This team needs a shakeup. What do you do?

[TaketheCannoli]

As they say a fish rots from the head down.

It wasn't an option but I'd show JD and Jarmo the door after the season ends. It's not a fix for 3rd period collapses though. They can only fix that through coaching and gaining confidence.

For the future, it's time for a clear vision.

 

[Seedtype]

Regarding Jarmo and JD... their days are probably numbered right? Or am I reading too much into ownership's statement after the Babcock situation?

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Which is basically nothing. We don't know what the leadership does in private conversations when the cameras aren't in the room. You can't just look at a bad team's record and know what the convo must be like. Likewise if they were winning, we have no idea if anything in the inside conversation would have changed.

I'm looking forward to hundreds more HF posts confidently asserting things about Jenner's poor leadership.

We may not know what is done and said but we can know what we’d hope the result of that work is.

Hashtag confidently asserting nothing just asking questions.

 

[Marioesque]

This team needs time and a working PP

 

[Cowumbus]

you can say boone's not the problem all you want, but he's definitely a big part of it:

• they're blowing leads in the third, when he and kuraly are the only two centers out there

It’s not his fault that he’s the best C on the team. Ideally he’s a 2/3 C.

this also means less meaningful ice time for the young guys

Who has earned more than Jenner?

• the veterans aren't showing up. jenner is the captain and runs the room
• gaudreau is scoring at half his normal rate. jenner is his center.

Jenner is second in scoring and 1st in goals. How are Laine/JG his fault?

• they often lose in overtime before touching the puck – he's the guy out there for the face-off

His FO% is the best on the team and 5% better than anyone else…

• the power play is unwatchable, and PP2 has outperformed PP1. boone is a staple on PP1

Net front guy isn’t that important. He’s also tied for 1st in PP goals.

boone is the type of player that a contending team would love to have, because a contending team could use him as a high-effort complimentary piece and good veteran in the room. the blue jackets are leaning on him to be a 20+ minutes, all-situations 1C, star player, and captain.

that's been his role for the last two-plus seasons. they're 70-100-20 over that span, and getting worse. i like him as a player and a person, but it is abundantly clear that the role is too big for him.

Yeah and we have been saying this forever. But Jenner has done everything in his skill set to contribute. The team construction and lack of C is solely on Jarmo.

as far as the poll is concerned, i don't think firing jarmo/JD will have any impact in the room, and i think stripping jenner's C is unfair to the player. but trading jenner is absolutely the correct course of action if they want to shake things up, and there are some clear silver linings to doing so. tons of assets, more ice time (special teams, late-game, overtime) for their young centers, etc.

plus it would give him a few real swings at a cup before his back gives out.

Trade Laine. Far less important piece.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

Jarmo should have been sent packing years ago and the decision to rehire JD shows what this ownership's compete level is. Let Nash (anyone) be interim GM and put a tight leash on them. I suggested a while ago that ownership hire an outside agency to help them with executive search (JD and Jarmo's positions).

This season is lost. Too many coaches would be on the payroll so Vincent is safe. I don't think he's the guy, but players are developing (Russians in particular) and I don't think that he's hurting the team long run. No need to rush out and hire a Boudreau or Julien type.

Boone Jenner is the heart and soul of this team. Is he a first line player? No. Is he captain material? I don't think so. But among the vets-Laine, Gaudreau, Z and Jenner-he has the best leadership ability-by a mile. Which isn't saying much. He's a captain by default in my book.

Trading him if the right offer came up? Sure. But my guess is that there isn't one that would offer appropriate value. Other than Fantilli and maybe Jiricek, there's not an untouchable on this roster, so Boone wouldn't be exempt from a trade in my world.

McConnell needs to take a real good look in the mirror. He's doing his father's legacy no good with his performance as owner. Does he really want to own the team and run it like he did his successful businesses or does he want it to be a clubby toy with his buddy Priest? If he's serious, he needs to fire Priest and hire some real good execs. If not, sell the damn team to someone who has an iron clad agreement not to move it from Columbus for 30 years.

