Columbus Blue Jackets Extend Oliver Bjorkstrand
At least one player has committed to Columbus. The Blue Jackets have announced a five-year extension for budding star Oliver Bjorkstrand, signing him through the 2025-26 season. Bjorkstrand will earn $2.5MM this season on the final year of a three-year deal signed in 2018, but gets quite the bump in 2021-22. The new deal will carry an average annual value of $5.4MM. Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen released a statement on his young forward:
Oliver is a gifted player that has shown steady improvement throughout career to this point and we couldn’t be happier that he will be a Blue Jacket for a very long time. He is a dangerous offensive player, and we believe he will be an even more impactful player for us as he continues to develop and mature in this league.
The price goes up each year for Bjorkstrand, as Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports the full salary breakdown:
- 2021-22: $4.5MM
- 2022-23: $5.25MM
- 2023-24: $5.35MM
- 2024-25: $5.9MM
- 2025-26: $6.0MM
The deal buys out four years of unrestricted free agency for Bjorkstrand, who actually made his NHL debut back in the 2015-16 season. While it took him a little while to establish himself, last season was a real breakout with 21 goals and 36 points in just 49 games. It was Bjorkstrand’s second straight 20+ goal season and that increased offense is exactly what the Blue Jackets are buying into with this early extension.
It’s been such a struggle for the Blue Jackets to get players to commit long-term to the franchise, with Pierre-Luc Dubois the latest star player to hint that he wants out. In the wake of that news, the announcement that Bjorkstrand will be staying right through his prime years is nothing but a godsend for Columbus fans. While he may not have quite the same impact as Dubois, there’s a lot to love about the 25-year-old’s game.
Importantly, Columbus is also expected to be without Gustav Nyquist for the majority of the season, meaning Bjorkstrand will be even more important to the attack. He’s been lining up on the team’s first unit at training camp next to Dubois and Alexandre Texier, leading one to believe that the 18-minutes-a-night that he received in 2019-20 isn’t likely to decrease.
For the Blue Jackets financially, this deal is more than acceptable given the amount of money that is set to come off after this season. Brandon Dubinsky, Nick Foligno, Riley Nash, and David Savard are all scheduled to become unrestricted free agents, with depth additions like Mikko Koivu and Mikhail Grigorenko only on one-year deals to begin with. With Bjorkstrand now locked up for a reasonable amount, the team can focus on their other dwindling deals, which include Seth Jones and his 2022 UFA status.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
NHL Will Not Require Blanket Quarantine Period For AHL Recalls
Alongside the news of three teams opting out, four teams temporarily relocating, and realigned divisions for the coming season, more information continues to emerge following today’s AHL Board of Governors meeting. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that NHL clubs and their AHL affiliates have been informed that there will be no blanket quarantine period for player recalls and reassignments this season. Instead, quarantine measures will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis considering the totality of the circumstances. This will include team protocols, travel logistics, and accordance with local COVID-19 health guidelines.
As Johnston notes, this will make AHL recalls much easier for those teams whose affiliates share a city or even a state or province. Short, safe travel ability and uniform local policies will allow for much shorter quarantine periods. Teams in this situation may even ask their affiliate to maintain the same NHL-level of day-to-day quarantine protocols to make recalls even easier, perhaps even without any quarantine. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, Vegas Golden Knights, and San Jose Sharks (if and when the team returns home from Arizona) all share a city with their AHL affiliate, as do the New Jersey Devils temporarily. The Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Boston Bruins (temporarily), Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins all have their AHL affiliates within state or provincial lines as well.
For those teams with some distance between themselves and their minor league clubs, recalls could remain difficult. Especially for those Canadian teams whose affiliates remain in the U.S. – the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks – quarantine logistics will be a struggle. Johnston points out that for these teams and the American clubs with affiliates elsewhere in the country, travel will be a major obstacle. The one blanket policy for all NHL and AHL players this season is that a seven-day quarantine period is required following a commercial flight. This could also stand to effect any team on a long-term road trip that is desperate enough to make a recall.
