Don Waddell Press Conference. | Columbus Blue Jackets (06/20/24)

Don Waddell Press Conference. | Columbus Blue Jackets (06/20/24)

e e e e e sure three testing one two three testing one two three testing one two three testing one two three check check check check testing one two three testing one two 3 a b c e e e com e e e e e e e e morning everybody thanks for coming um we’ve obviously had some news this week which Don will talk about but I want to take this opportunity while everybody’s here too to remind you of some upcoming dates the NHL calendar and team calendar as well for some things that are going on so next Thursday the 27th is NHL awards it’s going to be on ESPN uh 7 Eastern uh time um on the 28th is the NHL draft first round that also starts at 7 Eastern we’ll have our annual draft party at pinan in uh we’ve got a fourth overall pick and the second day um of the draft rounds 2 through 7 will be the 29th starting at 11:30 a.m. now we have seven overall picks our second round pick we have the option we can either keep it or send it to Philadelphia as part of the uh prover off trade so we we make that call after the first round so that’s kind of where we are uh prepping for the draft uh right after that we come back Monday the first free agency start starts uh we also have uh development Camp starting that day but the first day on ice for development Camp will be the second and that’ll go through the fifth so and then we expect uh hopefully the end of July probably start to have some pre-sale opportunities for Stadium Series and we should know by then uh actual on sale for that so um obviously this week’s news Don I’ll take your questions there but this is also a great opportunity to talk about some other things as he heads um to Vegas next week so yes Mr portzline welcome back you is development here yeah it’ll be in the ice house yeah so uh with that bring Don up take your questions if you have one please uh raise your hand and we’ll get you a mic thanks Tod welcome everybody have had it we haven’t been able to do this Don when you um I’m not sure how far along you are in your talks with line and and a trade that has been discussed are you of the assumption that you’ll be taking money back on that or how tricky do you think that deal is going to be well it’s too early uh you know obviously um we’re still working with his uh agent Andy Scott you know he’s still u in the program and once he gets out then which we expect any day sometime soon then cuz teams that I’ve talked about you know they want to talk with them if uh they’re going to make a move move so you know it’s too early to say about money you know our hope is that uh uh that we wouldn’t have to hold money you know we want to make a hockey trade if we can and we’ll certainly exhaust every opportunity and and every team that potentially has interest in it have you given Andy Scott permission to make the trade or you handling all that well we’ve given Andy permission to talk about the player his condition and everything else but no he’s not making the trade Joe Don can you share a little bit how the process played out these last few weeks and the decision to make the change at head coach yeah you know as I said the first day I was here that uh you know Pascal’s uh the coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets and i’ never met Pascal you know and so I wanted to make sure I did my due diligence as the general manager to make sure that uh we made the right decision about uh moving forward so you know it took a couple weeks obviously ly uh met with them multiple times and you know at the end of the day it was my decision that uh felt that we need to go in a different direction you know the you know and I’ve said pretty publicly that uh you know we’ve been through uh some younger coaches for different reasons and I think right now we need to look at an experienced coach to come in here do you have a couple names in mind already or are you going in this Blank Slate just interviews are going to be what decides it yeah no I have so this will be the process just so we know um we’re the only team in the NHL looking for head coach the guys that are available today are going to be available tomorrow so we’re a group of us are talking to general managers players uh my list is 12 people actually right now we’re not going to interview 12 people we’re going to do our due diligence uh very thoroughly and once we get to a point that we’re all comfortable of uh uh interviewing then we’ll start interviewing whether that be three or four people at the end but right now we got a little window here to make sure we get this right and the best way to get it right is make sure we uh unturn every rock that we possibly can about anybody that’s available that we want to coach this team Mark Don how many play of the current Blue Jackets players have you had a chance to speak to and then how much of an impact has their input have on like the the Vincent decision and some other decisions that might be coming up Co players don’t have any uh say in who’s coaching his hockey team um I just think that you know if you go back in history there’s players that like coaches don’t like coaches so um you know when I did have talked about probably 15 players so far um it’s more about how they felt their season went and you know what what what how their summer is going what what we have to look forward to for for next year so um you know I always say that uh managers manage coaches coach players play and you know that’s what we want to make sure the focus for the players is right now training for the upcoming season to be best prepared as possible hey Don um going back to line a really quick uh is it a mutual thing that where the team and the player and the agent all kind of feel like a trade might be the best option or is there a chance would you like to talk to him as well about potentially staying yeah no I I think right now uh we’re out playing nice to the sandbox and until we get to a point where you know decision have to be made you know maybe there’s not something out there that makes sense for us you know then then we have to cross that bridge you know so uh right now you know they’ve expressed their their View and we said that we will certainly look at all our options uh and spoke to Andy again yesterday about this um but you can’t rule out if there if the options are limited or there’s no options that that