 when they pulled off one of the great upsets in NHL history, sweeping Tampa Bay in the first round.
“Yes and no,” Foligno said. “When we beat Tampa, we just knew they could only play one way. Once we made it a dog fight, they didn’t know how to respond. They didn’t know how to play the hard, heavy game we played against them.
“But (for Boston) against Florida, it just felt like we lost ourselves. We didn’t play to the identity we had all year. We could play any way you wanted to play. We had three chances to close them out in that series. … To not get it done is just inexcusable in a lot of ways.
“I don’t know if we’ll ever have the answer as to why. I’m still just kind of blown away by it.”
It sent the Bruins and Foligno into the offseason much earlier than they expected, with plenty of questions to confront. Foligno, playing in a fourth-line role, had 10-16-26 and a plus-18 rating in 60 games. He’s one of eight pending UFAs on the roster.
“(The Bruins) said they’d love to have me back, but they have to figure out how to make it work,” Foligno said. “When you’re a 35-year-old player, they have other pieces they want to lock down and figure out. I get it.
“I know I still want to play. I feel great. I know I can be of value.”
The Folignos are currently building a home in the Columbus suburbs and plan to “retire” here when his playing days are finished. He’s planning a couple of trips to central Ohio this summer to check on the home, but they’ll spend their summer, as usual, back home in Sudbury, Ont.
The Blue Jackets are looking for veteran players to help stabilize an immature and wayward dressing room. If things don’t work out with the Bruins…
“Stability-wise, it would be ideal to stay here in Boston with my family (next season),” Foligno said. “But I’m open to anything if it’s the right fit.”
Item No. 3: What about Bob?
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky had a reputation in Columbus for stellar regular seasons and rather stinky postseasons. It makes what’s happening in Florida all the more remarkable now.
The Panthers, the last NHL club to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs this season, have a commanding 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals vs. Carolina, having won the first two games in Raleigh. Matthew Tkachuk scored the OT goal in both games, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more important player than Bobrovsky.
Bobrovsky has had a choppy run with the Panthers since signing a seven-year, $70 million contract as a free agent in 2019. The Blue Jackets decided they didn’t want to pay $10 million per season for Bobrovsky, who will be 37 years old when the contract expires after the 2025-26 season.
It looked to be a wise decision in the first couple of seasons, when Bobrovsky was, at times, outplayed by unheralded journeyman Chris Driedger. Bobrovsky was much better in 2021-22, but again this season he lost playing time to Panthers backup Alex Lyon, who earned the top job heading into the playoffs.
Bobrovsky took over for Lyon in Game 3 of the first-round series with Boston, and by Game 5 he’d found his gears. Since then (April 26), he’s 9-1 with a .939 save percentage. He’s stopped 100 of 103 shots in the first two games of the series vs. Carolina.
Bobrovsky put himself in rare company by winning the Vezina Trophy twice as the NHL’s top goaltender. As former Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella used to delight in explaining, the Vezina is voted on (by the league’s general managers) after the regular season and before the playoffs.
It was in the postseason when Bobrovsky often ran aground in Columbus. It wasn’t until 2019, when he starred in the opening-round series sweep of Tampa Bay and played reasonably well in a second-round loss to Boston in six games, that Bobrovsky put his “playoff Bob” reputation behind him.
But this is by far the best he’s ever looked in the biggest moments.
There’s still a way to go, of course. But if Bobrovsky should win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP, he’d join an incredibly elite group of players to win multiple Vezinas and a Conn Smythe. Ken Dryden, Glenn Hall, Patrick Roy and Tim Thomas are the only four on that list for now.
Item No. 4: Snacks
• Of the four clubs remaining in the playoffs, only Carolina’s roster is without a former Blue Jackets player or draft pick. Florida (Bobrovsky, Zac Dalpe and Anthony Duclair) and Vegas (William Karlsson, Keegan Kolesar and Jonathan Marchessault) each have three, while Dallas (Max Domi) has one.
• This got us thinking this week (between coaching-search phone calls): how many players have their names on the Stanley Cup after playing for the Blue Jackets? The answer is 15: Grant Marshall (New Jersey, 2003), Darryl Sydor (Tampa Bay, 2004), Kevyn Adams and Ray Whitney (Carolina, 2006), Francois Beauchemin, Todd Marchant, Joe Motzko (Anaheim, 2007), Jeff Carter (Los Angeles, 2012), Carter and Marian Gaborik (Los Angeles, 2014), Antoine Vermette (Chicago, 2015), Ron Hainsey (Pittsburgh, 2017), Curtis McElhinney (Tampa Bay, 2020), McElhinney and David Savard (Tampa Bay, 2021), Jack Johnson and Ryan Murray (Colorado, 2022). Marshall, Sydor, Carter, Gaborik and Savard all have the distinction of winning the Cup just a few months after the Blue Jackets traded them at the trade deadline.
• Blue Jackets prospect forward Jordan Dumais (upper-body injury) returned to the Halifax lineup in Game 3 of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship series against Quebec. Dumais had missed two weeks with what is believed to be a shoulder injury. He had 1-1-2 in his first game back, but has been held off the scoresheet in the past two games, a rarity for him this season and postseason. The Mooseheads face elimination at 5 p.m. Sunday in Halifax.
(Photo of former Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen: Fred Kfoury III / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)