Earlier today, the Blue Jackets were able to accommodate Patrik Laine’s trade request, moving the winger to Montreal along with a 2026 second-round pick in exchange for Jordan Harris. With no salary retention on either player in the swap, Columbus opened up $7.3MM in extra cap room.
Speaking with Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch, GM Don Waddell indicated that clearing the entirety of Laine’s contract was a key focus, something they wouldn’t have had a chance to do with the other offers that were on the table:
Any other deals we’d talked about were all about retaining half, and our goal was to get out of the whole contract. So, we’re happy it worked out. I called him and wished him the best of luck. Sometimes, you’ve got to make decisions that are better for your hockey club, and gaining cap (space) and cash means a lot for two years.
As it turns out, the Canadiens were a late entrant to the discussions as The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline relays (Twitter link) that Montreal only engaged Columbus this past weekend about the swap with discussions quickly turning serious. Speculatively, based on Waddell’s comments, the priority wasn’t necessarily maximizing the trade return but rather maximizing their flexibility moving forward so once they found a team open to taking on the full freight of the deal, they moved quickly to get it done.
When it comes to that flexibility, the Blue Jackets now have nearly $18.2MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. Only two teams – Calgary and Anaheim – have more than that. Even if Columbus is a team operating under a budget and not able to spend right to the Upper Limit of the salary cap, they should still have some room to make some moves.
It seems there are some executives who feel the same way. Waddell noted to Hedger that shortly after the trade, he received a pair of inquiries from teams that are looking to open up cap space. With several teams fairly tight to the cap, there are bound to be others as well. That said, Waddell cautioned that they might not take advantage of that flexibility right away:
There are a lot of teams that are either over the cap or right up against it, and if nothing happens right now, we’ll just go into training camp. We just gave ourselves so much more flexibility. Even if it doesn’t work out this year, going into next summer knowing that you don’t have that on your books is a relief.
This summer has been all about patience for Columbus. It took them a while to find a new GM while their head coaching search went into July, a rarity; assistant coaching decisions went even longer. It took several weeks for the Laine trade to come together, even at a time when it was widely known he was available. Knowing that, patience might be the best course of action for Waddell and the Blue Jackets to take when it comes to utilizing their newfound cap space. With a lot of teams potentially benefitting from extra cap room, the Blue Jackets are well-positioned to wait for the offers to come in, basically the opposite of what happened in what turned out to be a very limited market for Laine.
With all that cap space now I wonder if Columbus weaponize’s it to help out teams like Vancouver with Garland, Minnesota with Gustavsson, Isles with Pageau or maybe Washington with a guy like TVR.
Garland is good….hes on maybe a top 3 third line in the league.
2 years ago maybe but you’re out of the loop Stu
Ooof. Laine would have to tank big time to make this anything less than a steal for the Habs. Jordan Harris is a perfectly serviceable third-pairing defenseman, and I’m kindly disposed towards ex-Huskies in general, but he wouldn’t attract a second rounder in any deal with a less desperate GM. This is a giveaway-plus. Yeah, yeah, Columbus can “weaponize” all that cap space. Will they?
@Nah Trang, it sounds like they do not plan on weaponizing all of that space. Waddell’s comment about gaining “cap space and cash” is telling. It very much sounds like Columbus is working with a budget that is below the cap this year.
Granted, I’ve been waiting for GMs to get hit with the cluebat and do that for a while now, because it’s damn obvious that available deadline cap space has a huge bearing on how teams can load up for the playoffs.
But COLUMBUS isn’t going to be in any position where that matters. They’re not making the playoffs, and the only way available cap space will matter is in being the third team where they get bribed to take on salary to enable another deal.
What a great message to send to your fans. “We will use our cap to funnel more prospects. How about a playoff spot?
Actually I think it’s completely appropriate in this situation to be honest with the fans – who have been incredibly patient to date. Playoffs are 2-3 years away, depending on some of these big draft picks paying off and some smart FA signings down the road. By then Johnny Golf will be too old to participate tho…
If Waddell is going to be a broker now, why wouldn’t he just have retained on Laine and actually gotten a decent return for him?
Because if you hold that card too long, he will probably be injured again and/or back in the program. Again!
As CBJ fan I can confidently say we are breathing a sigh of relief this morning and kindly thank our neighbors to the north for taking this albatross from us.
In no way shape or form do any of us feel fleeced or have I’ll beliefs about this trade.
Yippee!
I see him back in the player assistance program after the Montreal media destroys him for going scoreless in 9 games
All too likely a scenario, buffalobob. Montreal, of all cities, for a streaky, injury-prone, non-Francophone?
@tmlmikey: Getting a “decent” return for Laine presupposes that someone will OFFER one. Streaky? Injury prone? Coming out of Player Assistance, and washing out of two teams now? Making a cap-cracking salary and signed for two more years, with a modified NTC yet? That’s a probable poison pill.
Kings should trade Edmundson to Columbus!
We don’t want that excrement.
Nice gamble by Hughes, who may have secured a first line sniper for a No. 4 blueliner. At that salary I wish he’d attached Anderson back to Columbus tho, as they shouldn’t have gotten out of the financial pain Scot-free…
No takebacks. Buyer beware.
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