The impact of JD&JK

[traffic cone]

Let's talk a little about John Davidson and Jarmo Kekalainen.

Not many people we're thinking highly of this organization a few years ago. But it seems that these guys have bring an another level of professionalism in Columbus.

To me CBJ is doing things the RIGHT way. They didn't tank and build their team like EDM or BUF.

They're not only building a team that makes the playoff but a team the will go deep in the playoffs. To me they're only a couple years from looking like BOS or STL.

Really love what is happening in Columbus. It's interesting to watch.

Click to read more...

 

[Cash for Nash]

Let's talk a little about John Davidson and Jarmo Kekalainen.

Not many people we're thinking highly of this organization a few years ago. But it seems that these guys have bring an another level of professionalism in Columbus.

To me CBJ is doing things the RIGHT way. They didn't thank and build their team like EDM or BUF.

They're not only building a team that makes the playoff but a team the will go deep in the playoffs. To me they're only a couple years from looking like BOS or STL.

Really love what is happening in Columbus. It's interesting to watch.

My take:

Davidson
- The epitome of what this organization has always lacked from leadership. CREDIBILITY. The fact that he is a great communicator and has been through the wars resonates with most people. Huge impact. Hate the folksy commercials that he narrates over and over on FSO but maybe it draws people in.

Jarmo
-Jury is still out. Don't really have an opinion.
-His moves have been busts (Gaborik) or incomplete (Horton injury)
-His prospects drafted (promising) have yet to play.
-Definitely a product of great timing with young players emerging (Ryan's) and some shrewd trades by the previous GM (Bobrovsky, Foligno, Dubi, etc)
-Some say an intangible benefit he brought was accountibility to team. Dunno if real or spin.







-Perhaps

 

[DarkandStormy]

To me CBJ is doing things the RIGHT way. They didn't thank and build their team like EDM or BUF.

Pittsburgh and Chicago would like a word.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

My take:

Davidson
- The epitome of what this organization has always lacked from leadership. CREDIBILITY. The fact that he is a great communicator and has been through the wars resonates with most people. Huge impact. Hate the folksy commercials that he narrates over and over on FSO but maybe it draws people in.

Jarmo
-Jury is still out. Don't really have an opinion.
-His moves have been busts (Gaborik) or incomplete (Horton injury)
-His prospects drafted (promising) have yet to play.
-Definitely a product of great timing with young players emerging (Ryan's) and some shrewd trades by the previous GM (Bobrovsky, Foligno, Dubi, etc)
-Some say an intangible benefit he brought was accountibility to team. Dunno if real or spin.







-Perhaps

Pretty much

 

[Crede777]

My take:

Davidson
- The epitome of what this organization has always lacked from leadership. CREDIBILITY. The fact that he is a great communicator and has been through the wars resonates with most people. Huge impact. Hate the folksy commercials that he narrates over and over on FSO but maybe it draws people in.

Jarmo
-Jury is still out. Don't really have an opinion.
-His moves have been busts (Gaborik) or incomplete (Horton injury)
-His prospects drafted (promising) have yet to play.
-Definitely a product of great timing with young players emerging (Ryan's) and some shrewd trades by the previous GM (Bobrovsky, Foligno, Dubi, etc)
-Some say an intangible benefit he brought was accountibility to team. Dunno if real or spin.

Agreed.

The franchise needed John Davidson so that's a blessing.

I'm not a big fan of Jarmo in light of his Gaborik acquisition and subsequent trading as well as some of his other moves regarding periphery players like Prospal and MacKenzie. Jury is still obviously out though, he was billed as being here primarily for his drafting capabilities. That said, he needs to also be good at trades and roster management. This isn't NHL the videogame, you can't just bring in a bunch of young players and consult "value" tables and advanced stats. Out of our 3 GM's, he's potentially the best but that isn't saying much.

Read this and let me know if it reminds you of anybody:

In Klinsmann’s mind — and job description — the long view is always in sight, even in the midst of World Cup myopia. That is one reason a player everyone has heard of, Landon Donovan, the national team’s all-time leader in goals and assists, was not picked to go to Brazil. That is one reason a player no one has heard of, Julian Green, was.

The Donovan episode, for all the backlash it produced, is emblematic, in many ways, of Klinsmann’s persona — a persona that, in its mix of European and American identity, can take some getting used to. When Klinsmann told Donovan he was being cut (and when he was explaining himself at a news conference the next day), he was affable and upbeat, praising Donovan’s skills to the point of awkwardness but then saying other players were “a tiny little bit ahead of him.”

Yet behind the scenes, Klinsmann was abrupt, colder. The day before announcing the cuts, he told reporters (and U.S. Soccer Federation staff members) that he was not ready to settle on his roster... There was no discussion with higher-ups, for example, about the business ramifications of leaving Donovan, the face of American soccer, off the team... Klinsmann simply decided he did not want Donovan, so a day later, Donovan was gone.

