Jarmo Kekäläinen
The quiet Finn who turned a lottery team into a franchise with a philosophy.
Jarmo Kekäläinen is a Finnish former NHL forward who has served as General Manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets since 2013, making him the organization's longest-tenured GM in the club's history. A journeyman two-way player in his own career, he transformed the Blue Jackets' front office into one of the NHL's most analytically driven and patient operations, earning a devoted following among Columbus fans for his steady, long-term vision.
This entry is part of an unofficial, fan-written history of the Columbus Blue Jackets. It celebrates the people and eras that shaped the franchise from its 2005 inception through the defining chapters of its identity. Nothing here is affiliated with the NHL, the Blue Jackets organization, or any official body.
- Role
- General Manager, Columbus Blue Jackets (hired 2013)
- Nationality
- Finnish
- Playing position (NHL)
- Center / Wing
- NHL teams played for
- Detroit Red Wings, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils
- Signature draft pick
- Jack Eichel, 5th overall, 2013
- Tenure length
- Longest-tenured GM in Blue Jackets franchise history
Lore & Background
Before he ever walked into the Blue Jackets' front office, Jarmo Kekäläinen was what the hockey world called a journeyman: a solid, hard-working Finnish forward who threaded his way through Detroit, New York, and New Jersey without ever quite cracking an All-Star roster. He was the kind of player coaches loved—reliable, two-way, unglamorous. That same temperament, fans would later argue, was exactly what Columbus needed at the helm of its front office. When Scott Howes departed in 2013, the organization turned to Kekäläinen, and a new era began almost overnight.
His first act as GM was the 2013 draft, where he selected Jack Eichel fifth overall. The pick was met with local excitement, but it was Kekäläinen's next move—trading Eichel to Buffalo for a package of draft capital—that crystallized his reputation. Critics called it a betrayal; believers saw a man who had calculated the long game. He repeated the pattern with Matt Duchene's eventual departure and with a steady drumbeat of mid-round gems like Oliver Bjorkstrand, Seth Jones, and Zach Werenski who became the backbone of a competitive roster. Under his watch, the Blue Jackets made the playoffs in 2017 and 2019, ending a long drought and proving the model could produce a winning team, not just a draft machine.
Columbus fans, many of whom had grown up watching the franchise bounce between mediocrity and frustration, came to see Kekäläinen as the anti-flashy GM. No grand press conferences, no star-studded free-agent splashes. Just a Finnish man with a shaved head and wire-rimmed glasses, quietly assembling a team around Cam Atkinson's grit and a defense corps that could skate. In the Blue Jackets' lore, he is less a villain or hero than a craftsman—and that, for a fanbase still finding its identity, was enough.
In Their Own Story
The press box at Nationwide Arena hummed with the low buzz of fluorescent lights. Kekäläinen sat three seats back from the bench, a legal pad open, a pen tapping a slow rhythm against his knee. The puck was in the neutral zone, the crowd a murmur, and the scoreboard read 1-1 in the third. He didn't flinch when the opposing winger buried a slapshot from the point. He simply turned a page, wrote two words—*Bjorkstrand, 4-on-3*—and looked up. The bench coach nodded. The next shift, Oliver carried the puck up the left wing, faked a pass, and buried it top-shelf. The arena detonated. Kekäläinen closed the pad, set the pen down, and allowed himself the smallest smile. Then he was already writing the next line.
Reader's Guide
The Kekäläinen Era (2013–present) is the defining chapter of Blue Jackets identity. Before him, the franchise was a collection of lottery picks and short-term experiments. He imposed a philosophy: draft for value, develop in-house, and trade for capital rather than instant stardom. It was unglamorous, sometimes maddening to a fanbase craving a marquee name, but it produced a team that could win.
What defined the era was patience. Cam Atkinson, drafted under his predecessor, became the emotional core. Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, and Oliver Bjorkstrand emerged as a defensive trio that could outskate most opponents. The 2017 playoff run—ending in a first-round exit to Pittsburgh—proved the model worked. The 2019 return to the postseason confirmed it was sustainable.
Why it matters: the Blue Jackets went from a team that rarely made noise to one with a recognizable identity. Kekäläinen gave Columbus a front office that thought in five-year arcs, and that shifted the fan expectation from "will we win tonight" to "are we building something." For a franchise still only two decades old, that shift in narrative is the era's greatest legacy.
Did You Know?
- Kekäläinen was a journeyman NHL forward himself, playing for the Detroit Red Wings, New York Islanders, and New Jersey Devils before transitioning to front-office work.
- His 2013 selection of Jack Eichel (5th overall) and subsequent trade of Eichel to Buffalo became one of the most discussed GM decisions in Blue Jackets history—controversial to some, vindicated by the draft capital retur
- He is the longest-tenured General Manager in the franchise's history, a distinction that is especially notable for a team that began play in 2005.
- His calm, low-profile demeanor in the press box and at the bench became a running theme in fan commentary, often contrasted with the louder, more theatrical GMs elsewhere in the NHL.