Blue Jackets Expected To Tab Don Waddell President Of Hockey Ops

Blue Jackets Expected To Tab Don Waddell President Of Hockey Ops

It turns out Don Waddell did have another job lined up. Waddell just straight up quit and walked away from his GM job with the Carolina Hurricanes. He’s quickly found a new home and is expected to be named as the new President of Hockey Operations for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic broke the news here:

Nothing is finalized yet but hearing that Don Waddell is the Blue Jackets’ choice to take over the top hockey ops job in Columbus.
If things proceed smoothly, should see an announcement over the coming week. @TSNHockey @TheAthletic

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 25, 2024

Before we jump into this, can we take a quick timeout and talk about how insane it is to walk away from the Hurricanes so you can take over the poo poo platter that is the Columbus Blue Jackets? If that doesn’t shed some light on how dysfunctional things are in Carolina, I don’t know what more you need to see. Something is going over there and I’m sure Waddell is sick and tired of the team crying poor.

The Blue Jackets haven’t made the playoffs in four straight seasons. They also don’t have much to work with minus young center Adam Fantilli. They also have a lame duck at head coach that they need to figure out.

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Just such a wild turn of events. That Carolina team is so loaded and Waddell just walked away from all of it. Walked away from it to take over a team in a market nobody wants to play for minus delusional Johnny Gaudreau. Waddell certainly has his work cut out for him in his new job in Columbus. That much is certain.

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