Do things feel a little different around the Columbus Blue Jackets lately?
President and general manager Don Waddell has come in and done what was needed, essentially turning the page and giving the organization a jolt.
A shot of rejuvenation.
To recap, the team dismissed its first-year head coach from a year ago, cut the fat in restricted free agents who didn't fit into the team's future, agreed to new deals with Yegor Chinakhov, Kent Johnson, and Kirill Marchenko, and brought in experienced head coach Dean Evason.
They signed free agent center Sean Monahan, who has a chemistry with Johnny Gaudreau from their Calgary Flames days.
There's remaining work left to finish like signing Cole Sillinger and finalizing a coaching staff.
Among the necessary changes that were needed, and from the hockey operations side of things anyway, the Blue Jackets are acting like a professional organization from the top down.
Following last season's debacle on and off the ice, from Mike Babcock's hiring and firing only a few months later, to hiring a first-year coach previously passed over for the job only days before training camp, and the off-ice noise that generated national debate across various talk shows like with Elvis Merzlkins' trade request and the utilization of David Jiricek between Cleveland and Columbus, there's a sense of a professional operation at play now.
Before Marchenko's recent contract with Columbus, Daria Tuboltseva, a Russian journalist for RGSafePlay, posted to X (formerly Twitter), said Marchenko had not received a worthy offer from Columbus.
The Athletic's Aaron Portzline offered his two cents and as he said, while there was no reason to doubt or question Tuboltseva, Portzline squelched possible concern regarding Marchenko's contract status at the time.
Many discussing this. I dont know Daria, but no reason to question or doubt her.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) July 20, 2024
Two thoughts, though: If Marchenko had an offer he and agent Dan Milstein deemed worthy, hed be signed.
Also, Waddell is talking/negotiating with the agent, not the player. https://t.co/h6c0Q09xoZ
In the wake of the signing, Tuboltseva had an interesting quote from Marchenko's agent, Dan Milstein, in her article.
"We have an excellent working relationship with [general manager] Don Waddell," Milstein said. "We've been working together for around ten years now. He's new to Columbus, so negotiations took longer than usual as he needed time to catch up."
It's refreshing to hear there is an excellent working relationship between a Blue Jacket player's agent and its GM.
We all remember former general manager Jarmo Kekalainen's "holding a hammer" days when negotiating with players and their agents in the past. Kekalainen addressed the hardball negotiation tactics in 2021 on 32 Thoughts around the 28:00 mark.
One of the main moves to go is getting Sillinger extended and solidifying the coaching staff and then the Blue Jackets will be ready for training camp.