To Klinsmann, the idea that Donovan deserved a place on the team represented much that is wrong with American sports. He has never understood the American coaching custom of deferring to a team’s stars.

“This always happens in America,” Klinsmann told me, waving his hands in the air. “Kobe Bryant, for example — why does he get a two-year contract extension for $50 million? Because of what he is going to do in the next two years for the Lakers? Of course not. Of course not. He gets it because of what he has done before. It makes no sense. Why do you pay for what has already happened?”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/m...-us-soccer-better-and-less-american.html?_r=2

My problem with that approach is that it really only works in a system designed to foster that kind of attitude. In North America, players are paid due to past accomplishments and there is a strong sense of entitlement or loyalty. They get twilight years contracts because "we really appreciate all you've done for the team." If you're the lone individual going against that tradition, you aren't going to be very successful and will likely earn a poor reputation.

 

[Samkow]

I guess we can pretty much only evaluate the JDJK team for their hockey moves?

The Good
-Never count your chickens before they hatch but the 2013 draft is looking like a homerun. 2-4 impact NHL players seems pretty likely at this point.
-It seems like every Howson move made between January 1st, 2012-when he was fired was pretty damn good. Instead of trying to make his mark on the club and moving a bunch of Howson's guys, he's kept a good thing going.
-Keeping Richards.
-I liked the Comeau edition. Skille was a good find off the scrap heap. His minor additions have been pretty solid
-It's too early to tell but I got a feeling we'll all love that Hartnell trade. Great return for a guy who didn't want to be here.

The Bad (for this purposes, Average)
-That Horton signing is wayyyyy too early to evaluate but a year in, we're still completely unsure about what we have in Horton. We got about 5 healthy games of the guy. This could go either way. I'm hopeful but not totally optimistic.
-I do the NYR Gaborik trade every time. Got rid of a bunch of hanger ons from the previous years teams and upgraded our skill level. But it didn't work out, mainly due to health.

The Ugly
-The 2014 Deadline **** up. Enough's been written about this that I don't have much more to add. Didn't replace and didn't get good value for Gaborik.

 

[BluejacketNut]

JD bring respect and credibility this team has never seen. With him as highly regarded as he is, this brings great light to us.

JK is still an unknown. His protecting the future stance during the trade deadline is troubling. Not only should the future be important, but the now is even more important since its in the moment. And ask Howson about the future, he made some good moves (Bob, what he got out of the Nash trade) but is he around to see the future? The Boll signing is a huge mistake for the amount he was given, he shouldnt be making more then $1.3m MAX, but more around $1m (as has been stated, he has no spot when in the playoffs). Time will tell obviously, but its been some what of a mixed bag for JK, not what I was really hoping for after the DM, SH years

 

[db2011]

I'm not even totally clear on where one of those guys ends and the other begins in terms of administration, but I'll try to keep them separate.

Davidson- Someone like him in the role he fills is something this team needed for a long time. Had Howson had the kind of support Davidson lends, I'd have to say his legacy would be viewed differently (yes, I know it was actually Davidson who canned Howson, but I'm talking if a Davidson hiring had been a year or two earlier)

I remain extremely skeptical of Jarmo. For every outstanding move he makes, and there have been a few, there are other moves that are puzzling at best. We still haven't really seen JK's team- which in some ways is a credit to him not to mess with a good thing that Howson built.

His deviations from what Howson left him aren't very impactful, but he's getting a lot of credit that he hasn't yet earned. He could still be a mediocre GM.

 

[Crede777]

I'm not even totally clear on where one of those guys ends and the other begins in terms of administration

That part is great for my cognitive dissonance, though. Any move I hate I can attribute to Jarmo and any move I like I can attribute to Davidson. It also plays into the trustworthy Canadian/American vs. shady European/Russian stereotype that seems to come up in hockey.

 

[IHeartZherdev*]

So Crede777 is equate D Mac with Landon Donovan, and EspnK is equating D Mac to Jarome Iginla.

Methinks the fourth line love is going a wee bit too far on these boards...

 

[Crede777]

So Crede777 is equate D Mac with Landon Donovan, and EspnK is equating D Mac to Jarome Iginla.

Methinks the fourth line love is going a wee bit too far on these boards...

I'm equating Prospal to Landon Donovan. He led us in scoring and had a gentlemen's agreement with Scott Howson which Jarmo had no interest in upholding.

I could also equate Gaborik to Landon Donovan. Is Gaborik going to be helping us in the future? No? Ok bye.

MacKenzie isn't a bad example though either.

Jarmo needs to stop shipping out the "old guys" and not replacing them. Yeah we survived losing Prospal, yeah we survived giving up Gaborik, we probably will survive not having MacKenzie either, but the overall trend of "surviving and building for the future" needs to stop. We need to thrive today.