 

[CharlotteJacket]

"If not, sell the damn team to someone who has an iron clad agreement not to move it from Columbus for 30 years."

This doesn't exist. To a California billionaire, the Jackets are the least expensive option to get into the big time and they won't be staying in Columbusohio.

 

[Monstershockey]

but trading jenner is absolutely the correct course of action if they want to shake things up, and there are some clear silver linings to doing so. tons of assets, more ice time (special teams, late-game, overtime) for their young centers, etc

It also shows that when you become a solid performer, become part of the leadership core, and be a guy that wants to be in Columbus, that this team will move on from you, most likely without warning, like they did with Bjorkstrand and Atkinson. What kind of message does that send?

Moving Jenner would not be a wise move.

 

[koteka]

But the situation with his leadership does bear scrutiny, such as we outside the room can do.

I didn’t mean for this to turn into a bash Boone / defend Boone thread. That said, we still don’t know the whole story behind Babcock and why Boone and Johnny Hockey initially defended Babcock when Babcock’s behavior certainly crossed the line with some of the younger guys. And we don’t know how that is playing out as the season goes on.

 

[EspenK]

I voted stand pat because I don't think firing Jarmo now accomplishes anything except keep him from making boneheaded trade deadline deals or screwing up next years 1st pick. As soon as I post this i am changing my vote to fire Jarmo.

I think what would help immensely is to get at least a top 6 established and keep it intact for say 10 games or so,. Preferably set all 4 lines and the D and stick with them for the same 10 games. This benching for a mistake is dumb to me. Healthy scratching doesn't seem to be working either.

There are signs the Jackets could be halfway decent. Give them a chance.

 

[JohnnyJacket13]

I'm looking forward to the next fan protest

 

[MoeBartoli]

For the remainder of the season I’m in the do nothing camp except for minor tweaks such as Bemstrom and Peeke trades. At seasons end it’s new GM time. While I think Jarmo has made some good draft picks in the last several years, his attempts at supplementing the rebuild/retool have been poor (Don’t bring up Johnny as he fell into that one, albeit ill-prepared).

Vincent can be evaluated at year end by the new GM. So far, his system is an improvement over that of Lars, but thats rather faint praise I suppose. The team‘s 3rd period collapses leave me wondering if he has the in game management and motivational skills to build a contender.

Year end will also be a good time to assess individual players as part of the roster management process. Thus Id make no moves of note even at the TDL.

 

[VT]

I feel like the ideal solution would be to sign an exorcist.

 

[Indy18]

"If not, sell the damn team to someone who has an iron clad agreement not to move it from Columbus for 30 years."

This doesn't exist. To a California billionaire, the Jackets are the least expensive option to get into the big time and they won't be staying in Columbusohio.

They better be ready to pay about 1.4 Billion at minimum then to outright buy the team (probably about 700mil at the absolute minimum though its gonna cost much much more than that as the team is worth roughly $620 now), pay back the arena loans (about $130mil) and then settle with the service agreement to the state (about $100mil) for breaking lease early (2041?) on top of waiting 6 months to compete against Nationwide who will probably drive their own investor group and abuse the Art Model law to keep a permanent tenant at Nationwide Arena because the shows/music acts alone don't drive enough revenue during the peak times of Dec-March (which is why our home schedule is always so front loaded). That's only the expenses to clear out of Ohio you still need to set up service agreements to your new location and pay the league a relocation fee ($500 million)

 

[NotWendell]

That’s easy. Trade Eric Robinson!

 

[MoeBartoli]

That’s easy. Trade Eric Robinson!

Nice! So the playoff run begins Thursday?

