The Columbus Blue Jackets’ problems don’t stop with the roster. The way the organization is built from the top down is part of the issue, too, and Don Waddell’s fingerprints are all over it.
Waddell, 68, has made broad changes since arriving, but those moves have largely pushed out younger voices or anyone with fresh ideas in favor of people he has known for years. The result, at least from the outside, looks like an old-guard operation trying to win in a league that has moved on.
That contrast stands out when you look around the Metro Division. Teams like the Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils have leaned into a more modern style of management, one that is built around analytics and, as the source material notes, pace the division. Columbus, by comparison, looks like it is still operating with a late-90s or early-2000s mindset - which happens to line up with when many of the people in charge were in their primes.
The Blue Jackets’ own website lists an analytics department, but the setup is thin: one analytics guy and a couple of consultants. That is a far cry from what other division rivals appear to have in place.
The source material makes clear this is not a full embrace of analytics for its own sake. The point is that the modern teams seem to be getting more out of the combination of data and traditional scouting.
The author even says, “I will be the first guy to admit that I’m not big on analytics. As someone who has long been in the scouting community, I’m an "eye test" torch bearer.
However, I’m also smart enough to admit that whatever these analytically driven teams are doing is clearly working. My modern admittance is that you need both to really compete, and the two teams I just mentioned seem to have it figured out.”
Carolina is the clearest example. Waddell helped assemble the roster that won the Stanley Cup last year, but the source argues it is hard to ignore that the Hurricanes never got over the hump with him running things.
Once he was gone, the franchise took a major swing at Mikko Rantanen. When that didn’t work, they pivoted and turned him into assets that pushed them from fringe contender to the top of the league.
New Jersey is presented as another model. A quick look at its staff directory shows a broad analytics department with several specific roles listed, which is a stark contrast to the Blue Jackets’ much smaller setup.
The same gap shows up in scouting. Columbus’ staff directory includes a director of scouting, Basil McCrae, a scouting manager, Jim Viers, and directors of European and amateur scouting, Ville Siren and Trevor Timmins.
Beyond that, the Blue Jackets list four pro scouts and six amateur scouts, plus some consultants. The Devils, by comparison, list 22 people in their scouting department.
That shortage is part of the broader criticism: Columbus simply does not look strong enough in the areas that help teams identify and build talent.
There is also the question of money. Waddell can only do so much with the resources he has, and the source suggests ownership deserves some of the blame.
Still, the hires he has made include Laurence Gilman as vice president of hockey operations. Gilman is 61 and has worked in front offices for more than 30 years, which fits the same pattern of experience over innovation.
The end result, according to the source, is an organization that remains stuck in the past while other teams adapt. That leaves Columbus with a slow, middle-of-the-pack roster whose ceiling appears to be a run at a wild-card spot.
Behind the bench is the next piece of the discussion, and the source points to Carolina again as proof Waddell has been able to make the right coaching call before. He put Rod Brind’Amour in place there. The question now is whether he has done the same for the Blue Jackets.
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Blue Jackets Suddenly Need Answers On Sean Monahan
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The immediate concern now is how long Monahan might be unavailable and what it means for a lineup that already had to adjust on the fly. Columbus did not have him back for the rest of the game, and with the team looking for stability up front, any absence from a center with his experience would force another round of shuffling at a time when the Blue Jackets need answers more than they need another question. [Read more 🡒]