To be perfectly frank, I am far, far more worried about this hiring/replacement than I am a new GM and/or coach.
I wonder if I'm the only one in that regard. Possibly.
If they bring in a bad GM and he makes 3 years worth of bad moves before he is fired, the impact on the team will be much more than 3 years. If they bring in a bad Rimer replacement and fire him in 3 years, we might have some new inside jokes at HF CBJ but no long term damage.
That said, my fear that the team doesn’t perform the correct front end work when hiring coaches, assistant coaches, or front office types certainly applies to the Rimer replacement. I would have watched all sorts of AHL and OHL games and would already have the replacement under contract for next year. We are a small market team - let’s not screw up an important hire like the guy fans feel like they know because he is always on tv. They should have spent the last year looking for a young Canadian Paul Keels.