The Columbus Blue Jackets have hired Jarmo Kekalainen as the club's new general manager.
The move comes one day after the team fired executive vice president and former general manager Scott Howson. Kekelainen, 46, previously worked under new Columbus team president of hockey operations John Davidson as assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting when Davidson ran the St. Louis Blues. During the last few years, Kekelainen was working as the general manager of Jokerit in Finland. According to NHL.com, Kekelainen becomes the first European general manager in the history of the NHL.
"It's something I said when I got here, that I'd watch and evaluate," Davidson stated after making the decision to let Howson go. "I wanted to make a change in that area. I've been thinking more and more about it in recent days. It's a hard thing, but something I felt in my gut I needed to do."
Howson's tenure was dominated by losing seasons. Since the manager was hired in 2007, the Blue Jackets have compiled a record of 173-190-59 and only made the playoffs once; that season came in 2008-09 when Columbus had a 41-31-10 mark. During the first round of the playoffs, Columbus was swept four games to zero by the Detroit Red Wings. This season, the Jackets had gotten off to a 4-7-2 start and looked headed toward another losing season.
In addition to the losing season, many of Howson's trades and signing were questioned. During the 2009-10 season, Howson fired head coach Ken Hitchcock after 58 games. Hitchcock was hired by the St. Louis Blues in 2011-12 and led the club to the Central Division title. During the 2011 off-season, Howson acquired Jeff Carter from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Jakub Voracek and Columbus' first-round draft pick. The Flyers would draft Sean Couturier and make a run at the playoffs. Columbus would ship Jeff Carter to the Los Angeles Kings just months later and only obtain a first round draft pick and defenseman Jack Johnson in return. During the summer of 2012, Howson traded superstar Rick Nash to the New York Rangers in exchange for Tim Erixon, Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, and a first round draft pick. Most pundits claimed that Howson lost the deal and thought that he could have acquired more from the Rangers for their franchise star.