We are about two weeks away from the NHL trade deadline, on Mar. 8, and so it’s time to start looking ahead at some goals for teams across the league. The Columbus Blue Jackets’ have had another lackluster season as they continue to build towards their next era of success. They could be at least three to five years away from a window of contention opening, so it would be prudent to make moves benefitting them in that time frame.
The Jackets have a recently vacated general manager position, but that doesn’t mean that they should be inactive as they search for Jarmo Kekalainen’s replacement. On the contrary, they could really lean into this rebuild and be one of the most active teams, moving on from anything they don’t view as a long-term piece. There are a few things the team could do to make this trade season a success, let’s have a look at three.
1. Clear up Some Roster Space
There is a logjam at pretty much every single position in the Blue Jackets’ organization. There has been for years, but management hasn’t been able to make a decision on which players they are comfortable moving on from. They did some of the dirty work earlier this season, losing Liam Foudy on waivers and trading Eric Robinson, but there are still a bunch of tough decisions that still need to be made.
That starts on defense. As of today, they’ve got 10-12 defenders who could easily slide into their everyday lineup. That’s not sustainable in any way. The longer they hold on to all these guys, the lower their ceiling gets, and the worse their trade value will be in return.
Most of them are younger than 25 and still developing. Young players need to play to get better and reach their full potential. Adam Boqvist and Andrew Peeke won’t become top-four defensemen if they continue to play in less than half of the team’s games. The value of these players will only go down from here. Other defenders they could consider trading are Jake Bean, Ivan Provorov, and Nick Blankenburg. It’s unclear if any of these players factor in to the team’s long-term plans.
There are also pieces at forward that could be cleared out to make way for the team’s up-and-coming prospects. Jack Roslovic is an easy name to pull out, since he’s one of the team’s few unrestricted free agents this summer. Might be tough to move his $4 million cap-hit considering how little opportunity he’s had in the team’s top-six to prove himself. His situation reminds me of Max Domi on the Blue Jackets a few seasons ago, which took right up until the trade deadline to get a broker to retain salary. Temper your expectations on Roslovic, the similar Domi situation only netted a middling defensive prospect in return.
Related: 5 Reasons Why Blue Jackets GM Role is Coveted
With the departure of Kekalainen, it’s also fair to wonder if they’d consider shipping out some players who were the apple of his eye. Justin Danforth is a scrappy bottom-six forward at a reasonable cap-hit for this season and next, he’d be a great depth add to a playoff team. At 30 years old, he’s not likely to be a major factor in the Jackets’ competitive window. Emil Bemstrom is another name that we’ve been talking about as a trade chip for years. I’m curious if the new management structure will finally facilitate something on that front.
Ultimately the deadline will be a success if the team is able to shed a player or two at forward and defense. The organization doesn’t have Stanley Cup aspirations in the short-term, so they should be giving their loaded prospect pool as much runway as they can.
2. Blue Jackets Should Acquire Future Assets
The Blue Jackets should look in every which way they can to maximize their future assets. While they did some buying of current assets last offseason, it might have been a little premature considering where they are in their development curve. This is a team that still needs to be looking forward, to build for that next competitive window. Draft picks or solid prospects under-21 years old should be what the team is hunting for.
To be a little more creative, management should look at other teams who’ve seemingly pulled draft picks and prospects out of thin air. At this year’s trade deadline, Columbus will have $18 million in cap-space and zero retained salary transactions. Last season the Minnesota Wild were able to pick up a fourth round pick for retaining salary in the Ryan O’Reilly trade. In 2021, when the Blue Jackets traded Domi, the Florida Panthers got a sixth round pick and a prospect for retaining some salary. These assets don’t always turn into something, but it would be another dart to throw at the board.
3. The Blue Jackets Have to Do Something… Anything!
The worst sin imaginable for the Blue Jackets at this season’s trade deadline might actually be if they stand pat and do absolutely nothing. The marketplace is always bustling this time of year, and they have enough chips to secure a seat at the table. Whether it’s selling a player or two on an expiring contract or making a hockey deal by shuffling roster players, they need to do something for this time of year to be considered a success.
Regardless of what happens in the lead up to the Mar. 8 deadline, it would be tough for me to believe that the Blue Jackets will be one of the quieter teams. While the specific decisions don’t matter so much, as long as they clear some roster space, acquire future assets, and really take the opportunity to be an active team in the marketplace, they should be better off in the long run.