 

[Samkow]

Yeah, that analogy isn't remotely apt. Sorry.

 

[Crede777]

Yeah, that analogy isn't remotely apt. Sorry.

I disagree.

Jarmo is too focused on the future and is sacrificing current talent in doing so.

It's a common occurrence in European sports (not just football).

 

[pete goegan]

Donovan admitted rooting against the US team because he isn't on it. DMac, Prospal, and Gaborik are much too professional to ever say something like that.

 

[blahblah]

Too soon to tell. Mixed bag on trades. Most of FA signings have been decent to good. I like what we've done at the draft.

I really like JD as president. I'm ok with JK. We need more of a resume on him.

 

[IHeartZherdev*]

I disagree.

Jarmo is too focused on the future and is sacrificing current talent in doing so.

It's a common occurrence in European sports (not just football).

The Kings moved on from Willie Mitchell, even though he was a great character guy. Dean Lombardi isn't European. It happens every year, in every sport. Trying to make this a "european" thing is completely without merit.

It's common in American sports and smart teams know they can't let emotions get in the way of making the correct roster calls.

And lets be honest. Blake Comeau was waived by the Islanders and the Flames. He's not a great "talent" that got sacrificed and neither was D Mac.

 

[FlaggerX]

Let us all remember that with the exception of Nathan Horton and Corey Tropp, last year's team was assembled by Scott Howson, who left the Jackets a far more competitive team than when he found it. Too soon I think to assess our front office. Talk to me in 2016.

 

[LetsGOJackets!!]

Don't disagree that in hindsight Howson was doing good things

Let us all remember that with the exception of Nathan Horton and Corey Tropp, last year's team was assembled by Scott Howson, who left the Jackets a far more competitive team than when he found it. Too soon I think to assess our front office. Talk to me in 2016.

but even with those good things I think the organization needed to clean house and get a new GM. With that said JK & the Finnish scout both drafted American National Team kids from Detroit

 

[BluejacketNut]

Makes you wonder how much Howson paid for having Priest as the president. The story I heard was Priest is the one who wanted the Carter trade

 

[CBJx614]

but even with those good things I think the organization needed to clean house and get a new GM. With that said JK & the Finnish scout both drafted American National Team kids from Detroit

Exactly. They're cleaning house and getting all of the players they want in the system. They said from the beginning they were going to build they organization brick by brick. And thats what they're doing starting from the foundation (prospect pool) and building their way up. Cleaning house of the players they dont see apart of the organization and replacing them as they see fit. Not everything is going to happen overnight but they are most definitely putting their mark on the team.

 

[Dumais]

Howson, perfect example of a guy who takes chances when nothing is left to lose! Hey everyone, I have nothing to lose, because I suck; lets take a chance (when everything else has failed) and try something different.

Scott Howson proves the point; that stupidity and pressure is the "driving" force behind human evolution.

 

[Mayor Bee]

Howson, perfect example of a guy who takes chances when nothing is left to lose! Hey everyone, I have nothing to lose, because I suck; lets take a chance (when everything else has failed) and try something different.

Scott Howson proves the point; that stupidity and pressure is the "driving" force behind human evolution.

I'd be curious to know what these moves are that you refer to. The last six months of Howson's tenure saw exactly zero transactions made, and that was both before and after the duration of the lockout.

If you want to go back a bit further than that, I'd have to say that the complete overhaul that took place between February 1 2012 and June 30 2012 was an overwhelming positive that exceeded everyone's expectations. Here's the scorecard:

Out - Antoine Vermette, Jeff Carter, Grant Clitsome, Sammy Pahlsson, Marc Methot, Rick Nash, Steven Delisle

In - Jack Johnson, Curtis McElhinney, Sergei Bobrovsky, Nick Foligno, Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky, Tim Erixon, two first-round picks (Marko Dano and Kerby Rychel). This doesn't include the 2012 draft, although the pick that was Josh Anderson was acquired in the Pahlsson trade.

The "out" consists of multiple players past their primes (Pahlsson, Clitsome, Vermette), two guys who can't exactly be accused of giving their all in Columbus (Nash and Carter), and a 7th defenseman in Methot. The "in" forms the backbone of the team, including a Vezina-winning goalie who was acquired for some of the picks acquired in the Vermette and Pahlsson trades.

Although I'm quite pleased to see most of the boards move past the whole "DAE THINK LE HOWSEN SUCKS????" stage, there's clearly more work to be done.

Also, no one has ever argued that stupidity and pressure are the driving force behind evolution.

 

[blahblah]

Howson? Who the **** is that?

Let's get back on topic shall we?

 

[Mayor Bee]

Howson? Who the **** is that?

Let's get back on topic shall we?

 

[Bobcat110]

Howson? Who the **** is that?

Let's get back on topic shall we?

Seems on topic to me...kind of have to weed out Howson's impacts to get to JD/JK's impacts.