Two GM Candidates to Avoid for a Quiet Offseason
If John Davidson wants a quiet summer, it would behoove him to avoid Mark Hunter and Marc Bergevin as GM candidates.
A large portion of the “noise” of the previous season was loud criticism of Jarmo Kekelainen and John Davidson’s process and decision in hiring Mike Babcock, a decision that almost anyone could have avoided.
"Maybe they were right," Davidson said.
This decision, one that believed in “second chances” and in believing that Mike Babcock actually was just misunderstood and the outcry that lead to his firing was somewhat unjust. Instead of a manipulative player abuser he was actually just a good guy.
“I have a big network,” Kekalainen said. “I’ve been doing this for a long time. I talked to people I know who are not only Hall of Fame hockey people but Hall of Fame people, with character. Those conversations are really important to me. They’re trustworthy people who I have a really good relationship with, and all of the feedback from people who have worked with Mike Babcock for years — a lot closer that I got to know him — were positive. Everybody says Mike’s a great coach, but more importantly they said he’s a really good person.
The decision to hire Mike Babcock was then bundled with the PR, and asset management, disaster of the Ivan Provorov trade.
Even before Pride Night, Provorov wasn’t exactly Mr. Popularity with his teammates. The tension in 2021-22 — driven in part by a perceived lack of accountability for on-ice mistakes on Provorov’s part — was real. It’s worth remembering that every other player on the team did wear the warmup jersey, and that’s not because every player would consider himself an LGBTQ+ advocate.
It seemed like Kekelainen, with John Davidson in some sort of advisory role, was chasing the most controversial choices he could possibly make. Jarmo was famous for his disagreements with John Tortorella about players and recent trades, Andrew Peeke, Emil Bemstrom and Jack Roslovic among them, may have proven Tortorella right.
Perhaps his Provorov acquisition was just another attempt to prove that Jarmo understood players better than Tortorella but it doesn’t appear to have played out in his first season in Columbus.
“With Brad Larsen, and I know you guys are circling around,” Tortorella said. “Trying to figure out what’s going on with your team…Brad Larsen is a hell of a coach. And even a way better person. You’re going after the wrong guy here quite honestly. If you’re gonna circle him as far as the reason (behind) what’s going on with this team.
Though there was additional noise throughout the season, primarily coming from a combination of “establishment of accountability” from Pascal Vincent, but also partially from youth mismanagement that came from a combination of the two, in comments from Patrik Laine, Elvis Merzlikins and David Jiricek.
The fanbase reacted poorly to the young Blue Jackets’ treatment by coach and front office, which is excusable if only because they had already previously run out all the good will.
In any case, John Davidson’s comments regarding preferring a quiet GM search are falling, I suppose ironically, on deaf ears.
The Blue Jackets have to get this hire right. They also want this process to be as quiet as possible. A quiet process is high on the list of priorities given how noisy last season was.
If the rumors are to be believed, current top candidates for the GM role include Marc Bergevin, Mark Hunter, Jason Botterill, Ray Shero and Ken Holland.
While Davidson desired to keep a completely quiet search he has instead simply ceded control to those attached to professional rumor spreaders. It doesn’t surprise me that many of these candidates come from a specific brand of “old boys” partially because of Davidson’s espoused requirement of experience and partially because “old boys” are simply more inclined to work through public facing “insiders.”
This doesn’t mean that the Blue Jackets aren’t considering high quality candidates but because John Davidson has shrouded the operation in secrecy, we can only react to what’s put in front of us.
It is my belief that, if the Blue Jackets truly desire less controversy, and not simply less accountability pointed towards the top of the organization, they should absolutely avoid those two of those candidates.
Marc Bergevin
Marc Bergevin, along with Blue Jackets Assistant Director of Amateur Scouting Trevor Timmins, famously picked Logan Mailloux after he tried to renounce himself from the NHL Entry Draft following his victimization of a woman in Sweden.
There are many ways with which to garner some controversy as a young man but if you’ve caught the attention of Katie Strang, you’re probably on the wrong side of the line.
The woman said she asked that Mailloux send her a sincere apology in written form because she did not want to meet with him in person. She said she received “a text that was no longer than three sentences.”
“All I wanted was a heartfelt apology for his behavior,” the woman wrote to The Athletic.
In response to the Montreal Canadiens drafting of Mailloux in the first round, here was Trevor Timmins’ response:
Trevor Timmins was Assistant General Manager at the time, previously the director of Amateur Scouting, and was, quite obviously, unprepared for that question. Whether the decision was his or Marc Bergevin’s wouldn’t make too much a difference for a Blue Jackets team who would, should Bergevin continue to be a frontrunner, have both on staff.
Mark Hunter
Furthermore, the Strang article offers up this tidbit:
Daily Faceoff reported that team owner Mark Hunter “has endorsed Mailloux’s talent and character to NHL teams.”
Mark Hunter is currently the owner and operator of the London Knights, a premiere OHL team who may have certain market advantages over their competition. Let’s set this straight, Mark Hunter endorsed the character of a player who shared, without consent, sexually explicit images/video of a woman, taken without consent, and then refused to offer sincere apology.
Like Timmins, Hunter is also highly connected with the Blue Jackets current front office. Basil McRae, current AGM, is a co-owner of the London Knights, Rick Nash came up through the Knights program. John Davidson has alluded to adopting a Vegas style approach when he mentioned how they hired an experienced General Manager out of the junior ranks.
If John Davidson would like to avoid the noise, staying away from these two candidates would be a wise choice.