Don Waddell will head the Blue Jackets hockey operations staff following the club’s three-month search to find a replacement for Jarmo Kekalainen.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets’ search for GM expands to identify new steward, Don Waddell | Arace
On Tuesday, Waddell was named the Jackets’ president of hockey operations and general manager. Waddell, 65, is now in charge of handling a busy and critical Blue Jackets offseason, as former president of hockey operations John Davidson slides into a senior advisory role. After handling the same job with the Carolina Hurricanes for the past six seasons and leading the business side for that franchise since 2014, Waddell carries a wealth of executive experience into his new role.
He’s been a GM for two prior NHL franchises, has experience handling the business aspects of professional sports and now looks to take Kekalainen’s rebuild effort to new stages of growth.
So, who is Don Waddell?
Here are five things to know about the Blue Jackets’ new head of hockey operations, GM and alternate governor:
Don Waddell brings extensive resume to Columbus Blue Jackets
The first three Blue Jackets’ GMs had one thing in common.
Doug MacLean, Scott Howson and Kekelainen were all first-time GMs at the NHL level. That’s not the case with Waddell, who’s in his third stint acting in a president/GM capacity with an NHL team — the previous two with the Atlanta Thrashers (1998-2010) and Hurricanes (2018-24).
Waddell started as team president with Carolina in 2014 before adding GM responsibilities four years later. He also has experience as a coach, scout and player at the professional level, including multiple president/GM roles in the minor leagues.
His experience is one of the biggest reasons the Blue Jackets picked him, and Columbus managed to fill its top two hockey executive spots in one swoop. Waddell essentially replaces both Kekalainen and Davidson, and his experience managing business interests for NHL teams meshes with that side of the Blue Jackets’ front office.
Columbus Blue Jackets’ president of hockey operations/GM Don Waddell struggled running Atlanta Thrashers
Waddell spent 10 years as the first president/GM of the expansion Atlanta Thrashers before they were sold and moved to Winnipeg. He was hired after spending one year with the Detroit Red Wings as an assistant GM during a Stanley Cup championship in 1997-98.
During Waddell’s decade in Atlanta, the Thrashers went 308-401-66 with 45 ties, including one…
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