Update on Blue Jackets’ coaching search

After coming to terms with picking third in the NHL draft, the Blue Jackets are delving into the interview process with their list of coaching candidates.

They need to replace former head coach Brad Larsen, who was fired a day after the season ended, and there’s also a vacancy at goaltending coach after not renewing Manny Legace’s contract.

Here are five questions about the Blue Jackets’ coaching search:

What do we know about coaching candidates for the Columbus Blue Jackets?

The Blue Jackets have kept a tight lid on information, so there’s not a lot of specifics available.

General manager Jarmo Kekalainen did reveal some interesting tidbits while making two recent radio appearances, saying the team’s list of candidates isn’t long and that associate coach Pascal Vincent — the lone internal candidate — shouldn’t be discounted just because he was on Larsen’s staff.

Kekalainen also said the number of “experienced” coaches interested in the position has grown since the job became available. The Athletic reported Monday that Mike Babcock and Peter Laviolette are both in the running.

Babcock, 60, won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings (2008), but hasn’t coached in the NHL since being fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019 with four years left on an eight-year, $50 million contract. After he was fired, he was also accused of verbal abuse by multiple former players.

Laviolette, 58, coached the Washington Capitals the past three seasons and has run benches for five NHL teams — including the Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders. He won the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006.

Other coaching free agents with…