Don Waddell's Columbus Blue Jackets best songs as GM – Hockey Writers – Blue Jackets Management

The Columbus Blue Jackets have a new general manager (GM). Don Waddell has nearly 40 years of experience managing hockey teams in various leagues. He has been in the NHL since 1997-98 when he was the assistant general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. He spent one season there – winning the Stanley Cup – before taking over as GM of the expansion Atlanta Thrashers. He coached the franchise throughout its tenure in Georgia, opting not to move to Winnipeg in 2011.

Waddell took on a scouting role with the Pittsburgh Penguins for a few seasons before moving to North Carolina to become the president of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2014-15. He replaced Ron Francis as GM in 2018-19 and has led the team in making the most three-pointers in the NHL (278) behind the Boston Bruins (289) and Tampa Bay Lightning (283). He stepped down as GM in Carolina on May 24, and was hired by the Blue Jackets as president and GM four days later. During his time as GM, he was not afraid to swing for the fences, make many trades and draft many players. Let's take a look at some of his best moves.

Acquiring First Round Pick Patrick Marleau

With the Hurricanes in 2019, Waddell showed the ability and willingness to turn his salary cap into an asset. The perennially tied Toronto Maple Leafs are in a pickle with an increasing annual value (AAV) for 39-year-old Patrick Marleau. Nothing against Marleau, but at that age, he wasn't boxing in the weight class of a $6.25 million player. The Maple Leafs were looking for a team to unload a veteran on and would pay a small fee to do so. Enter Waddell and the Hurricanes.

They traded a sixth round pick to the Maple Leafs for Marleau, a 2020 first round pick, and a seventh round pick. Then they bought him quickly, eating a cap penalty to get a first and seventh round pick. While the seventh round went nowhere, the first round went 13th and with that pick, Carolina drafted Seth Jarvis. This past season was Jarvis' only season with 33 goals and 67 points and the 22-year-old looks like a key piece of their team's future. He wouldn't be there without a risky move from Waddell and his team.

Hiring Rod Brind'Amour as Hurricanes head coach

One of the first things Waddell did when he took over as GM of the Hurricanes was to make a change in the head coaching position. Bill Peters was the bench manager for a few seasons with little success. In four campaigns without the playoffs and never winning more than 36 games in a season, he was shown the door and Waddell replaced him with their coach and franchise legend as a player, Rod Brind'Amour.

It was a rapid development for the club, making the playoffs and winning its way to the Eastern Conference Final in Brind'Amour's first season. In all, he led the team to the playoffs in his six seasons as a head coach and won seven playoff series in that span. In Carolina, Waddell showed the importance of a head coach and that he was willing to make a change soon after being hired.

Trading Dany Heatley for Marian Hossa

During the 2004-05 offseason, Waddell and the Thrashers had a difficult decision to make regarding Danny Heatley. Before the 2003-04 season, their young star was driving his Ferrari through a brick and steel fence. The collision ejected him and teammate Dan Snyder from the car, resulting in the tragic loss of Snyder's life. Heatley spent the first half of that season recovering and returned to play in 31 games.

Related: The Marian Hossa by Dany Heatley Trade, Revisited

Then the lockout hit and everyone missed the entire season. Heatley went to play overseas in Switzerland and Russia and came back with a desire to be traded from Atlanta in hopes of starting over. Waddell accepted the offer and sent Heatley to the Ottawa Senators for Marian Hossa and Greg de Vries.

The trade was very rewarding for everyone involved. Heatley got the fresh start he needed, scoring 50 goals over the next two seasons and 362 points in 317 total games. de Vries was a shortstop for the Thrashers, scoring 35 points and 24 in a deep role over two seasons. Hossa has been a leader for the Thrashers offensively for three seasons, including a 100-point campaign, forming an impressive triumvirate with Vyacheslav Kozlov and Ilya Kovalchuk. Hossa's production wasn't far behind Heatley's, with 248 points in 222 games in Atlanta. Waddell made the best of a bad situation and got good value from one of their young players asking for a change of position.

Honorable Mentions

• Drafting Tobias Enstrom 239th overall
• Trading Ruslan Zaynullin for Marc Savard from the Calgary Flames
• Trade of Vyacheslav Kozlov from the Buffalo Sabres
• Trading Brady Skjei to the New York Rangers

Those are just a few of the best decisions in the 20-year career of the Blue Jackets' new GM. Of course, not all of the decisions he made were taken home, so I will be releasing another article covering some of his mistakes. What is clear for the Blue Jackets is that since Waddell has extensive management experience in the NHL, there are few situations that he will not be prepared for.