On Tuesday, Craig Custance of The Athletic published the results of a poll conducted among 22 NHL player agents. Custance asked the agents questions ranging from “Will NHL players be playing in the next Winter Olympics?” and “What grade would you give Gary Bettman?” The results of one question, though, struck me as particularly interesting: “What GM do you find unreasonable to deal with?”
Out of 22 responses, Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen finished in a four-way tie for third. OK, so that totaled two votes, but the top vote-getter (Bob Murray) only received four. The anonymous quotes shed a little more light on what’s so irksome about conducting business with Jarmo:
“Jarmo Kekalainen (Blue Jackets). It’s because Jarmo is an enigma. I never can figure out what’s going on with him. He will only speak with vague generalities and always present things like, ‘This is the way it is. And why are you disagreeing with me?’”
“Jarmo Kekalainen … can’t even hide his disdain sometimes if he doesn’t like a situation.”
It’s important to note that it’s not like these agents hate Kekäläinen and refuse to do business with him (or anybody else on the list). As Custance wrote, “This wasn’t an attempt to make GMs look bad. Just an attempt to get a glimpse into their negotiating style. Who digs in and doesn’t budge?”
Several of the quotes about other GMs are to the effect of “This guy’s a real hard negotiator and he’s doing his job,” not “This man is human garbage and I hope he falls down a well.”
I like how different those two quotes about Kekäläinen are, yet how much they work for me. For one person, Kekäläinen is inscrutable and refuses to engage on the agent’s terms. For another, Kekäläinen wears his disgust so openly that it’s impossible to miss.
As a fan of the team Kekäläinen is charge of, this is good to me. I want players to make as money as they can, and I also want the team to win games. One of Kekäläinen main job responsibilities is to negotiate, so it would seem beneficial to be, y’know, hard to read during a negotiation.
Two particular negotiations came to mind, most recently Josh Anderson’s restricted free agent deal in 2017. Anderson famously missed the entire preseason in pursuit of a bigger contract, only to settle on the club’s original $5.5 million/three year deal that expires after this season. That protracted, messy affair where the CBJ wielded “the hammer” ended up working out for Kekäläinen and the club (and I wonder for whom Anderson’s agent, Darren Ferris, voted here).
Kekäläinen also dealt with a similar situation at the start of the 2014 season when Ryan Johansen missed the preseason over his RFA deal. Johansen ended up getting a $12 million/three year contract but was subsequently traded halfway through the following season (but boy did that trade work out). Kekäläinen almost certainly learned some lessons from the Johansen negotiation that applied to Anderson.
Of course, Anderson may be gone in a matter of weeks. He’s yet to find the same level of his dynamic 2018-19 campaign, and while both sides say there are no lingering feelings from those contentious talks three years ago, they probably didn’t help.
You also wonder about Columbus’s exodus of free agents. None of the team’s big four re-signed over the summer, and the team even threw everything it had at Artemi Panarin. The team also may have botched its relationship with Sergei Bobrovsky, although that clearly doesn’t matter anymore. What role does Jarmo’s approach play in wooing UFAs?
This team also doesn’t really sign unrestricted free agents, either. Certainly not big ones, anyway. Here are all the unrestricted free agents signed by the Blue Jackets under Jarmo Kekäläinen, per CapFriendly.com. Take a look, y’all.
UFA Signings in the Jarmo Era
| Name | Signing Date | Length | Cap Hit | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nathan Gerbe | February 2, 2020 | 2 Years | $750,000 | $1,500,000 |
| Marko Dano | August 8, 2019 | 1 Year | $800,000 | $800,000 |
| Gustav Nyquist | July 1, 2019 | 4 Years | $5,500,000 | $22,000,000 |
| Zac Dalpe | February 27, 2019 | 2 Years | $750,000 | $1,500,000 |
| Mark Letestu | September 27, 2018 | 1 Year | $750,000 | $750,000 |
| Anthony Duclair | July 5, 2018 | 1 Year | $650,000 | $650,000 |
| Riley Nash | July 1, 2018 | 3 Years | $2,750,000 | $8,250,000 |
| Adam Clendening | July 1, 2018 | 1 Year | $700,000 | $700,000 |
| Dillon Simpson | July 1, 2018 | 2 Years | $675,000 | $1,350,000 |
| Tommy Cross | July 1, 2018 | 1 Year | $650,000 | $650,000 |
| Alex Broadhurst | June 18, 2018 | 1 Year | $725,000 | $725,000 |
| Nathan Gerbe | March 15, 2018 | 2 Years | $675,000 | $1,350,000 |
| Nathan Gerbe | January 25, 2018 | 1 Year | $750,000 | $750,000 |
| Cam Atkinson | November 16, 2017 | 7 Years | $5,875,000 | $41,125,000 |