However, while this policy will help a great number of teams, it is important to remember that taxi squads were established for this season to reduce the reliance on AHL recalls, at least as a frequent measure. Regardless of each NHL team’s location relative to their AHL affiliate, most teams will largely use their six-man taxi squad for emergency substitutions and will have options in the meantime should they decide to recall a player who must quarantine.
Snapshots: Dubois, Ferland, Girardi
The headlines were already dominated today by Pierre-Luc Dubois news, but even with the new two-year bridge deal, it doesn’t appear like the conversation is over. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic joined TSN Radio in Vancouver this afternoon, explaining that even though the contract is inked, Dubois’ desire to stay in Columbus isn’t.
I think there is a desire from the player, I don’t think it is an imminent move, but it appears—Pierre LeBrun the first to report this—that there is a desire by the player to move on, to have a change of scenery. Which is a nice way of saying get the heck out of town, he wants to play somewhere else. My first inclination was, I’m sure like yours, that this was just a ploy to move things along here and get this done so the young man could enjoy some bubbly and not have to worry about his contract tonight, but I think this is bigger than that. I think he wants a short-term contract in Columbus, I think he’s willing to let Jarmo Kekalainen to have some time to make a deal, because it is certainly going to be a major trade if it includes Pierre-Luc Dubois. But it is a short-term deal too because apparently unless something changes, there is a feeling with Pierre-Luc Dubois is that he does not want to be locked down in Columbus, Ohio long-term.
For now, Dubois is signed and part of the Blue Jackets family. But his situation is obviously still one to keep an eye on as things continue, especially given how expensive he will likely become after this bridge deal expires. In 2021-22 he will already carry a heavy salary on his back-loaded contract, a number he will probably be looking to eclipse on any long-term deal.
- Micheal Ferland will not be in Vancouver Canucks training camp when it starts in a few days, as his agent Jason Davidson told Rick Dhaliwal of TSN that the veteran forward is still at home trying to work through his post-concussion symptoms. Ferland played two games for the Canucks in the postseason but was forced out of the bubble due to his health complications. Though everyone is hoping that he will recover enough to play hockey again, moving Ferland’s $3.5MM cap hit to long-term injured reserve would help the Canucks get out of the tricky situation they find themselves in as the season approaches.
- The Buffalo Sabres will be hiring Dan Girardi in a player development role, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The 36-year-old played 927 regular season games in the NHL over a long career, quite the impressive total for a player who was never drafted. Add in 143 postseason games and Girardi has a wealth of knowledge that he can pass off to Sabres prospects and players.
Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Pierre-Luc Dubois
2:05pm: Well that’s one way to negotiate. The Blue Jackets have signed Dubois to a two-year contract that will carry an average annual value of $5MM. GM Jarmo Kekalainen released this statement:
Pierre-Luc is a talented, young player with great potential, and we look forward to his continued growth and development, and the valuable contributions he will bring to our team. I’d like to thank my staff, as well as Pat Brisson and his group, for their professionalism and efforts to finalize this agreement prior to the start of training camp to ensure that the focus moving forward is on our team and achieving its goals for the upcoming season.
The contract will pay Dubois $3.35MM for the upcoming season and $6.65MM for 2021-22. The bridge deal will leave him a restricted free agent once again at its expiry and allows Dubois to join Columbus training camp on Sunday. Though there still may be rumblings about his future, this appears to have been the last gasps of a long negotiation leaking out. The Blue Jackets now have him signed for two seasons and under control for at least two more after that through restricted free agency and arbitration.
As noted, Columbus still has plenty of cap space to work with this offseason if they wanted to bring in any additional players.
12:00pm: Training camp for the Blue Jackets is just a few days away, but Pierre-Luc Dubois isn’t in Columbus. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports today that Dubois has left the area and remains unsigned, also noting that there are “rumblings” the star forward could be looking for a change of scenery. Still, even LeBrun notes that those rumblings could be “wishful thinking” from other teams.
