Ken Holland To Columbus?

[Chainshot]

I say this as a Jackets fan: if there's one thing you can always count on from the Blue Jackets it's to screw up something obvious. This org will happily bounce from blunder to blunder and then look around all shocked pikachu when oopsies, it was in fact a blunder, why is everyone so mean to us? And then learn nothing, just in time for the next blunder. There was never any hope the next GM wouldn't be some old boys' club hire JD knew in 1980 who he can easily pitch to the humorless, risk-averse-to-a-comical-degree bean-counter in charge since inception, and ownership who could not give less of a shit. People who think the Blue Jackets would ever hire someone like Eric Tulsky or Emilie Castonguay are hilarious.

Why am I fan of this?

As the Sabres fan, I feel your pain.

 

[squashmaple]

As the Sabres fan, I feel your pain.

Funny how the Sabres take an entirely different path to the same grim results.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Babcock coming back next ? Or perhaps Dave Lewis.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Holland is one of the worst gms in the entire world , I'd love for other teams in the league to keep employing him.

I also think the Kings should promote Bergevin to full time GM

 

[Crede777]

I say this as a Jackets fan: if there's one thing you can always count on from the Blue Jackets it's to screw up something obvious. This org will happily bounce from blunder to blunder and then look around all shocked pikachu when oopsies, it was in fact a blunder, why is everyone so mean to us? And then learn nothing, just in time for the next blunder. There was never any hope the next GM wouldn't be some old boys' club hire JD knew in 1980 who he can easily pitch to the humorless, risk-averse-to-a-comical-degree bean-counter in charge since inception, and ownership who could not give less of a shit. People who think the Blue Jackets would ever hire someone like Eric Tulsky or Emilie Castonguay are hilarious.

Why am I fan of this? And I'm the pollyanna of hfcbj, too. Imagine what the negative nancies are saying.

I'm not a huge fan of Holland, but his hiring would be a departure from what the Jackets have historically done. He would be the first GM in franchise history to have served as GM for another team first. Doug Maclean, Scott Howson, and Jarmo Kekkalainen were all first time NHL GMs when hired by Columbus.

We all hope that the Jackets will take a gamble on a younger manager who turns out to be a home run, but honestly that is extremely unlikely considering the rumor that the primary thing they're looking for in a new GM is experience.

 

[squashmaple]

I'm not a huge fan of Holland, but his hiring would be a departure from what the Jackets have historically done. He would be the first GM in franchise history to have served as GM for another team first. Doug Maclean, Scott Howson, and Jarmo Kekkalainen were all first time NHL GMs when hired by Columbus.

We all hope that the Jackets will take a gamble on a younger manager who turns out to be a home run, but honestly that is extremely unlikely considering the rumor that the primary thing they're looking for in a new GM is experience.

And it would be just like them to run into the arms of an Old Hockey Man, especially one who was with the Wings, in response to the failures of those risky hires. Remember last summer where they hired Babcock?

 

[Crede777]

And it would be just like them to run into the arms of an Old Hockey Man, especially one who was with the Wings, in response to the failures of those risky hires. Remember last summer where they hired Babcock?

Yes and I also remember the summer before when they hired (first time head coach) Brad Larsen.

The team's track record with trying out younger hires has backfired as much if not more. Maybe it's time to try a different tactic.

 

[newsportsfan123]

Ken Holland might be a bottom 5 GM solely based on the team he inherited. Looking at his drafting the Oilers probably have 1-2 NHLers out of the 5 drafts he’s drafted in. Holloway might be their best bet. Lavoie could also be something if they actually play their young players a full 82. Beryozkin seems solid to be a bottom 6er. Broberg maybe? I just don’t know it seems like Edmonton is in a rush to contend but they have too many holes to do that. They should’ve just played their youngsters as much as they could. I don’t think they have any stars in their system barring any late career breakout.

 

[Chainshot]

Holland is one of the worst gms in the entire world , I'd love for other teams in the league to keep employing him.

I also think the Kings should promote Bergevin to full time GM

Related to your second point, I heard that he had also interviewed in Columbus.

 

[hamzarocks]

Yes and I also remember the summer before when they hired (first time head coach) Brad Larsen.

The team's track record with trying out younger hires has backfired as much if not more. Maybe it's time to try a different tactic.

The poster with the most likes received on CBJ hfboards gets GM

The one with the least likes received among CBJ posters gets to be coach.

