Big day for NHL owners preaching patience. Earlier, it was the Sharks’ Hasso Plattner doing it. Next up? The Blue Jackets’ John P. McConnell.
Per the Columbus Dispatch, McConnell spoke over the weekend with president of hockey ops John Davidson, who must be wondering what else can possibly go wrong for his beleaguered club. After 23 games, injury-ravaged Columbus sits last in the NHL with a record of 6-15-2.
"(McConnell) was very supportive of us trying to work our way through it, especially without getting impulsive and discarding the future,” Davidson said. “There’s full support of everybody in the organization, 100 percent.
“We’ve been dealt a bad hand, but we’re going to deal with it.”
Granted, the compensation for that “bad hand” may end up being Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel. But flirting with 30th overall wasn’t exactly the plan after making the playoffs last season for the first time since 2009. Hopes were high in Ohio. The Jackets were supposed to have entered a new, winning era.
The Dispatch, by the way, went on to report that coach Todd Richards is not in danger of losing his job.