Aaron Portzline of The Athletic tweets that for weeks and as recently as yesterday, the team and Dubois’ representatives had been optimistic a deal would be done for camp. Dubois had even been skating in Columbus preparing for the season but has now left (Portzline reports he has not gone back to Canada). Of course, leaving Columbus does not necessarily mean he will not be signing a contract or that he will miss training camp, but it certainly doesn’t seem like a positive indicator that he’ll be there when things open next week either.
Dubois, 22, registered just 49 points in 70 games last season but showed exactly the kind of game-changing force he could be in the playoffs for the Blue Jackets. With ten points in ten postseason games he easily led the club, often appearing as the most dangerous player on the ice. That was true even when skating against some of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ high-priced talent, who received huge pay raises when they hit restricted free agency. That’s exactly the situation Dubois is in and though he may not have quite the same history—plus is negotiating in a unique, financially depressed year—he is likely still looking for a huge contract given his performance so far.
It’s not to say that the Blue Jackets won’t pay that, but remember they have had standoffs with successful young RFAs in the past. In 2017, Josh Anderson missed training camp before signing a three-year deal with the Blue Jackets in early October. When he was set to reach the market again this offseason, the Blue Jackets traded him to the Montreal Canadiens, where he promptly scored a seven-year deal.
The Blue Jackets do have plenty of cap space if they eventually get a contract done with Dubois. The team currently sits about $9MM under the $81.5MM ceiling, with Gustav Nyquist expected to miss most of, if not all of the upcoming season after shoulder surgery. Brandon Dubinsky is also not expected to play again thanks to a chronic wrist problem, meaning if the team ever needed long-term injured reserve flexibility, they could have plenty.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Three Players Clear Waivers
December 30: All three players have cleared waivers.
December 29: Another day, another minor league forward on waivers. The Columbus Blue Jackets have placed Calvin Thurkauf on waivers for the purpose of a loan to EV Zug in Switzerland for the remainder of the 2020-21 season. Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports that Michael Carcone and Frederic Allard of the Nashville Predators have also been placed on waivers.
Thurkauf, 23, was a seventh-round pick of the Blue Jackets back in 2016 that slowly worked his way through the minor leagues and made his NHL debut last season. Though he failed to score a point in three games, even making it that far was an impressive accomplishment for the young Swiss forward. This year in 19 games with Zug EV, he has four points and will continue his development overseas should he clear tomorrow.
Carcone, 24, was only just acquired by the Predators earlier this month in a minor trade with the Ottawa Senators. The career minor leaguer had 27 points in 59 games with the Belleville Senators last season and is likely ticketed for the Milwaukee Admirals whenever the AHL season gets underway.
Allard meanwhile is already playing in Austria, where he will likely continue should he clear waivers. The 23-year-old defenseman has played three seasons for the Admirals but is still waiting for his first NHL opportunity. A third-round pick from 2016, he has three points in 11 games for EC VSV in the Austrian professional league this season.
Mark Letestu Announces Retirement
Mark Letestu never tallied more than 16 goals in a season, but the forward still put together an impressive NHL career as a key utility player, appearing in 567 games. However, that time looks like it’s over as The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required) writes that Letestu is retiring.
“The tool bag … it’s had enough,” Letestu told The Athletic on Sunday. “I skated good enough. I shot the puck really well. I thought the game really well. But I got a lot of breaks along the way, too, right from the very start. Luck is a big part of all of it, absolutely, but I also took advantage of those opportunities and played well when I needed to. I got a lot of time out of being a short, slow guy in a fast man’s league.”
The 35-year-old Letestu hasn’t seen much NHL action since playing 80 games between Edmonton and Columbus in 2017-18. He stayed with Columbus for the 2018-19 season, but spent most of that time with their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, playing 64 games there, while only appearing in two games with the Blue Jackets that year. Last year wasn’t much better as Letestu signed with the Winnipeg Jets last offseason, but even with their injury woes, Letestu still only played seven games for the Jets.