 

[BHD]

I thought he was calling it a career in Edmonton.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Ken Holland might be a bottom 5 GM solely based on the team he inherited. Looking at his drafting the Oilers probably have 1-2 NHLers out of the 5 drafts he’s drafted in. Holloway might be their best bet. Lavoie could also be something if they actually play their young players a full 82. Beryozkin seems solid to be a bottom 6er. Broberg maybe? I just don’t know it seems like Edmonton is in a rush to contend but they have too many holes to do that. They should’ve just played their youngsters as much as they could. I don’t think they have any stars in their system barring any late career breakout.

With his tenure in Edmonton, Holland has proven that two star centers aren't enough for him to be successful. He also apparently needs one of the greatest Dmen to ever play the game in order to achieve any real success.

 

[DickSmehlik]

Hasn't poor Columbus suffered enough?

What did they do to deserve further piling on?

 

[newsportsfan123]

With his tenure in Edmonton, Holland has proven that two star centers aren't enough for him to be successful. He also apparently needs one of the greatest Dmen to ever play the game in order to achieve any real success.

It’s crazy how bad he is messing up Edmonton. Waddell took over Carolina with the only good players being Aho, Slavin, Pesce, Faulk, Willams, and Teravainen. The only top prospect they really had was Necas. He traded Skinner his first offseason for Hamilton and Ferland, drafted Svechnikov, traded for Nino. Carolina has drafted well since then getting an NHL player in each draft, 2022 being the only one, Trikozov or Forsmark could be the NHLers out of that one. Only blunder in his tenure was addressing the 2C issue. Canes have been able to replace mostly everyone they lose.

 

[norrisnick]

With his tenure in Edmonton, Holland has proven that two star centers aren't enough for him to be successful. He also apparently needs one of the greatest Dmen to ever play the game in order to achieve any real success.

He joked that he'd retire when Lidstrom hung up his skates. He'd be revered if he had...

 

[squashmaple]

Yes and I also remember the summer before when they hired (first time head coach) Brad Larsen.

The team's track record with trying out younger hires has backfired as much if not more. Maybe it's time to try a different tactic.

Yes, that's what I'm saying. The were burned by a first-time hire so they overcorrected too far the other direction.

I'm sorry, you will not convince me that the best hire is a 70yo who oversaw a pre-Cap dynasty and destroyed it--leaving a scorched earth the consensus best GM in hockey still hasn't dug out of four years later--who then moved on to GM a team with two of the three best players on the planet and has failed to build any kind of functional team around them. They have no goaltending, no depth scoring, and two good defensemen. There's having experience and then there's just being old enough to have a lengthy CV of red flags.

 

[Crede777]

Yes, that's what I'm saying. The were burned by a first-time hire so they overcorrected too far the other direction.

I'm sorry, you will not convince me that the best hire is a 70yo who oversaw a pre-Cap dynasty and destroyed it--leaving a scorched earth the consensus best GM in hockey still hasn't dug out of four years later--who then moved on to GM a team with two of the three best players on the planet and has failed to build any kind of functional team around them. They have no goaltending, no depth scoring, and two good defensemen. There's having experience and then there's just being old enough to have a lengthy CV of red flags.

Yes but also consider what if the Jackets approached Tampa, Carolina and Colorado to speak with Darche, Tulsky and McFarland and all 3 teams said no?

 

[squashmaple]

Yes but also consider what if the Jackets approached Tampa, Carolina and Colorado to speak with Darche, Tulsky and McFarland and all 3 teams said no?

Because famously there are only four candidates, so Holland gets it by default? No. There is a better choice than Holland. Hell, even 2010 Blackhawks Director of Player Personnel Marc Bergevin is a better choice, since at least my reasons for not wanting him are related to that instead of his track record as a GM (which is more good than bad, generally). I'm not claiming to know enough about every option or even having one I'm hoping for, but I do know that of the names we know publicly, Holland is by far the worst option.

 

[Sniper99]

If I were oilers GM I'd have won the cup by now.

LOL calm down, this isnt NHL 24 you cant turn off the salary cap and force trades while playing on Rookie mode.

 

[brentashton]

No tampering in the NHL, eh?

 

[Bondurant]

Stephen. Weiss.

 

[super6646]

Gl with that CBJ lol. Hope it ain’t true for their sake. Nice guy based off the one time I got to interact with him, but he’s been over the hill as a Gm for a decade and a half.

 

[bossram]

CBJ really doing a masterclass in how to ruin a franchise. Yikes.

 

[Reality Check]

Hasn't poor Columbus suffered enough?

What did they do to deserve further piling on?

Getting rattled by an 87-year old Lou Holtz. Then the University of Michigan.

 

[seafoam]

Is Nik Lidstrom coming out of retirement to play for the Blue Jackets? Otherwise this is perplexing.