 

[Fred Glover]

I voted to stand Pat but I want Jarmo gone at the end of the season
Jarmo has tried to do what my beloved baseball team from Cleveland did last year, thread the needle in hopes of going to the postseason by playing a mixture of youth and a few vets
it doesn’t work and won’t
The team needs to decide either develop the youth in Cleveland and bring them up when ready (something that they have failed to do) or force feed the kids by giving the kids majority of minutes in the NHL
they haven’t developed the kids properly and won’t until they conclude what their plan actually is
Right now there is no plan which has led to player and fan frustration

 

[squashmaple]

I voted to stand Pat but I want Jarmo gone at the end of the season
Jarmo has tried to do what my beloved baseball team from Cleveland did last year, thread the needle in hopes of going to the postseason by playing a mixture of youth and a few vets
it doesn’t work and won’t
The team needs to decide either develop the youth in Cleveland and bring them up when ready (something that they have failed to do) or force feed the kids by giving the kids majority of minutes in the NHL
they haven’t developed the kids properly and won’t until they conclude what their plan actually is
Right now there is no plan which has led to player and fan frustration

Too bad the Guards (and Reds, but I don’t care about them) got all the Ohio draft lottery luck.

 

[CBJx614]

But if it's good for the young players development, does it matter that much if it gets worse? Or is having a not-as-shitty team also a factor in young players' development... hmmmm.

But it's not automatically good for the players development. If you keep putting young players in those high stakes situations and they keep making mistakes and AREN'T doing any better, now all youve done is lose AND absolutely destroy your futures confidence. We as jackets fans should know the dangers of leaning on prospects too much, too early in their development.

 

[Monk]

But it's not automatically good for the players development. If you keep putting young players in those high stakes situations and they keep making mistakes and AREN'T doing any better, now all youve done is lose AND absolutely destroy your futures confidence. We as jackets fans should know the dangers of leaning on prospects too much, too early in their development.

Well right. There's no objective right/wrong here I think is what I've been too subtly trying to say. It's also not binary. I'm starting to lean toward more meaningful minutes though.

 

[NotWendell]

You have to develop each player differently. Some players won't benefit at a lower level, some will. Some won't benefit from learning hard lessons in the NHL, some will.

 

[CBJx614]

Well right. There's no objective right/wrong here I think is what I've been too subtly trying to say. It's also not binary. I'm starting to lean toward more meaningful minutes though.

Oh I agree, I think they deserve more than what they get, but I also don't think he should be getting more time than guys like Gaudreau and Jenner.

You have to develop each player differently. Some players won't benefit at a lower level, some will. Some won't benefit from learning hard lessons in the NHL, some will.

But does it really matter if they're stuck in the suck their entire career here? I'm a big believer in failure is the best lesson. But if you're not learning and lessons and not growing from those failures it could eventually break you down, especially as a young kid

 

[thebus88]

Vincent can be evaluated at year end by the new GM. So far, his ROSTER is an improvement over that of Lars, but thats rather faint praise I suppose. The team‘s 3rd period collapses leave me wondering if he has the in game management and motivational skills to build a contender.

Fixed it for you. It’s fascinating that people still think Larsen was a (or THE) problem. He was a huge part of the organization’s coaching staff’s that had the most success in both the AHL and NHL.

Vincent’s lineup decisions, and apparent tactics and strategies are NOT any better than that of Larsen or Torts. His defensive zone strategy is quite literally WORSE and more “passive” than anything Torts or even Hitchcock employed, and yet, their “defensive mindset/focus” is quite literally 1 of the main or only things many people held against those guys and their apparent coaching “style”.

Fascinating that people have made such a big deal about all the players that have “wanted out” in the recent past, often ignoring many personal/individual factors and the fact that players selecting to move from team to team is quite a common occurrence.

Yet, when it comes to the EXTREMELY UNIQUE situation of a head coach essentially giving up on his current team/organization where he coached for an extended period of time and essentially “rejuvenated” his coaching career…only to then go on to coach an inter-divisional rival in a year….oh NOTHING to see here….

 

[behemolari]

What do you do? Give up, its similar case with Wild or Coyotes etc. complimentary team never meant to achieve anything.

 

[cslebn]

Re: this periods with only Jenner and Kuraly on the ice.

I think they do need to get the kids out there more. Regardless of inferior defensive metrics, the time off for this two lines with help test them and make them more effective when they are out there. They sure look exhausted at times. They are struggling to maintain the pace now at the end of games. In 20 or 40 games that's going to be worse if the kids don't staying seeing us to at least balance Jenner and kuraly's workload.