Only three days ago did new general manager Lance Lavelle arrive in Columbus to visit Nationwide Arena for the first time.

“I was hired after the trade deadline. The team was outside the playoff window and competing hard to qualify,” Lavelle said. “They didn’t need a new owner coming in a making a fuss. But I wasn’t absent from the team, to be sure.”

Indeed, Lavelle sent his staffers to Columbus immediately after he was hired to advise the coaching staff on some minor tweaks to the line-up, resulting in the Blue Jackets coming up just short of qualifying for the playoffs.

“I’d like to say that we have a lot to build on here in Columbus, but frankly that’s just not the case,” Lavelle posited. “Our on-ice product is in shambles and I think anyone who is honest with themselves would agree with that. This roster hasn’t seen much improvement since the start of the season. That doesn’t sit well with me.”

Sources in the Columbus front office suggest that Lavelle will likely shop his established players for younger roster players with potential. It’s possible that defenders Kris Letang and Duncan Keith could be on the block, as wingers Mike Cammalleri and Troy Brouwer.

“While we did almost make the playoffs, I want to be able to win a game once we get there,” Lavelle said. “Colorado would have kicked us to the curb.”

Summer could prove busy for Lavelle and his front office team with the draft and free agency critical to Lavelle’s presumed makeover of the Columbus roster. But even with the off-season in full swing, Lavelle already has plans to head back east to the Delaware coast.

“I do my best work in Sussex County,” Lavelle said of his place of residence. “I need a place to think and a place to work. Delaware provides that. The coaching staff doesn’t need me looking over their shoulder every day. I know they’ll do their best with the team I assemble.”