The Columbus Blue Jackets have turned their entire season around. Since hiring Rick Bowness in early January, the team has worked their way all the way into the playoff spot, earning "Bones" some recent Jack Adams Award love, even getting a mention on the 32 Thoughts Podcast. That's very well merited, and worth discussion.
But, while we're on that topic, it's time to start talking about another major award for this organization. How about the work done by General Manager Don Waddell, who has pushed all of the right buttons for this team this season? He deserves to be in the Jim Gregory Award conversation.
What is the Jim Gregory Award?
The Jim Gregory Award is presented annually to the top General Manager in the NHL. The award is voted on by all 32 current GMs, as well as 5 NHL executives and 5 members of the media.
The award has been around since the 2009-10 season, and has been presented 16 times. Most recently, Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill has won it for three consecutive seasons. He is a contender for it again this year, with the Stars being right near the top of the league again.
However, at some point, it's time to pass the baton. After all, as impressive as it is to have a perennial powerhouse; eventually, Nill is just maintaining what he has built. So, I'm here today to make the argument for the guy who has done the most to improve his team this year: Don Waddell.
Don Waddell has turned the lowly Blue Jackets into a contender.
Let's quickly go back to the summer of 2024 and talk about the Blue Jackets. Spoiler here: it was not pretty. The team had just come off one of a 66-point season that was full of controversy and embarrassment.
Their 27-43-12 record in 2023-24 was very bad. But, it was how they got to that point that was really embarrassing, for ownership, management, and the fanbase alike.
After the mass exodus of talent in 2019, the team tried to tread water and stay in the mushy middle. A couple of seasons of being "on the competitive bubble" under John Tortorella saw then-GM Jarmo Kekalainen push the nuclear button and go for a full rebuild.
Indeed, it was definitely time for a reset in Columbus. Things had gotten a little stale, but there was still a sense of pride and hope around the organization. That all changed at the 2021 trade deadline, when Kekalainen dealt away most of the leadership that was left over from the culture Torts worked so hard to establish.
That continued into the summer with more of the core being sent away for futures. Though it was never formally stated, the writing was on the wall: this team was going to try to bottom out and accumulate talent.
It was a gutsy move. One that usually doesn't pay off for the GM. In this case, that's exactly what happened. Even though they did bottom out and get that long sought-after future #1 center, some bad decisions led to restlessness from the masses, and Jarmo was let go in the spring of 2024.
By the time the team named Don Waddell as its next general manager, this organization was one with no real sense of direction. The roster looked good enough on paper, but there was no chemistry, nobody to lead the top young prospects, and very little continuity in the organization. It was a mess.
Things got even worse with the tragic loss of beloved superstar Johnny Gaudreau. On top of trying to correct issues within the roster and hiring a new coach, Waddell had to deal with a grieving community and organization.
Fast forward 19 months, and the Blue Jackets are the talk of the NHL for all the right reasons. This was a bumpy road all along, but in hindsight, it's hard to point to any glaring mistakes made by Waddell in his time here. Everything he touches seems to turn to gold.
This restless fanbase is being rewarded for our patience.
I'll be the first one to admit it: I was frustrated. In fact, in early January, I made a pledge that I would no longer be sticking around if this team fell back into another rebuild. Honestly, who wanted to see this team be terrible for another 3-5 years, wasting away the prime of Zach Werenski's career and risking losing the young talent that has been compiled here?
Instead of bowing out, every time this team needed a spark this year, Waddell has flipped the switch. He picked up two quality veterans over the summer. When the team struggled to score, he went out and improved his roster by acquiring Mason Marchment for pennies on the dollar. He traded disgruntled winger Egor Chinakhov and actually upgraded the picks he used to acquire Marchment.
In his biggest move, when all of that roster tinkering wasn't enough, he had the guts to fire his head coach, despite hiring him only a year and a half before. In doing so, he convinced one of the game's greatest people to come out of retirement and lead the way.
Then, he struck gold at the trade deadline, acquiring Conor Garland, who has been the absolute perfect piece to play on his second line and round out the top-six up front. Now, his team has rocketed up the standings, posting one of the best records in the NHL over the second half of the season.
So, I pose this question: Does Don Waddell not deserve to be in the Jim Gregory Award discussion? If the Blue Jackets continue with their current trajectory, in my opinion, he should be at the very top of the conversation.