Coaching
Probably the hardest move Jarmo had to make was made almost as soon as the season ended and that was to end the Brad Larsen experiment. He bucked traditional thinking by hiring him over more proven options on the market and never really worked, especially in year 2 when it seemed like Larsen completely lost the room. So given that Jarmo only has 2 seasons left on his current contract and needing to prove he can build an on-ice winner and fast, he made the right move by firing Larsen. This is an organization that needs to see results and couldn’t afford to go into another season with an out of left field big brain hire and they showed as much with hiring Mike Babcock as his replacement. His resume and track record as a proven winner over a 30+ year career speaks for itself and for that, the hire was an absolute no brainer. However, Babcock has a reputation that precedes him as being difficult to work with, to put it lightly, which places the Jackets in a tight position. They are in a position to vastly improve but with major risk that even one tiny slip up can cause the entire organization to fall apart in an instant. Walking that tightrope will likely prove to be the overarching storyline for the season and any hint that things are going wrong will put the entire front office management teams jobs on extremely shaky ground.
Grade: B
Draft
When Pat Verbeek uttered the words “from Orebro”, the exuberant joy around central Ohio quickly turned tense as the entire fanbase hoped and prayed that Jarmo would not go big brain and pass up projected franchise center Adam Fantilli in favor of highly rumored favorite Will Smith. Thankfully Jarmo did not and in doing so gave the Jackets not only the best prospect they have ever had but also the solution to their ever-present issue of finding a top line center. He then followed that up with selecting Gavin Brindley who many had going in the first round and plucking potential gems in William Whitelaw and Luca Pinelli. Andrew Strathmann, Oiva Keskinen, Melvin Strahl and Tyler Peddle rounded out a very solid draft to add to arguably the best prospect pool in the entire NHL. The only point to really nitpick is that Jarmo did not go after any of the known higher end goalie prospects and instead elected to go off the board in typical Jarmo fashion and select Strahl, a goalie so few know about that he wasn’t even listed by Central Scouting. Time will tell if he made the right decision but overall, Jarmo had a fantastic draft which was needed coming off a horrible season and seemingly disastrous results at the draft lottery.
Grade: A
Trades/Free Agency
One thing that was clearly obvious over the last couple of seasons was that the defense was clearly lacking especially given that the Jackets were overall not great to say the least and former mainstays such as Gavrikov, Savard and Jones were shipped out for other assets. Jarmo identified this as a clear area that the Jackets needed help in, so he went out and made two major plays for high end defensemen. The first deal he made was acquiring the negotiating rights to pending UFA Damon Severson and promptly signing him to a massive 8-year deal. He then went out and acquired one of the bigger names rumored to be looking for a fresh start in Ivan Provorov and paying a relatively high price to do so, giving up the 1st round pick he got from LA in the Gavrikov trade and a 2nd round pick in either ’24 or ’25. Severson is a high-end two-way defenseman who got squeezed out of an extremely talented and deep defense group in NJ who should immediately slot in as Werenski’s best partner since Jones at least until Jiricek is ready. On the other hand, Provorov is a former top pairing defenseman who had fallen off and in need of a fresh start which he will get playing on the left side of the second pair playing behind Werenski. The argument could be made that Jarmo paid more than he probably needed to especially for Provorov which is fair to say but reality is that he identified two players to help the team in an area they desperately needed, and he made the decision to get out ahead of the market and address it on their own terms. Only time will tell if the moves translate to on ice, but one must commend Jarmo for not sitting around and making the moves that he felt were necessary to move. The last big move Jarmo made was convincing Fantilli to sign his ELC as there were rumors floating around that there was no guarantee he would do so. Having him on the roster gives a much brighter outlook to the Jackets forward group and especially at center.
Grade: B+
Conclusion
It is important to note, having wrapped up the moves Jarmo has made, that there are still 2 things that have not been addressed yet. Firstly, despite having their projected 1st line center for the foreseeable future, there has been a ton of speculation about the Jackets wanting to get another top 6 center to insulate Fantilli while he adapts to the NHL. They have been linked to almost every available center on the market (and even some seemingly unavailable) to the point that many are convinced the Jackets will end up making a move even if it is closer to camp for cap-related reasons. The other move many are anticipating the Jackets making is to clear up some of the logjam both on defense and at forward as there are plenty of projected players who will be scrapping just to be in the lineup at all come opening night. Again, this is likely a situation where a move may be made closer to or during camp as management may want to see how things shake out under a new coach but overall, a move looks inevitable even if it won’t happen anytime soon. Regardless, Jarmo and co have had a really strong offseason and although they definitely jumped the gun on a couple of the moves that were made, the Jackets look primed to vastly improve from last seasons train wreck and may even be in a position to compete for a playoff spot as soon as this season.
Cumulative Grade: A-
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