Letestu originally signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins, eventually playing four years for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He signed with the Edmonton Oilers in 2015 and played with the Oilers for three seasons before the Blue Jackets reacquired him at the trade deadline in 2018 to help out in their playoff hopes. He was known as a jack-of-all trades forward, who could operate in any situation on the ice, making him quite valuable to any team that had him. His best season was in 2016-17 with the Oilers when he tallied 16 goals and 35 points (along with 11 points in 13 playoff games). In all, Letestu scored 93 goals and 210 points over his 12-year career.
Blue Jackets Sign Michael Del Zotto To PTO
If defenseman Michael Del Zotto wants to play in the NHL this coming season, he’ll have to earn a contract via the tryout route to do it. The Blue Jackets announced (Twitter link) that they’ve inked the veteran to a PTO agreement with an invitation to training camp.
The 30-year-old spent last season with Anaheim, his second stint with the team after they moved him to St. Louis before the 2019 trade deadline. Del Zotto was originally expected to be in a reserve role but he still managed to play in 49 games with the Ducks last season and held his own, putting up 15 points (2-13-15) while logging 18:43 per night. Early in his career, he was more of an offensive-minded blueliner but has only surpassed the 20-point mark twice over the past seven seasons.
Columbus has seen a bit of turnover on their back end this offseason with Ryan Murray being traded to New Jersey and Markus Nutivaara getting dealt to Florida with no one being brought in to replace either of them. However, their top six appears to be set which means Del Zotto will likely be contending with the likes of Gabriel Carlsson, Gavin Bayreuther, and Adam Clendening for the seventh spot on the depth chart.
Del Zotto may benefit from the recent creation of taxi squads for the upcoming season. Even if he isn’t able to crack their opening roster, he’s someone that could still skate with the team and be used in a pinch whenever injuries strike. With training camps on the horizon, he certainly won’t be the only experienced veteran that is forced to turn to this option in the coming days.
Markus Hannikainen Signs With Jokerit
Former Columbus Blue Jacket and Arizona Coyote Markus Hannikainen is headed home to Finland and to the club he grew up with. Seemingly unable to find a new NHL contract, Hannikainen has signed with the KHL’s Jokerit of his hometown of Helsinki. The veteran forward appears to be fully committed as well; the team has announced that Hannikainen has returned on a “long-term” contract. The 27-year-old has spent the past five seasons in the NHL and AHL but previously spent six years with Jokerit at various levels of Finnish hockey.
Were it not for the flat salary cap and the current lull in the NHL free agent market, perhaps Hannikainen may have been able to find another contract in North America. However, his return overseas should not come as a surprise as his career appeared to be trending in that direction. A hard-working, two-way winger whose defensive zone ability far exceeded his point totals – even as a younger prospect – Hannikainen finally broke out offensively as a pro after leaving Jokerit to join the Liiga’s JYP in 2014-15. He turned that success into an entry-level deal with Columbus, the first of three contracts he would sign with the club over three years. Hannikainen even played in four games with the Jackets in his first season in North America. As the years went on, Hannikainen began to carve out a regular role for himself in Columbus – or so it seemed. Even as his games played jumped four to 10 to 33 and finally to 44 (and a full season in the NHL) in 2018-19, the forward’s role with Columbus was always limited to meager fourth line minutes and very little offensive opportunity. As a result, the Blue Jackets did not hesitate to leave Hannikainen in the AHL this past season when they were able to upgrade their forward corps. After months without an NHL appearance, Hannikainen was traded to the Arizona Coyotes in February and the ‘Yotes also opted to leave him in the minors. A two-way contract this off-season would not have been out of the question for the veteran, but between his limited NHL results and lack of offensive ability he was always going to have to prove himself in the AHL to get back to the top level.
