Columbus Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell Appears On Vancouver Radio Station To Talk About His Team

General Manager Don Waddell went on Halford & Brough In The Morning on Wednesday to talk about everything he's gotten done this summer.

Being that the radio show is based out of Vancouver, of course, Kent Johnson was brought up.

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Waddell was asked what the expectations for Johnson are going to be for the upcoming season. He says, "Yeah, You know we talked a lot about him, watched a lot of the video of all our players. We got to continue to work on his strength. He was here in the summer for a period of time and we got to talk to him. The upside is in front of him, and I think that's why his representation and I agreed on a three-year deal. Put the contract aside, he doesn't have to worry about that for the next three years. Just prepare yourself as a hockey player to be the best player you can. We're at a point of our franchise with a lot of our young players, we need to take that next step with them. Nothing against our veteran players, we've got some great veteran players here, but our young players are what's going to move us forward down the road, and Kent's going to be a big part of that. I always say we're going to provide the tools and all that, but it's up to the players to take advantage of that. And I believe with his mindset, just speaking to him, he's a pure hockey player. he wants to be the best he can, and so hopefully that heads in the direction that we all want it to go."

He also addresses the Patrik Laine situation and how he approached it. Waddell says, "I heard all the stories, did all the research that I could possibly do on it. I talked to his representation probably 25 times, and you know with a new GM coming in and a new coach, I wanted to know if his position had changed at all. They talked about it and every time they got back to me they just felt that with what happened here in Columbus, that he didn't want to come back here, he wanted a change. I have to look out for the best interest of the Columbus Blue Jackets, keeping in mind what Patrik's wishes are. Knowing what he went through plays a factor too, so we tried, and Dean reached out to Patrik himself after he got the job, and he just came away that if we could find a trade partner that made sense, that it was probably best to move on from him."

He also talks about Dean Evason, Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, why the Laine to Montréal made sense, and much more.

One bit of info that he mentioned was that Rick Nash was going to take on a bigger role under Don Waddell.

You can listen to the full interview below. It's a terrific interview.

What do you think about what Don Waddell said? Please share your thoughts on our forum.

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