The Montreal Canadiens owner is not interested in losing an important member of the leadership team.
The Montreal Canadiens owner is not interested in losing an important member of the leadership team.
When the Columbus Blue Jackets relieve Jarmo Kekalainen of his duties as general manager back in February, the name of Jeff Gorton was thrown out as a potential candidate to join the organization in some capacity.
The link was easy to make as John Davidson, current President of hockey operations and alternate governor of the Blue Jackets, and Gorton worked two years together for the New York Rangers.
On Friday's 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman stated that Gorton was on the Blue Jacket's list as a candidate to replace Kekalainen. As Gorton is currently under contract with the Canadiens, Columbus needs permission from the club to speak to him about a role.
"I'm not sure on how it all unfolded, if they officially asked for permission or sent feelers," Sportsnet's insider stated. Friedman did not know if they were interested in offering him a similar role than the one he currently has in Montreal or a general manager role.
"Whatever the case is, he's not going to be leaving Montreal for Columbus. At the end of the day, I don't believe permission was ever granted, He's still in the process of rebuilding Montreal, and I think it was made pretty clear that the Canadiens were not in favor of the idea. So, Gorton stays in Montreal, continuing to rebuild that team." he added.
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In an interview that aired on TVA Sports April 13th broadcast, Molson made it clear that he's happy with the team's management and has full confidence in their plan.
"I read [the rumors] in the newspaper. The first call I made was to Jeff Gorton. I haven’t spoken about it to anyone else. There’s no one that approached me. This story was invented," Molson addressed the situation during the one-on-one interview.
The Canadiens owner, president, and chief executive officer advised that he would decline any requests for permission to speak to Gorton.
"That's just gossip stuff," Gorton answered during the club's end of year media availability when asked about possible opportunities with other organizations. "I'm here, I'm happy, I love Montreal, I love this organization. Geoff Molson has been unbelievable to us. Winning the Stanley Cup in Montreal is all I think about."
Gorton was hired by the Canadiens on November 2021 and signed a multi-year contract to fill the position of Executive vice president of hockey operations.
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