Should the Columbus Blue Jackets take a chance on Quenneville after taking a similar risk last year on Mike Babcock?

The NHL finds itself at a moral crossroads.

A day after the NHL made him eligible for employment, Brian Burke told NHL Network Radio that Joel Quenneville should go "to the front of the list of every team that is looking for a head coach."

That list currently includes only one team: the Columbus Blue Jackets.

But after the Blue Jackets took a chance on head coach Mike Babcock and his spotty reputation last summer, only to turn around and force him to resign before the regular season began following an NHLPA investigation into a disturbing interaction with his players, can the franchise risk a similar disaster with Quenneville?

That's the question that incoming GM Don Waddell must contemplate as he tries to steers an underachieving team that finished with a bottom-five record onto a path of respectability.

No question, Quenneville might be the best coach available this summer. But is he is the best person for the job?

A similar question could be getting asked of former Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman, who was also reinstated on Monday, and has been linked to the Edmonton Oilers as GM Ken Holland's replacement.

Both men, along with former Blackhawks executive Al MacIsaac, were ruled ineligible for NHL employment for the past two-and-a-half years for their lack of response to allegations that prospect Kyle Beach had been sexually assaulted by a member of the team's staff during the Stanley Cup run in 2010. During that time away from the sport, the NHL believes that all three men learned from their mistakes and showed remorse and greater awareness.

Indeed, time is supposed to heal all wounds. And everyone is supposed to deserve a second chance. But not everyone believes that. 

To some, what Quenneville, Bowman and MacIsaac allowed to happen is inexcusable. To others, like Burke, they were good men caught up in a bad set of circumstances.

"I thought this went a little long," Burke told NHL Network Radio. "I made that clear to the league, but I think it's the right result. And I'm happy for the two guys — the three guys — involved. They're all good guys. And they all should be back in the game soon. I really do believe — and I'm not going to get into right or wrong — but I really do believe there's some miscommunication here. I'll leave it at that."

Burke gave Quenneville his first coaching job with Springfield in the AHL, so there is obviously a bias there. Reportedly, Burke also tried to hire Quenneville in Toronto, but it didn't line up.

In other words, he knows his character as much as he does his coaching resume. And that resume is as impressive as it gets.

Quenneville won three Stanley Cups during his time with the Blackhawks and ranks second on the all-time coaching list with 969 wins. He had led the Panthers to the playoffs in 2020-21 and then started the following season with a 7-0-0 record before he was forced out of the league due to the Blackhawks alleged sexual assault cover-up. 

Who knows, but if that had not happened, he might have been the one to lead the team to a Stanley Cup championship this year.

It's another way of saying that he could be in high demand this year. Not only for the Blue Jackets, but as Burke said, any team that "is thinking they might have to make a coaching change in the first 90 days, guess who's at the head of the list?"

 After all, the NHL is a results-oriented business. 

That's unfortunately what got the Blackhawks — and Quenneville, Bowman and MacIsaac — into this mess to begin with. But for a team like the Blue Jackets, who underachieved with an up-and-coming roster that includes veterans Johnny Gaudreau and Zach Werenski and youngsters like Adam Fantilli, David Jiricek and Cole Sillinger, he could be just what is needed to turn things around.

Then again, the Blue Jackets were saying the same thing a year ago about Babcock. And look how that turned out. Two months after Babcock was hired, he was at the center of an NHLPA investigation after asking players to share photos from their phones in some sort of bonding effort. A week later, he resigned.

It just goes to show who could be calling the shots here.

It's one thing for the NHL to forgive Quenneville, a move that was presumably made while meeting with owners and management during the NHL draft in Las Vegas. But have fans? More importantly, have players?

If not, what was decided in Vegas might up end staying in Vegas.