Columbus Blue Jackets Front Office Earned Extensions
By William Espy
The Columbus Blue Jackets recently re-signed front office members John Davidson, Jarmo Kekalainen and Bill Zito.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have reached a status that has not been held previously in franchise history.
Stanley Cup contenders.
This is partially due to the continued efforts of John Davidson and Jarmo Kekalainen who are consistently making moves and drafting players that tend to work out in the long run.
The biggest acquisitions through out the tenure of the current front office include Seth Jones (in exchange for Ryan Johansen), Pierre-Luc Dubois (draft), Zach Werenski (draft), Brandon Saad (trade) and Artemi Panarin (trade involving Saad) among others.
While most of the Columbus fans are focused on the pending situation with Artemi Panarin’s upcoming unrestricted free agency, the extension of the front office should be a relief. The Blue Jackets will have a sense of regularity in the coming years and they’re taking a step forward as they’re showing they believe in the current staffing situation.
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Jarmo Kekalainen and John Davidson are the first long term management team in franchise history, which should be a great sign for Columbus Blue Jackets fans. The teams who succeed in the long run have an established, trusted management and coaching team who never really land on the hot seat.
Extending John Tortorella would be the next step for this team, as some consistency behind the bench would remove a large amount of uncertainty going into the new season. A deal seems imminent for Torts.
Following that, they’ll have to address the issue of the Russian duo of Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky.
Now that they have their well-deserved extensions locked down, John Davidson, Jarmo Kekalainen and Bill Zito have to get back to work and deal with one of the most difficult situations in the NHL at the moment. However, as the saying goes from Columbus Blue Jackets faithful “In Jarmo (Also Zito and Davidson) we trust.”