Confirmed with Link: Jarmo Fired, JD (& staff) named interim GM

[KJ Dangler]

Ideal Scenario .. Jd soon announces retirement rather than being canned .. McFarland is brought back to Columbus , which from what I understand he still has family here , let him hire the next GM. Yesterday took way too long to happen . Jarmo was not a Macro guy .. great scout .. usually won his trades .. how he approached his coaches and surrounding especially after Torts, was just flat out a joke . If we could bring back McFarland with Darche that would would be a home run .. and the energy from the fanbase would probably be off the charts

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

A journo - a national I think - had a tweet someone posted here a month or so back citing that things around the team were too "noisy" or "loud" or something like that. Whatever the "final straw" was, and I don't know as there had to have been one, that to me was the key factor. An accumulation of things that either aren't good or at least don't look good. Too much noise.

Combine that with two personnel issues in the macro sense. First, I felt Jarmo did a reasonable job in the exodus phase - the unplanned one, after the Bob/Bread offseason - in dealing away players he maybe hadn't intended to have to in Anderson, Dubois and Jones. But while those returns were decent in a vacuum, the roster never seemed to settle. Second, the inclination to chase in recent seasons - a "tough guy" offseason, a "defender" offseason. Again, in a vacuum, not wrong necessarily, but it felt to me like chasing rather than building with direction.

So yeah.,. I went from one of Jarmo's staunch defenders to a vocal critic in a couple years.

 

[EDM]

I do agree that Jarmo's moves did not seem to be part of a plan. But rather an emotional impulse to pursue whatever was the hot issue at the time.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[We Want Ten]

Jarmo seems like a classy guy. Hope he finds success in his next venture.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

That would be interesting to know, but I'm not sure the Babcock mess was a huge sea change in Jarmo's performance ratings.

I have to think it was the constant accretion of "small things" - contracts that proved slightly too expensive, free agents that never produced at expected levels, prospects that developed (at best) erratically, coaches who showed signs of competence but couldn't make sustainable progress. More about erosion than cataclysm.

Either way, I wish him well going forward. As a person with an inexplicable fondness for all things Finnish I was excited to see him arrive and am sad he had to go. But I do think it was necessary.

Wasn’t it said at the time Rick Nash brought him because of his experience in the Olympics?

 

[majormajor]

Wasn’t it said at the time Rick Nash brought him because of his experience in the Olympics?

I don't think so. Nash spoke well of Babs. As did Hitch and Kinger.

But I heard it put very clearly by a media figure I trust (Porty? Elliotte?) that the main impetus came from Jarmo, who has known Babs personally for more than 20 years, going back to Ottawa.

 

[Marioesque]

I don't think so. Nash spoke well of Babs. As did Hitch and Kinger.

But I heard it put very clearly by a media figure I trust (Porty? Elliotte?) that the main impetus came from Jarmo, who has known Babs personally for more than 20 years, going back to Ottawa.

Interesting, well I might be wrong then in thinking it would have been a JD hire.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Just starting to watch this but the intro reminds me of a commercial for a monster truck rally

The Jarmo talk is at 41:00 minus BTW. Interesting to hear about him talk about the concussion stuff near the beginning.

 

[ThirdPeriodTurtle]

Slightly related to the GDT talk for the CBJ-SJS game on Feb 17th:

I wonder if Jarmo's departure means changes in the scouting organization, or decision making regarding draft picks. We hired Trevor Timmins on September 2022. I would imagine firing Jarmo was not part of this plan but it might come in handy now (even if I find myself aligned with many Montreal fans who were not big on Timmins' drafts).

Jarmo assumedly had a big hand in drafting and probably worked closely with Siren - the new GM might have a lesser hand and rely more on somebody else, in my mind Timmins, and perhaps this is made official at some point. Of course I suppose Siren could be promoted too but maybe he doesn't want it (or he leaves).

 

[KJ Dangler]

The Tail End for Jarmo Kekäläinen: A 2019–2024 Transactional Analysis

After 11 years as the GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jarmo Kekäläinen was fired last Wednesday. What prompted that decision?

medium.com

 

[Cyclones Rock]

The Tail End for Jarmo Kekäläinen: A 2019–2024 Transactional Analysis

After 11 years as the GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jarmo Kekäläinen was fired last Wednesday. What prompted that decision?

medium.com

I can't speak to the specifics of this guy's model, but I'll trust it directionally.

That JD still has a job after "overseeing" this third rate GM is mind boggling.

 

[Viqsi]

The Tail End for Jarmo Kekäläinen: A 2019–2024 Transactional Analysis

After 11 years as the GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jarmo Kekäläinen was fired last Wednesday. What prompted that decision?

medium.com

I can't speak to the specifics of this guy's model, but I'll trust it directionally.

That JD still has a job after "overseeing" this third rate GM is mind boggling.

Hmmm.

Unfortunately, my model only goes back to 2019–20, so this article will read more like “The Demise of Jarmo” as opposed to a more holistic approach that credits his construction of a competitive club over the past decade. It won’t include franchise-changing moves like the trade that brought Artemi Panarin to Columbus in exchange for Brandon Saad.