make any sense then you know that we’ll have to deal with that next um you’re looking for a veteran coach in the event that Joel quinnville is cleared by the NHL to return would he be considered I’m not going to probably not my best interest to talk about what might happen you know obviously we all know that Joel is still uh held back by the league I think I’ll leave it to the league to maybe eventually answer that question Don what’s your definition of experience in terms of Coach um coach has five years a head coach in AHL and maybe a couple in the NHL as opposed to a 10year NHL does he have to have NHL head coaching experience a great question uh I believe they do at this point um there’s a lot of good coaches out there uh at every level uh including the ex guys that are have coaching NHL and I just think you know talking with everybody here and kind of getting my finger on the pulse the last three weeks that we need somebody that’s been in this chair before that has coached in the NHL so and we has some good choices there want to ask a little bit more of a general question you came in here about 3 weeks ago and probably had a mile long to-do list as far as meeing people making decisions things like that just want to get a sense of what these first three weeks have been like how much progress do you think you’ve made and and do you feel comfortable where you’re at going into what’s now a pretty big portion of the calendar with the drafting for agency well this is probably longer now but um you know it’s been it’s been a great three weeks first of all we got you know I didn’t know everybody here but everybody got to know we there’s really good people here and when you have good people that have the same common goal you can find a way to have success together so I’ve spent a lot of time obviously with the hockey operations people um not everybody yet because I haven’t had uh a chance but we had Pro scouting last week we had amateur scouting the week before um so you know as I said three weeks ago we know we have some things we have to focus on the draft you know I talk about the coaching initially the draft and then we have free agency so you know this preparation uh for the draft is is critical uh for this franchise the fourth pick overall is a an important pick and we have to make sure we get it right so there’s a lot lot of focus on that right now and we’ll do a lot of more interviews next week in Vegas with the top players uh but I think everything’s moving along U I’m happy with the progress we’ve made and you can’t do this like I said you can’t do this job alone you need to have to surround yourself with good people and that’s what we’ve done here you had said that you thought things here were closer than probably most do does that make your approach to this offseason more aggressive that’s uh interesting because aggressive is uh is probably not um what I how I look at it you know we have a lot a lot of good pieces here do we like to upgrade at certain spots absolutely 100% but you know if you get too aggressive you the whole thing about you know if you’re going to do things is make sure that’s right pieces going out if you’re making trades we all know you have to give something up to get uh to make a trade to get another player so I don’t know if it’s uh as aggressive as you might be at a trade deadline or something like that or um I think it’s more making sure that what whatever we’re doing it we’re feel like we’re getting fair value for from a trade front and and and same with free agency you know free agency is going to be uh uh interesting this year because a lot of teams have a lot of cap space because of the cap going up and all that means it’s you know salaries could get more inflated um so we will pay attention to that but I I can’t say that we we need to be real aggressive I think anytime you’re trying to build your hockey team and add to your team you just got to make sure you have the right process in place and if you have the right process surround yourself with the right people those decisions come easier Don you already made a decision on Pascal I’m just wondering how have the interactions with the other staff been and will the process be any different in how you may evaluate them when you say the other staff the assistant coaches assistant coaches assist yeah no everybody I’ve told everybody right now the assistant coaches no decisions be made on them till we hire a head coach and then we’ll go from there I’ve met with the assistant coaches uh the ones here in town uh Mark’s not here in town and uh um you know we all know when coaches are are hired head coaches a lot of times they have somebody they want to bring with them uh we’ll see we don’t know uh if that’s going to happen or not but you know the guys that I’ve talked to here you got a good support staff here um you know again is going to be the head coach is going to have some major say in uh uh who his assistants are of course well well your answer that question um in terms of the pitch to the coaches what do you tell them about Columbus and this team that the selling points to get them here I don’t think you know Co I don’t think you have to sell coaches for this reason it’s the same thing I said at the opening press conference there’s a lot of good pieces here and if you’re a coach they they know the roster you know they all of them coached last year probably that we’re talking to her for the most part they they know what we have here so the SE the selling part is uh I think if they do their homework they’re going to sell themselves things we can talk about is you know a lot of them haven’t been in our facilities and I mentioned it before the facilities here are first class that may be the best in the league um you know I’ve been here this over three weeks and it’s a good city it’s a really good City city um you know found my way around pretty good around here um so that that’s more the family maybe life would be the selling point I think the hockey will sell itself um the fourth overall pick have you uh received have you received a lot of interest you know from your fellow GMS and maybe obtaining that and in since you’ve been here you’ve had a chance to to meet with the amateur scouting staff and all that is the feeling that if there was the right deal out there that you could still get you know a player that you’d really be excited about if you moved back yeah um there’s been