Possible Trade Deadline moves
#goldenkuraly
With the NHL Trade Deadline only about a month away, things might be heating up in Columbus, who is looking to shed some cap, and/or bodies. We are unsure if GM Jarmo Kekalainen is actually on the hot-seat or not, but it’ll be interesting to see what kind of magic he comes up with at the deadline to potentially save his job, and more importantly this franchise.
- Ivan Provorov, D, 2 years, $4.725AAV Ivan Provorov is part of the crowded Blue Line that the Blue Jackets have found themselves with. In 50 games, he is 4-19-23. Defensively he’s got a +/- of -10, 39 Giveaways, 94 Blocked shots and 40 hits. Provorov has been an up and down player all season. Currently he is on a 7-game cold streak, and several of his giveaways have directly led to breakaway goals. The Jackets would be open to listening to trade offers on Provorov. Trading Provorov makes sense as the Blue Jackets have a couple of younger defensemen waiting for their shot to prove themselves in the NHL. (Denton Mateychuk, David Jiricek, Nick Blankenburg, Corson Ceulemans.)
2. Jack Roslovic, F, UFA
Jack Roslovic is a hometown kid who was the first member of the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets to score a goal for the NHL Blue Jackets. He is a winger who can also be impressive on the dot, at times. Roslovic came to Columbus from Winnipeg as part of the Patrik Laine-Pierre Luc-Dubios trade, unfortunately for him, he has been streaky at best, and downright awful at worst. In 27 games he is 2-8-10, far short of his career high 22-23-45 in 81 games from two seasons ago.
Roslovic could provide Forward depth for a team in the playoff hunt, looking for that Stanley Cup. He would be a rental, and likely because of his streakiness, he’ll be a cheap rental at that.
3. Andrew Peeke, D, 2 years, $2.5AAV
Andrew Peeke is another young Defenseman that seems to be clogging up the blue line for the Blue Jackets. He is unable to be sent to AHL Cleveland without clearing waivers first. Much like Jack Roslovic, Peeke has been streaky his whole career. In 20 games this season, having been a healthy scratch most of the season, he has a 0-6-6 point line. His +/- is -6, which in retrospect could be a lot worse. He has 9 giveaways to 3 takeaways, 40 blocked shots and 35 hits. Peeke is a large-body defenseman who can cause some damage when he uses his body.
Much like Provorov, the main reason for trade Peeke would be to free up the logjam on the Blue Line and potentially get some draft capital in return.
4. Adam Boqvist, D, 2-years, 2.6AAV, RFA.
Adam Boqvist is just 23 years old, and yet he has proven he can make an impact as an offensive defenseman. In 20 games, he is 0-7-7, with a +/- of -3. He unfortunately hasn’t played a full season in his career, and every season since he was traded to Columbus from Chicago, he has been on IR at least twice, with 2 years left and his Restricted Free Agent Status, the Blue Jackets may be will to keep this experiment alive for a little while longer, but if not, and if teams are willing to take a chance, he definitely could bolster a defensive core pushing for the play-off.
5. Jake Bean, D, Restricted Free Agent.
Jake Bean is another young Blueliner. A former 1st round pick for the Carolina Hurricanes, the Blue Jackets acquired Bean as part of the multi-team deal that sent Seth Jones to Chicago. Bean has a 4-4-8 scoring line with a +/- of -10 in 47 games. Defensively Bean is solid at times with 18 takeaways to 9 giveaways, 70 blocked shots and 17 hits. At the end of this season, Bean is a Restricted Free Agent, so it’s unclear as to whether Jarmo would trade him at this point.
6. Elvis Merzlikins, G, 3-years 5.4AAV
Elvis Merzlikins allegedly requested a trade in late December. Elvis believes he is the #1 goalie for the Blue Jackets; however, he wasn’t getting the playing time of a #1 goalie, being a healthy scratch for almost two weeks following the Tom Wilson incident. Elvis’s playing has significantly improved this season compared to last season. 9-10-7 .903SV% and 3.22GAA. NaturalStatTrick does a deep dive into Elvis’s stats, showing how he is a much better goalie this season than his numbers indicate. When it was originally announced that Elvis was possibly on the trade block, it appeared like no one was interested in picking him up, this was more likely due to his inflated contract, rather than his play this season. It possible, come the trade deadline a team pushing for the playoffs, may be looking to trade for that extra goalie skill.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have 6 young restricted free agent forwards. Emil Bemstrom, Yegor Chinakov, Cole Sillinger, Alexander Texier, Kent Johnson and Kirill Marchenko. 4 of these 6 are likely going to be the future core. Emil Bemstrom has had a rollercoaster ride of a career in the NHL. In 30 games, Bemstrom is 5-6-11 with a +/- -4.
Cole Sillinger had a great rookie year in Columbus making the NHL team at just 18 years old. In 79 games he was 16-15-31 on the score sheet. Unfortunately, he saw a slump in his sophomore season, only playing 64 games with a 3-8-11 score sheet. Many have their speculations on what caused the slump, but we may never know. This season Sillinger has seemed to have found his game again. In 44 games 8-11-19 with a +/- of 1. He has been average in the face-off circle at 49%. The real story with Sillinger has been his performance on the PK and the back check. He has 48 blocked shots, and 53 hits this season. He has also managed to get himself in a couple of fights.
Experts are predicting the Jackets are going to big time sellers at this year’s trade deadline. After the way this season has gone, I have to lean towards agreeance with that assumption.
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