Instead, Hannikainen has decided to return home where a guaranteed role is waiting and where he can maximize his offensive potential. While Hannikainen has a long history with Jokerit, this will be his first experience in the KHL after the club shifted leagues during his NHL absence. The level of competition should be higher this time around, but the experienced winger has several NHL seasons to his credit now as well. He also joins a talented team whose roster includes a laundry list of NHL vets including recently re-signed leading scorer Brian O’Neill and the likes of Nicklas Jensen, Jordan Schroeder, Jesse Joensuu, Iiro Pakarinen, Henrik Haapala, Saku Maenalanen, Peter Regin, Viktor Loov, Alex Grant, and Anders Lindback. The rich get richer with the addition of Hannikainen to a team that should compete for years to come in hope of winning their first Gagarin Cup.
Snapshots: Dubois, Granlund, Ducks, Lee
With progress finally being made toward starting the 2020-21 season, the pressure is mounting back up on those teams who still have players to sign and payrolls to manage. One of those teams is the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Jackets have plenty of salary cap space with nearly $9.25MM of remaining room for a 22-man roster, but they have yet to sign perhaps their most important forward, restricted free agent center Pierre-Luc Dubois. Coming off his three-year entry-level contract, in which he recorded 18+ goals and 48+ points each season, culminating in a point-per-game showing in the 2020 postseason, Dubois has established himself as a centerpiece for Columbus and the team hopes he will serve in that role for many years still to come. Whether Dubois signs that lucrative long-term extension this off-season or instead opts for a shorter bridge deal remains to be seen. Either way, the team needs to get the talented young pivot under contract soon before the new season begins. Fortunately, NBC Sports’ Adam Gretz reports that the Blue Jackets are not concerned about coming to terms on a new deal with Dubois. GM Jarmo Kekalainen stated that he is “confident” that Dubois will have a new contract not only before the puck drops on the new season, but even before the first day of training camp. This would likely mean that a deal is expected before the end of the month, with training camps projected to open shortly after the calendar flips to January. Kekalainen compared the situation to that of star defenseman Zach Werenski last season; Werenski went much of the off-season with seemingly little progress on a contract extension, but signed a new deal just days before training camp. Gretz notes that the Blue Jackets have shown that they are not afraid to play hardball with their restricted free agents, but will have to be careful with Dubois. The young center is a pivotal piece of the team moving forward. Columbus has the cap space to lock Dubois up long-term at a higher cap hit now, but if the two sides do agree to a shorter term deal the hope is that there is a mutual goal to sign that long-term deal down the road.
- Gretz also reports that one of the top remaining unsigned free agents, forward Mikael Granlund, is expected to make a decision on his next team sooner rather than later. In fact, a contract could be signed in the coming days. Gretz writes that Granlund would like to get his family settled before the season, possibly even before the Christmas holiday, which could lead to an impending resolution to his free agency. Depending on the asking price, Granlund should have no shortage of suitors. The Blue Jackets have actually been cited by many as a top option for Granlund. If they do sign a more affordable, short-term deal with Dubois as many expect, Columbus could use their remaining cap space to add Granlund. The team had hoped to add at least one if not two top-six forwards this off-season which they have failed to do so far, only swapping out Josh Anderson for Max Domi.
- The Anaheim Ducks are another team with moves to make before the season begins. The Ducks are currently over the salary cap upper limit according to CapFriendly and that is with a roster that currently excludes a backup goalie. Anthony Stolarz is the favorite for the job behind starter John Gibson, but the team is likely to make an addition given their lack of depth behind that duo and their need for a goaltender with term on his contract beyond this season to expose in the upcoming 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. If the Ducks do not add another goaltender, the pressure will fall on Roman Durny, who Anaheim assigned to the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers today, and Olle Eriksson Ek, who started in Tulsa’s season opener this weekend. Eriksson Ek and Durny shared the net in the ECHL last season, but would be slated to do so this year in the AHL if no further moves are made and would battle to be the next man up to the NHL behind Gibson and Stolarz. Durny, 22, Eriksson Ek, 21, and Lukas Dostal, 20, are all talented prospects but their lack of experience does not inspire much confidence in Anaheim’s net depth if an addition is not made. The Ducks should be scouring the free agent and trade markets for help, even as they work to cut salary from the NHL roster.
