St. Louis Blues' President of Hockey Operations John Davidson Leaving

Rumors had been going about that after the purchase of the St. Louis Blues by Tom Stillman's ownership group that long-time team president of hockey operations John Davidson would be leaving the team. The reasoning behind the team not wanting to hold on to someone who was credited with a massive turn-around in fortunes was this: cost saving. It's pretty well known that Stillman's group wants to trim costs so they can make money, and Davidson had $6 million left over three years on his contract. That was an awfully large target for the new owners.

Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post Dispatch is reporting that the Blues will be buying Davidson out of that contract. This summer Davidson interviewed with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but nothing came of that as of yet, though there is still a possibility that Davidson will be heading to the Blues' division foe. The move would be a smart one for Columbus. After Davidson's hiring, the Blues franchise did a 180 -- it went from post-lockout mess to pre-lockout Central Division Champion with smart drafting moves and smart trades, along with efficient money management.

Now one of the architects of that turn-around could be heading to another team to do the exact same thing. The Blues will be successful for many years to come, and Davidson deserves a decent amount of that credit. His dedication to the team and the fanbase has been nothing short of excellent, and it's a shame to see quality cut at the expense of saving a few bucks.

Long term, I'm not sure if that's a savvy business decision.