I tweaked the award a little here from GM of the Year to Executive of the Year. Essentially, this one came down to ranking the work of three men: current GM Jarmo Kekelainen, President of Hockey Operations John Davidson, and former GM Scott Howson. When I put this one out to the tUB team I was VERY interested to see how it panned out. And boy was I right. Some background on the process: each tUB member sends me their rankings with each nominee ranked from 1 to 3. The votes each get points: 3 points for a 1st place vote, 2 points for a 2nd, 1 point for a 3rd. Pretty straightforward. So for this award, we actually had a tie in points. An executive decision was made to use 1st place votes as the tiebreaker. So without further ado, your Columbus Blue Jackets Executive of the Year is……
WINNER: John Davidson
AlisonL (1): “This is tough. I thought it was important to define how I would evaluate a good GM so I’m borrowing this definition from NHL.com. “(A Good GM considers) their ability to build rosters, hire coaches and draft players, and everything else that goes into winning a championship.” (I highly recommend the source material for this quote HERE. So with that in mind, my number one pick is John Davidson. JD brought respectability and credibility to the organization which infinitely impacts our ability to retain top level talent. He is also arguably the first to join the CBJ that brings proven success in the draft and a complete understanding of what it takes to build a championship team (as a player and team leader). While JD only tweaked the CBJ roster thus far, his restraint showed an ability to build a quality roster after a rough start – even using only what was already here. While JD didn’t hire a coach (yet) he did bring in Jarmo which is also a huge move for the organization.”
Canadan (3): “Davidson brings respect, tradition, and heavy expectations to Columbus, and I dig that like crazy. His time in hockey and his success elsewhere will give players the confidence to come to Columbus that guys like Howson, and even Kekalainen couldn’t hope to provide. He will continue to be a tremendous asset to this team as he and Kek decide the future and how we will find our way into the playoffs.”
CBJProspects (2): “I put JD here because I think it’s his presence that helped get Marian Gaborik to waive his no trade clause to come to Columbus along with helping the franchise get some national attention/respect.”
The Coach (1): “Davidson finishes first for me based solely on his ability to change the culture in Columbus. For too long, this team was not one taken seriously around the league. Merely bringing in a figure like JD (to add to Craig Patrick) helped change things. It meant adding accountability. It meant building something. While he may not have directly acquired the players, and his impact is purely intangible, what he has brought means something. And that something was sorely needed here.”
Runner Up: Scott Howson
AlisonL (2): “I admit, I like Scott Howson even considering his missteps with the CBJ. Scott get’s a second place (really almost place 1.5) because the roster that turned things around was his architecture. Bobrovsky? Thank Scott Howson. The once maligned Rick Nash trade done by Howson? Arguably a success. Scott finally seemed to get the right pieces of the puzzle in place – he just couldn’t light the fire to turn the ship around. That, coupled with his draft/development errors cost him his job and the number one spot – but any CBJ fan must acknowledge his role in getting the 2013 CBJ to where they got.”
Canadan (2): “For as much as I suspect him to be in last, I believe he put down the ground work for a strong Columbus roster this year. Moving Nash for excellent pieces, bringing in Foligno and Bobrovsky for spare parts and defensive redundancy proved that he could get the job done, but his contracts often left more to be desired.”
CBJProspects (1): “Yes folks you read that right, I say this because other than Gaborik, Comeau and Leighton it was Howson that drafted, signed or acquired this year’s players however they came to be a Blue Jacket. Not his fault one of his final moves was to bring in the man that would replace him.”
The Coach (2): “Howson did the work to bring in the bulk of this squad. He hit the Bobrovsky trade out of the park, and that even atones for his weaker deals. Bob was acquired for picks, primarily the one received for Antoine Vermette. He picked up Letestu for a song. He dealt Kris Russell (who was a healthy scratch a lot for the Blues) for Nikitin. He has a much better draft record than people realize, especially in the later rounds. He was very good at acquiring pieces and making the little moves. His inability to pull of the big moves and his faith in Steve Mason brought him down. But I think if he were still running this team, with Davidson in his current position, we still would have seen the progress that occurred this season. Howson has put the pieces in place for JD to build what he is looking to build.”
Honorable Mention: Jarmo Kekelainen
AlisonL (3): “Ranked third only for his limited time with the org – I think this summer is when Jarmo will make his mark through draft and FA moves. Jarmo further strengthens the credibility of the organization within the world of hockey (emphasis on world – given his knowledge of the European market) and was part of an epic series of deals to close out the regular season. Extensions to Cam, Calvert, and Letestu were smart and economical, and the blockbuster trade to bring Marian Gaborik (who waived his NTC in the process) is a huge step forward for us. I expect next year to (hopefully) have Jarmo on top of a similar exercise ranking our leadership.”
Canadan (1): “I believe Kekalainen has done an excellent job in his short time with Columbus, uprooting some of the longest tenured players in Brassard/Dorsett, which will more than likely remind the rest of the group that no one position is safe. Bringing in Gaborik will be a much needed offensive boost, along with excellent contracts to Letestu, Atkinson, Calvert, and hopefully soon to Bobrovsky.”
CBJProspects (3): “Jarmo is last because well he hasn’t done much. Jarmo’s rank will probably jump up (in my eyes at least) on July 1st the day after the draft and also on July 5th (Free Agency) even if I don’t think we’ll be crazy busy.”
The Coach (3): “Jarmo had little impact on the team built for this season, but know he isn’t in third easily. I still do not understand how he got Letestu, Atkinson, and Calvert to accept their deals. I like the Gaborik deal, although time will obviously tell on that one. Liked the Comeau deal as well (mostly because it got Gillies off the ice), and hopefully he can be kept for cheap. All in all, I have liked all his moves so far, just not sure how much they really contributed to this season.”
So let us know your thoughts on the CBJ’s execs. Are we overrating the impact of John Davidson? Does Howson deserve more or less credit? What do you think above Jarmo’s moves so far? Anyway, stay tuned as we conclude this week with the selection of the Ted Lindsay Award, given to the most outstanding player.
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