| André Benoit | July 1, 2017 | 1 Year | $800,000 | $800,000 |
| Cameron Gaunce | July 1, 2017 | 1 Year | $650,000 | $650,000 |
| Zac Dalpe | June 9, 2017 | 2 Years | $725,000 | $1,450,000 |
| Marc-Andre Bergeron | February 28, 2017 | 1 Year | $575,000 | $575,000 |
| Sam Gagner | August 1, 2016 | 1 Year | $650,000 | $650,000 |
| John Ramage | March 2, 2016 | 2 Years | $612,500 | $1,225,000 |
| John Ramage | July 3, 2015 | 1 Year | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Brett Gallant | July 2, 2015 | 2 Years | $750,000 | $1,500,000 |
| Andrew Bodnarchuk | July 2, 2015 | 1 Year | $650,000 | $650,000 |
| Jaime Sifers | July 2, 2015 | 2 Years | $625,000 | $1,250,000 |
| Gregory Campbell | July 1, 2015 | 2 Years | $1,500,000 | $3,000,000 |
| Curtis McElhinney | June 24, 2015 | 2 Years | $800,000 | $1,600,000 |
| Justin Falk | May 31, 2015 | 1 Year | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Nick Foligno | December 31, 2014 | 6 Years | $5,500,000 | $33,000,000 |
| Brandon Dubinsky | July 11, 2014 | 6 Years | $5,850,000 | $35,100,000 |
| Brian Gibbons | July 4, 2014 | 1 Year | $750,000 | $750,000 |
| Frédéric St-Denis | June 30, 2014 | 1 Year | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Curtis McElhinney | June 23, 2014 | 1 Year | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Jared Boll | September 14, 2013 | 3 Years | $1,700,000 | $5,100,000 |
| Blake Comeau | August 2, 2013 | 1 Year | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Jack Skille | July 7, 2013 | 1 Year | $675,000 | $675,000 |
| Frédéric St-Denis | July 7, 2013 | 1 Year | $575,000 | $575,000 |
| Patrick McNeill | July 6, 2013 | 1 Year | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Nathan Horton | July 5, 2013 | 7 Years | $5,300,000 | $37,100,000 |
| Ryan Craig | July 5, 2013 | 2 Years | $600,000 | $1,200,000 |
| Mike McKenna | July 5, 2013 | 1 Year | $595,000 | $595,000 |
| Cody Bass | July 4, 2013 | 1 Year | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Curtis McElhinney | May 24, 2013 | 1 Year | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Mark Letestu | April 2, 2013 | 2 Years | $1,250,000 | $2,500,000 |
Look at that! Gustav Nyquist is the biggest free agent that didn’t already come from the Blue Jackets. That’s a wild list. This team does not sign unrestricted free agents from other teams. Is that Jarmo? Is that a function of the market, the coach, the city’s reputation? Who can say. Maybe all of it. Columbus also appears on the NHL agents’ poll under “clients’ no-trade clause.” But those signing numbers are the facts.
Actually, look at all of Kekäläinen’s signings since January 2019.
Jarmo Kekäläinen Signings Since January 2019
| Name | Signing Date | Type of FA | Length | Cap Hit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nathan Gerbe | February 2, 2020 | Standard (UFA) | 2 Years | $750,000 |
| Eric Robinson | January 27, 2020 | Standard (RFA) | 2 Years | $975,000 |
| Zach Werenski | September 9, 2019 | Standard (RFA) | 3 Years | $5,000,000 |
| Marko Dano | August 8, 2019 | Standard (UFA) | 1 Year | $800,000 |
| Ryan MacInnis | July 16, 2019 | Standard (RFA) | 1 Year | $874,125 |
| Sonny Milano | July 15, 2019 | Standard (RFA) | 1 Year | $874,125 |
| Justin Scott | July 10, 2019 | Standard (RFA) | 1 Year | $700,000 |
| Scott Harrington | July 5, 2019 | Standard (RFA) | 3 Years | $1,633,333 |
| Gustav Nyquist | July 1, 2019 | Standard (UFA) | 4 Years | $5,500,000 |
| Ryan Murray | July 1, 2019 | Standard (RFA) | 2 Years | $4,600,000 |
| Joonas Korpisalo | July 1, 2019 | Standard (RFA) | 1 Year | $1,150,000 |
| Doyle Somerby | June 29, 2019 | Standard (RFA) | 1 Year | $700,000 |
| Eric Robinson | June 25, 2019 | Standard (RFA) | 1 Year | $874,125 |
| Adam Clendening | June 25, 2019 | Standard (RFA) | 2 Years | $700,000 |
| Markus Hannikainen | June 17, 2019 | Standard (RFA) | 1 Year | $750,000 |
| Jakob Lilja | June 15, 2019 | Entry-Level | 1 Year | $792,500 |
| Veini Vehvilainen | June 4, 2019 | Entry-Level | 2 Years | $925,000 |
| Elvis Merzlikins | May 15, 2019 | Standard (RFA) | 1 Year | $874,125 |
| Emil Bemstrom | May 14, 2019 | Entry-Level | 3 Years | $925,000 |
| Daniil Tarasov | May 4, 2019 | Entry-Level | 3 Years | $925,000 |
| Vladislav Gavrikov | April 13, 2019 | Entry-Level | 2 Years | $925,000 |
| Andrew Peeke | April 1, 2019 | Entry-Level | 3 Years | $916,667 |
| Elvis Merzlikins | March 20, 2019 | Entry-Level | 1 Year | $1,844,559 |
| Trey Fix-Wolansky | March 15, 2019 | Entry-Level | 3 Years | $809,166 |
| Zac Dalpe | February 27, 2019 | Standard (UFA) | 2 Years | $750,000 |
Here’s the bottom line: Jarmo Kekäläinen has built a roster that, even with myriad injuries, stands fifth in the Eastern Conference and $20.7 million in cap space. The man can negotiate. Can’t read him? Won’t like him when he’s angry? Fine. Works for me.