some talk you know I know next week is really were really picks up but uh it’s uh an interesting draft this year because if you just look at the experts out there which is you guys the media um you know they talk about you know sabrini being one and then after that two through seven or eight there’s different lists that you look at they’re all different so there’s been uh some teams uh uh you know even around us are talking about trying to move back a little bit um if you’re going to get a nice asset with it so uh there there there’s chatter going on but I expect that to really pick up next week and again we’re open we’re open you know we’re if we keep the pick we’re going to get a great player and if we trade the pick it’s going to it’s going to have to be a great deal for us I know you said the candidates will still be the candidates tomorrow but do you have a timeline for wanting to get a coach in place well not not exactly because with the draft next week uh I’m hoping to use the next three or four days to uh with my staff to uh really dig into this group of available coaches and if everything goes well then you know hopefully in the next week or so around the draft we will be able to uh meet with people and uh keep the process going forward Don how do you view free agency this year it hasn’t been a a major event here for the last couple years with all of the young players coming in do you look at it and think maybe you can fill a void this year or how do you view it you know we’ve all we just had Pro means last week uh uh you know I don’t think there’s any game changers if that’s what we’re looking for there maybe some spots that we want to address uh uh um you know the bottom six forwards maybe and an defenseman um so I I don’t look at it being that um you know we’re going to get a major Game Changer on on during free agency uh but you know I think there’s some things we’d like to add for sure Don just wondering about the end of the monster season the great season that they had down there how much were you able to get the watch out and how important will they be moving forward from a development standpoint well whenever you get to play as many games they lose in Conference Finals in game seven after being down three and lost all four games in overtime which is a remarkable run um you know I did get to Cleveland did not make it to Hershey but uh watched all the games on TV I think development is critical for the long-term success we talked before about having the opportunity that we want to be able to sustain sustain success and you’re going to do that by having a good farm system you know drafting well developing your players getting them in the farm system because we all know you can’t continue to build your team uh through free agency you can’t build your team eventually you got to turn some players cuz salaries get out of whack so you always have to have a pipe on a players coming so the American League is a you know it’s a great league and being able to uh play like we did this year as many playoff games is great experience I’ve used different examples of through my career where you know players we won one year when I was in Carolina and Charlotte and our guys got to play 27 play games you know it’s more in a quarter of the season and I don’t care what level you’re playing at you’re playing the playoffs it’s hard hockey so to me this is uh this he’d like to win but it was a great run for him uh pory asked about free agency so ask just about your thoughts on the draft I think every GM has to have a pretty good amount of trust in the amp Scouts and guys like da that you’re now working with uh just what’s the process been like getting to know them and just in general I mean how much input do you generally as a GM want to have on a draft probably just the top end of it probably yeah it’s this is what these guys do all year Billy and his staff and Trevor uh entire amateur staff um you know you get into the draft there’s it’s hard it’s hard and they’ve done a good job here that’s that’s what you look at uh the players they’ve selected when when you’re talking about a top pick I think it’s important for me to make sure that I know all those players because uh you know like I I’ve said when you have the fourth pick in the draft you got to hit it right and it’s going to be a big decision for all of us to make but that’s why we will even interview all these guys again we’ve already interviewed them once I have not I wasn’t in at the combine uh so we’ll make sure we interview all those top guys again know the week of the draft just and and that’s not going to change a whole lot you know what you know I did have one player one time a top player who uh said to me he didn’t like hockey but he was looking forward to make can buy a new car something like that and he never played a game in the NHL either by the way it was drafted in the first round not by me uh so I think it’s uh I think that that pick is important for all of us to do as much homework as we can on it so that we get it [Music] right just uh Curious there’s that event uh going down in Florida I believe with the gold star did you guys send anyone down there do you have anyone there kind of watching those prospects I think those guys were not either a lot of them were not the the combines yeah no that’s most of the Russians down there yes that’s your question I believe we have at least three people down there um uh and uh they got some top guys obviously that you know being this year over in Russia was our North American or even our European Scouts unless they live in Russia didn’t have that opportunity to watch them live so it was important uh you dad milstein does a good job with his guys down there so yes to answer your question we do have people down there I’ll go a little bit further down the road but Todd mentioned the Stadium Series again coming up and your first press conference you mentioned how that was one of the more memorable events of your career just what made it kind of stand out in that way and I imagine being on the business side too you had a lot to do with it what was like putting together an event like that as well well I know Catherine’s here she’s got a lot of work to do in front of her so uh you know it took I just can’t say enough I mean we had to perfect it was 40° uh playing in another football stadium uh and to me these are once in a-lifetime experiences with your home team