The 2023-24 season has not been kind to the Columbus Blue Jackets, as their 42 points are the fourth lowest total in the entire league. It's clear that big changes are going to need to be made in the near future, but the team decided to start making those changes on Thursday morning when they fired their general manager Jarmo Kekalainen.

“The Columbus Blue Jackets have relieved Jarmo Kekalainen of his duties as general manager of the National Hockey League club, President of Hockey Operations and Alternate Governor John Davidson announced today. Davidson, along with the team’s hockey operations management team, will assume general manager’s duties while the club goes through the process of hiring a replacement.” – NHL.com

Kekalainen took over as the Blue Jackets general manager all the way back in 2013, and helped turn them into a consistent playoff contender, as they found their way into the postseason four straight years from 2017 to 2020. However, they only advanced past the first round once, and that was when they pulled off a shocking sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning, only to get bounced by the Boston Bruins in the second round.

Things have taken a turn for the worse over the past few years, as the Blue Jackets have missed the playoffs in the past three years, and they almost certainly aren't going to find their way back this season. With the roster he crafted simply not producing, Columbus decided it was time to move on from Kekalainen and find a new voice to lead their front office.

For the time being, that voice is going to be John Davidson, who will fill in at GM in the interim for the Blue Jackets, although they will likely conduct an extensive search for Kekalainen's true replacement at some point in the future. For now, it's clear that Columbus isn't happy with their recent lack of success, and they will be a team worth watching, as this could just be the first domino in a chain of moves made to change the direction of the franchise.