Toronto Maple Leafs: Ranking All 32 NHL General Managers
By Jeff Borsuk
The 23rd Ranked GM – Jarmo Kekalainen (Columbus Blue Jackets)
The Columbus Blue Jackets are an exciting team to watch off the ice thanks to their longtime general manager Jarmo Kekalainen. He has been in the position for nearly eight and a half years. In that time, he has made a lot of decisions that have both helped and hurt the organization.
The Good – Kekalainen’s best moves both include Brandon Saad. The GM made a massive seven-player deal in June of 2015 with the Blackhawks. Kekalainen acquired Saad along with with Alex Broadhurst and Michael Paliotta in exchange for Artem Anisimov, Marko Dano, Jeremy Morin, Corey Tropp, and a fourth-round draft pick in 2016, which was later traded to the Islanders who used the pick to select Anatoli Golyshev. Saad instantly became successful in Columbus and even made the All-Star team.
Kekalainen made a great decision after seeing Saad thrive. After just two seasons together, the general manager flipped the winger back to Chicago in a package to get a point producing machine, Artemi Panarin.
The Bad – In 2014, Kekalainen was on the losing end of a trade. He sent Marian Gaborik to the Los Angeles Kings for Matt Frattin and an pair of draft picks. In Gaborik’s first year with the Kings, he exploded for 27 goals and 20 assists, looking more like the player he was when he played for the New York Rangers.
The Ugly – The deal that Kekalainen made this January to acquire Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois and a 2022 third-round draft pick, first looked like it was a steal for Columbus. It got ugly when Kekalainen allowed his coach, John Tortorella, to bench and repeatedly punish the team’s new sniper.
Totorella is polarizing figure in hockey but his coaching style has a shelf life. It appears as though it has expired in with the Blue Jackets, yet Kekalainen hasn’t yet removed Torts from the role. This season, he led the team to a record of 18-26 while continuing to make negative headlines for his coaching decisions.