yeah if you want to go and see them someplace else but with your home team so you know I believe we call it the Horseshoe I’m learning I could never mention that m word again people say where you from I’m from Detroit United States so uh but you know this kind of experience I I can’t say it you know there’s the NHL along with the Blue Jackets are going to do such a great job of the from everything the the game is important because it counts in the standings uh but the entertainment and what surrounds the the the event um is also very a great experience I I again I think we have over 120,000 deposits on tickets right now and so it it’s I promise you you’ll enjoy it of all the things you have to squeeze into what you’re doing there’s some figuring out contracts a lot of rfas have you had time to do that or is that going to be more of a priority after all like the draft and the start free agency no we we’re we’re starting those conversations uh Josh and I had a conversation with the agent today that uh represents a couple players so know you you CU I’ve said before there’s not a rush on some of these players but the ones that you that have our rights if uh at least we want to get out in front of it to find out where what the the player and the agent are thinking so we have started those conversations couple here on Zoom so start with go ahead all right thank you Todd um hello Don uh I one of the names that surfaced uh the last few days is Bob Harley uh I know you cannot discuss coaches who have contracts elsewhere Bob is uh free as a bird he says he’s joining Life playing pickle ball I just wanted to know if he is uh one of the guys on your on your list uh given how far back you guys go back yeah Bob because you said he doesn’t have a contract he has reached out to me I have not spoken to him yet and you know we’ll this is all part of our due diligence with uh the you know eventually I got to make a decision but there’s going to be a lot of people in that process making a decision so as as well as I know Bob some of my other people that will be involved don’t know Bob so we’ll we’ll see we’re we’re not going to I’m not going to say who we’re going to interview yet for sure uh we’ll know that in the next little bit uh but Bob’s name certainly has come up and as everybody knows was a coach for me I think for five years in Atlanta so would would you consider him for other positions than head coach as well if uh if you decide to go another way for the the main job you know I I haven’t even thought one second about that so that’d be a tough answer to give you right now okay and just the last one for me but uh in the interview that you gave to uh to Brian uh you mentioned that you couldn’t get past some some things in your process with uh with with Pascal with some of the stuff some the some of the stuff that had happened uh this can mean a lot of things so I just wanted to see if you could clarify a little bit what kind of things you couldn’t get past with uh with Pascal and his relationship with the team yeah no I I don’t want to get into our discussions you know I just uh to me uh you know the bottom line was uh we’re we’re result oriented business and the decision was made that uh I just felt that we needed to go in another Direction and and you know the conversation Pascal and I had I think should remain between the two of us all next we go to Dave metel go ahead hey Don uh checking in from way up north in the woods in your home state here it’s beautiful up here right now uh I want to ask you about injuries they are a part of the game obviously but but such a glaring stat when it comes to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the last two years is there anything that you can do at this time of year to address that situation as as you head into a season you obviously don’t want to have those kind of numbers again no I’ve actually uh I have a list that uh was sent to me about all our injuries the last two or three years CU you’re looking for some kind of pattern or something and we had a lot of freak injuries you know the fentii uh last duration you know a lot a lot of things that just you you can’t prepare for and train for but it’s something that we have talked about and uh you know going forward I think the part right now you know with the with players is you know their training uh cycle during the summertime and we put a lot of resources into that this summer we have our our uh our trainers and strength coach and and uh traveling around meeting with all the players and meeting with who they’re training with so I think there’s been a big step already taken to try to get the players to prepare for uh the season and you know we’re only in June right now but the reports that we were getting back from every that everybody’s really doing well uh Health shouldn’t be an issue with anybody at this point and you know we want to just monitor their what they’re doing with their trainers and by the time they get here it’ll be ready to roll so we’re aware of it and but I think it all comes down to pre preparation during the summertime and the other question I have for you I know that the fans aren’t going to make any decisions for you on contracts or coaches or that type of thing but you have met with some fans how valuable has that been for you just in understanding the culture here and and what their expectations are and how much of an important piece they are for you no I mean hey without them we don’t have a business right so uh the fans are are are critical for our business I’m a big believer of of you you have to connect with your uh your fans and I’ve always been that way for my whole career both as a player manager and everything so um it it’s been outstanding I’ve been to a couple went to one watch party couple season ticket holder events here at the building and just being around town uh people have been uh very very uh friendly some have given me some good thoughts for sure uh the one the one thing that everybody uh has picked up on is if I’m trying to get rid of the cannon and I keep saying I love the Canada now I hated the Canada but I love the Canada now so now we’ve had some fun it’s been fun being in the community for sure for the last couple weeks all right that’s it great thank you everybody look forward to seeing you down the road

President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Don Waddell meets with the media at Nationwide Arena.