Blue Jackets GM Waddell: 'Losing was acceptable and losing is not acceptable'
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Newly minted Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell believes his new team needs a culture change in order to be successful going forward.
Waddell was named president of hockey operations and GM of the Blue Jackets on May 28, replacing Jarmo Kekalainen.
The Blue Jackets were 410-362-97 during Kekalainen’s 11-year stretch as general manager, making the playoffs five times but only advancing past the first round once.
“The one thing is, I’m not saying it was everybody, but losing was acceptable [here] and losing is not acceptable,” Waddell told SiriusXM NHL Network Radio on Thursday. “We have a ways to go building this, but our goal every year should be to win the Stanley Cup, not just win some games.
“It’s a mindset. I believe what happened last year, talking to everybody, things didn’t go well and they had a lot of injuries at the beginning of the year and fell out of the race pretty quick. [Then] they just kind of played out the season and we have to change that.”
Columbus finished last season in last place in the Eastern Conference with a 27-43-12 record and missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year.
The team had a rocky start to the season after Mike Babcock was hired and resigned as head coach before appearing in a game, leading associate head coach Pascal Vincent to take over.
The Blue Jackets then had significant injuries to captain Boone Jenner, star forward Patrik Laine, and rookie Adam Fantilli.
Veteran defefnceman Erik Gudbranson echoed Waddell’s words on Thursday, stating that goals should be set higher.
“We have to get something out of every single day, we can’t lose a day,” Gudbranson told Dave McCarthy of NHL.com. “We’re not in a position to do so. We did that the last two years and it did not work out well. We’ve got to get our culture going the right way.”
Both Gudbranson and Waddell believe that the team has a good veteran presence to help build around younger players such as Fantilli, Kirill Marchenko, Kent Johnson, Cole Sillinger, and David Jiricek.
The team also added free agent centre Sean Monahan, known for his leadership in his time with the Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, and Winnipeg Jets.
“Any time you are talking about free agents, the best source to go to is their former teammates,” said Waddell. “Every guy to a man said if you can get him, he’d be a great guy on the ice but in the locker room too.”
“The hockey player is a very good one that we desperately need, but the person is a massive portion of what comes with that,” Gudbrunson added.
The last major change the Blue Jackets made to help rectify the situation was bring in Dean Evason as head coach, replacing Vincent.
Evason was most recently the head coach of the Minnesota Wild, but was let go after 19 games last season as the team went 5-10-4 to start the year.
Under Evason, the Wild went 147-77-27 in five seasons, making the playoffs three times but failing to advance past the first round.
When interviewing for the job in Columbus, Waddell saw a coach that was passionate about the Blue Jackets and willing to bring accountability to the team.
“His passion wasn’t just to coach in the NHL, right from day one it was he wanted to coach the Columbus Blue Jackets,” said Waddell. “When I brought him in for a formal interview, there were five of us in the room, we all walked away saying he’s the guy who is going to lead us to the next level.”