 

[NotCommitted]

My model says this means nothing.

 

[DarkandStormy]

Don't know if this belongs in a TDL thread but this is wild to me.

"We waited too long to fire the guy who was GM, so we're probably going to sit on our hands this deadline since we don't have a GM replacement right now."

 

[Crede777]

View attachment 830403

Don't know if this belongs in a TDL thread but this is wild to me.

"We waited too long to fire the guy who was GM, so we're probably going to sit on our hands this deadline since we don't have a GM replacement right now."

I don't think it is that strange. There's no need for a major move at the deadline since there aren't any big ticket pending UFA's. Yeah there's Roslovic and you could look to move Provorov and/or a depth defenseman. But otherwise it seems fine to just stand pat and avoid a sweeping change.

Let the young guys develop and let the injured guys heal. If there's a boost, it needs to come from the draft and from development within. This team's future is ultimately Fantilli, Jiricek, Johnson, Sillinger, Marchenko, Chinakhov, Voronkov, the prospects and the picks this year.

 

[MoeBartoli]

I don't think it is that strange. There's no need for a major move at the deadline since there aren't any big ticket pending UFA's. Yeah there's Roslovic and you could look to move Provorov and/or a depth defenseman. But otherwise it seems fine to just stand pat and avoid a sweeping change.

Let the young guys develop and let the injured guys heal. If there's a boost, it needs to come from the draft and from development within. This team's future is ultimately Fantilli, Jiricek, Johnson, Sillinger, Marchenko, Chinakhov, Voronkov, the prospects and the picks this year.

100% agree. I’m glad Jarmo was relived of his duties before the TDL. Because he knew he was on the hot seat my fear was he’d take a giant swing for the fences hoping to look like a hero and save his job.

 

[JacketsDavid]

I don't think it is that strange. There's no need for a major move at the deadline since there aren't any big ticket pending UFA's. Yeah there's Roslovic and you could look to move Provorov and/or a depth defenseman. But otherwise it seems fine to just stand pat and avoid a sweeping change.

Let the young guys develop and let the injured guys heal. If there's a boost, it needs to come from the draft and from development within. This team's future is ultimately Fantilli, Jiricek, Johnson, Sillinger, Marchenko, Chinakhov, Voronkov, the prospects and the picks this year.

I disagree. We're the third/fourth worse record this year (and even worse last season). I don't think the solution is be patient.
The things we are doing are not working. Last year injuries were the excuse (as it has been in past years) that was most commonly used. At some point you need to say what we have been trying isn't working. Trading Roslovic (as an example) doesn't change the trajectory of the team.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I disagree. We're the third/fourth worse record this year (and even worse last season). I don't think the solution is be patient.
The things we are doing are not working. Last year injuries were the excuse (as it has been in past years) that was most commonly used. At some point you need to say what we have been trying isn't working. Trading Roslovic (as an example) doesn't change the trajectory of the team.

If your beef is that we don't already have a new GM (because Jarmo wasn't fired soon enough), then yeah ok.

But if you really want JD and the rest of the team to make the kind of long-term evaluations you're suggesting are necessary rather than have a new, fresh vision charting that course, I disagree whloeheartedly.

 

[AndBoomGoesTheCannon]

View attachment 830403

Don't know if this belongs in a TDL thread but this is wild to me.

"We waited too long to fire the guy who was GM, so we're probably going to sit on our hands this deadline since we don't have a GM replacement right now."

I also think ‘JD had back surgery’ is a crazy reason to explain away delaying the firing of Jarmo. I have to think other organizations would be able to figure that one out.

 

[VT]

I don't think it is that strange. There's no need for a major move at the deadline since there aren't any big ticket pending UFA's. Yeah there's Roslovic and you could look to move Provorov and/or a depth defenseman. But otherwise it seems fine to just stand pat and avoid a sweeping change.

Let the young guys develop and let the injured guys heal. If there's a boost, it needs to come from the draft and from development within. This team's future is ultimately Fantilli, Jiricek, Johnson, Sillinger, Marchenko, Chinakhov, Voronkov, the prospects and the picks this year.

You overrated the prospects too much.

 

[majormajor]

I think now would be the best time to move Provorov, and it's possible, as far as we know, that that trade might be delayed until we get a GM. That would be unfortunate. It's the only thing I can think of really at stake at the deadline. We know Roslovic is gone.

My bigger concern is that we need a GM in place well in advance of the draft and FA. One or two weeks before that doesn't feel like enough time. I do think we need some big moves at that point.

 

[Ice9]

Stand pat. Let a new GM come in and do all the evaluation of talent that will/might fit his system.

 

[JacketsDavid]

If your beef is that we don't already have a new GM (because Jarmo wasn't fired soon enough), then yeah ok.

But if you really want JD and the rest of the team to make the kind of long-term evaluations you're suggesting are necessary rather than have a new, fresh vision charting that course, I disagree whloeheartedly.

JD and the rest have been here for several years.
Do they not have enough insights to know what is going on isn't working? Has JD just been cruising Indeed ads for better jobs since he has been back and hasn't been paying attention to the team he worked for? Oh that's right Brick by Brick, it will take another 10 years to be competitive..