Former Calgary Flames General Manager goes on heated rant against worst franchise in the NHL

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Liam McCormick
August 22, 2024 (5:55 PM)

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Former Calgary Flames General Mamager Craig Button is now one of the NHL's most outspoken media personalities, and yesterday, he carved up the Columbus Blue Jackets for being the worst team in the NHL.

While discussing the trade sending Patrik Laine to the Montreal Canadiens on the Sick Podcast, Button absolutely unloaded on the Blue Jackets for never being close to contention throughout their entire franchise history.

»I am so sick and tired of hearing about players that like, he's got a bad attitude, you can't win with him. You know who you couldn't win with? The Columbus Blue Jackets and the mess of the management and ownership they've had in there for years! They hired Mike Babcock last summer!

Give me a break, players should be saying I don't think I can win in Columbus with this group. They're a joke . . . Where does Columbus fit in this league? You know what they've been? They've been a game on a schedule.»
- Craig Button

After only winning one playoff round in their entire 24 years in franchise history, they'll surely not be competing to even make the playoffs this season after trading Patrik Laine. The Blue Jackets have seemed stuck in a perpetual rebuild to only get close to the playoffs, and in the meantime have lost several star players, including Sergei Bobrovsky, Artemi Panarin, and now Laine. They've got good young prospects in the system now, but the Blue Jackets are still years away from being real contenders.

It's not often you hear a hockey media member outwardly bash a franchise this much, outside of the now-defunct Arizona Coyotes. This is a scathing review from a former NHL GM, which should raise some eyebrows across the league. Don Waddell is now in power for Columbus, and hopefully he can replicate his success from the Carolina Hurricanes and finally build the Blue Jackets into a serious NHL team.