10 Thoughts: The Post-Kekalainen Era & Trade Deadline

The Blue Jackets have a lot happening with limited time to get business done.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are in a strange situation as we approach the trade deadline. They were rumored to be interested in Elias Lindholm before his eventual trade from the Calgary Flames to the Vancouver Canucks. That’s not a typical approach for a team in the league’s basement by any means. Now, they’ve also relieved General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen of his duties and there are a lot of questions surrounding their plans for the next three weeks.

1) Replacing Kekalainen

President of Hockey Operations and Interim GM John Davidson didn’t give a time frame for finding Kekalainen’s replacement. Over the next few weeks. Davidson’s focus will likely be on making necessary moves at the trade deadline however it’ll be interesting to see when this decision is made. I’d assume they’ll likely wait until the offseason to make anything official and ride with Davidson holding the interim tag until the summer. However, many of us thought that was the route they were going to go with Kekalainen, and clearly we were wrong. Quite a few potential candidates have already been floating around on social media, and those who are currently employed with another organization likely won’t leave until after their season ends, but stranger things have certainly happened. 

John Davidson (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)

2) Jenner Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere

Davidson also stated that he’s not going to move captain Boone Jenner despite heavy interest around the league. On the Jeff Marek Show, he revealed that he gets calls from other teams inquiring about the center fairly regularly but sees him as a long-term piece for the Blue Jackets organization. The way Davidson spoke with absolute certainty on the matter seemed a little concerning to me, a team in their situation should not be absolutely committed to any veteran, as if there’s the right deal that will benefit the team in the long-run, it’s best not to talk yourself into a corner with the fans. Now they expect Jenner to be a Blue Jacket for the foreseeable future, and it certainly wouldn’t be a good look for Davidson if he gets an offer he can’t turn down and he immediately has to double back on his statement.