Q&A: Jarmo Kekalainen on the first half, trade deadline

As the Columbus Blue Jackets' winter break begins, the team finds itself in contention for a Metropolitan Division title and a third consecutive playoff bid.
That's a testament to the team built by the team's front office, an effort led by general manager Jarmo Kekalainen. Yet the second half figures to be an interesting one given the tight division race and with a critical trade deadline coming up in late February.
With the team off from game play until a Jan. 29 home game against Buffalo, Kekalainen talked with BlueJackets.com over the weekend to discuss the team's first half, some of the team's standouts, and what to expect going forward.

Do you feel good about what the team has been able to do in the first half while setting itself up for what's to come?
Kekalainen: "Yeah, I think results-wise, points-wise, we're right on schedule. We're at about a 100-point pace or approximately a little over, still. The race in the Metro and in the Eastern Conference is very tight. We have to keep doing it, but most importantly, the same thing I always say -- a young group like us, we have to concentrate on getting better every day."
When you talk about getting better and improving every day, what are some areas you see where the team can improve its play down the stretch?
Kekalainen: "I think the team will get better when we keep improving on an individual level. Every individual on our team has to focus on just coming to the rink every day and saying, 'What can I do better today to become a better hockey player, not only today but in the near future?' When you think about the core players on our team, how young they are, they have so much growth potential still. It's about not wasting any days to keep improving, keep getting better.
"I think on a team level, special teams is obviously one area where we need to be better. The penalty kill has been excellent of late, but it needs to stay on that level consistently throughout the end of the year in the second half of the season. The power play has had some struggles, but it's looked a lot better lately. The results may not be there yet, but I always say the results will come when you start playing the right way, and I've seen some really good things lately in our power play where you can feel that it's coming. Once you get some results and some success, I think that will add to the confidence and get it going like we did last year in the second half."
Pierre-Luc Dubois was the No. 3 overall pick so he's a pretty talented guy, but for him to be doing what he's doing as a 20-year-old center in the National Hockey League, is this what you expected when you went out and scouted him in juniors?
Kekalainen: "One thing you always want and look for in players is a willingness to learn, to listen, the desire to get better every day, and I think he's one of those guys who wants to get better. He's hungry for information, he's hungry for a way to get to the next level. He's got a lot of ability, skill and talent, physical attributes and all that, but I think that his drive to get better is one of the biggest reasons why he's been improving at such a rapid rate, if you want to call it that. We were very, very excited when we earned the third overall pick (in 2016). It sort of assured us that the guy we wanted was going to be there since it was pretty much the consensus that (Auston) Matthews and (Patrik) Laine were going to be gone. When we moved up in the lottery and got the third pick, we were thrilled to know for sure we were going to get Pierre-Luc Dubois."
Another guy that you acquired in the same time frame was Seth Jones, and he's heading out to San Jose for an other All-Star bid. How rewarding has it been to see his growth on and off the ice since the trade?
Kekalainen: "He's another guy that still, even though he's a three-time selected All-Star now, he's got so much room for improvement. It's exciting. It seems like he's been in the league for a long time, but he's still very, very young and I'm excited about where he can still grow in his career. I hope that he's not happy with just getting into the All-Star Game and all that. I know that he's driven to lead the team to playoff success and ultimately the Stanley Cup, and those are the type of core players that we want on our team -- guys that are driven to keep getting better and want to win here in Columbus and want to be part of the core group that brings us the playoff success and ultimately the Cup that we've been looking for."
The recent situation with Sergei Bobrovsky, when it first happened, it could have gone either way, but do you feel good about how the team has handled everything with that? It seems as though the group has grown through that situation.
Kekalainen: "I think you have to be proud of our group that way. They can handle hard things. As we said at the time, we always want to air those things out face-to-face, we learn from them and we move on. Hopefully it's a stronger group (because of that), and I think that's a strength of our group. They can handle a lot of things, they can handle things internally, they can handle things face-to-face, and they take the message the right way and move along. That speaks well for the leadership inside the locker room and also the character of the players in the room."
In a similar vein, the situation has allowed Joonas Korpisalo to play, and he seems to have embraced the challenge. John Tortorella has talked of playing him more this year to see what you have in him. Has it been nice to see what he's been doing recently in a tough situation?
Kekalainen: "Sometimes when you're in the situation that he's been in, behind a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, you have to wait for your opportunities. Sometimes you get that opportunity as a result of unfortunate situations. We had a little bit of that a week ago. Sometimes guys get hurt and you have an opportunity to run with it. It's funny how it works. I'm not just talking about this situation, but players can take advantage of those types of events where they get an opportunity when they wouldn't if things were normal, but once the opportunity opens, you have to take advantage of it and run with it. I think that's what Joonas has done. He's played great as he's gotten the opportunity, and he's earning more ice time. He still has to keep earning it, and I think with the two talented goaltenders we have, whoever earns the time, whoever starts can play well."
John Tortorella recently earned his 600th NHL win and became the longest-tenured coach in Blue Jackets history. Everyone knows his reputation around the league, but the way he's fit in with the group and the stability he's brought, sometimes he might not get enough credit. What's it like to work with him on a day-to-day basis?
Kekalainen: "He's a great guy to work with. Sometimes he's a little bit of a prisoner of his reputation, but it's mostly from people that don't know him. He's a totally different person behind the scenes than he is sometimes in the press conferences, and he's a good coach to work with. I've enjoyed it. I can't forget the staff that he has around him. They do a great job, too, and we have guys that can challenge him, guys that can fill in some of the weaknesses he has or strengthen his strengths. I think it speaks to the entire coaching staff what they've done with the group of players that we have."
Everyone wants to talk about the upcoming trade deadline, and obviously people know the contract situations of some of the guys. If this a trickier deadline to handle with what's going on with Artemi Panarin and Bobrovsky, or do you treat it similarly as you have past years?
Kekalainen: "I don't think it's any trickier. We're going to get some answers and then we're going to have to make decisions. They're obviously two very talented players, two guys that have been a big part of our success, so that makes it a little bit more intriguing from the outside and people are curious to see how all of this is going to play out.
"But we will do what we need to do, do our best to convince them that they'd like to be part of our future for a long time as a Blue Jacket in Columbus, and if that doesn't happen, then we're going to have to make decisions. That's what we've said all along. I don't think there's anything tricky about it. You just try to handle it professionally, with class, as we always do, and if we have to make hard decisions, we'll make them."
If you look at the Islanders and what they're doing this year a season after they were in a similar spot with John Tavares, they had built a core that has allowed them to thrive now. How do you feel about the core -- Cam, Zach, Seth, Pierre-Luc, etc. -- you've built no matter what happens?
Kekalainen: "I feel great about our core, and it's only going to get better. I've said it many times, we had 108 points in the regular season before Artemi Panarin arrived. That's not to slight Artemi at all. We love him, he's a great player and he makes our team better, and if for some reason he doesn't want to stay here we'll move along and we'll be a strong team in the future as well. We hope he stays. We'll do our best to convince him and we'll see what happens.
"The same goes for Sergei Bobrovsky. Obviously he's been here for all the success we've had, but we have some great young goaltenders coming. We have Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins and Veini Vehviläinen. Those guys, Merzlikins and Vehviläinen, are ready to play in North America next year, and whether they can replace Sergei Bobrovsky, those are going to be big shoes to fill since he's a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, but hey, I can't repeat it too many times. We'll do our best and that's all we can do, and there's nothing more we can do. Whatever they decide, we'll move along and life goes on."