- Even as the NHL and NHLPA close in on an agreement to begin the new season, there hasn’t been much concrete information in the media on the actual start dates of training camp and the safety procedures leading into those camps. Perhaps the teams of those players on loan are hearing more than everyone else though. HC Slovan Bratislava of the Slovakian Extraliga has announced that Pittsburgh Penguins defensive prospect Cam Lee has been returned from his loan. In doing so, the club stated that Lee will begin his quarantine later this week and that training camp physicals will take place before the end of the month. At the very least, that makes it sound as though camps will be up and running in early January as hoped, if not sooner.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Columbus Blue Jackets
We’ve now made it past Thanksgiving and the holiday season is right around the corner. Like the last few years, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for but this year comes with a bit of a change. Normally teams would have an idea of where their season was heading, coming up on the one-quarter mark with mountains of statistics to analyze. Instead, in this unprecedented year, the season hasn’t even begun. We’ll still take a look at what each group is excited about and what they could hope for once the calendar turns to 2021.
What are the Blue Jackets most thankful for?
Strong management and coaching.
If someone were to try and choose the best general manager/head coach tandem in the league to build a franchise around, the Blue Jackets duo of Jarmo Kekalainen and John Tortorella may be right up near the top. When Kekalainen took over in February of 2013, the Blue Jackets had experienced just a single winning season in their history. 2009 was their only time in the playoffs and they were swept out of the first round without winning a game.
In his seven full seasons running the front office, the team has put up six winning seasons and reached the playoffs five times. It’s no coincidence that four of those appearances have been since Tortorella took over partway through the 2015-16 season. Time and again when the rest of the hockey world zigs, Kekalainen zags, usually to strong results. Though the duo hasn’t been able to take Columbus to the promised land: “in Jarmo we trust.”
Who are the Blue Jackets most thankful for?
While acquiring Seth Jones in 2016 still may be Kekalainen’s most important move, the selection of Dubois later that year may be his most impressive. After Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine were off the board, everyone was expecting the Blue Jackets to select Jesse Puljujarvi with the third selection in the NHL entry draft. Puljujarvi was a consensus top prospect that was supposed to become a premier power forward in the league and to boot, he was Finnish just like Kekalainen. When the Blue Jackets GM strode to the podium and proudly selected Dubois instead, perhaps the hockey world should have been tipped off to what was coming for the eventual Edmonton Oilers forward.
Puljujarvi has struggled and fought his way to 37 points in 139 NHL games, while Dubois has become a legitimate first-line center in Columbus. While his offensive production still lags behind Matthew Tkachuk (selected sixth) and Alex DeBrincat (39th), there’s little doubt that Dubois is one of the most valuable players available from the 2016 draft and was a homerun selection for Kekalainen. The 22-year-old forward is still awaiting his next contract, but he showed exactly the type of player he could be this summer when he led Columbus with 10 points in 10 postseason games while averaging nearly 23 minutes a night.
What would the Blue Jackets be even more thankful for?
A commitment to Columbus.
Quite dramatically in the summer of 2019, the Blue Jackets were forced to say goodbye to Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, and others in free agency. Though the team is still strong and several of the deals signed by those players look troublesome, it still would have been huge for them to sell Panarin on the city of Columbus. It’s not that the Hart Trophy candidate ever spoke badly of the market, but when the bright lights of New York came calling, he left.
After being eliminated from the postseason that year, Kekalainen spoke to reporters including Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch about what he wanted, something that some could argue he still hasn’t found:
I think it’s important moving forward that we’re going to have guys that are proud to be Blue Jackets and proud to be living in Columbus and loving it here. That’s really important — that they bleed blue, or whatever you want to call it.
Yeah. The guys that want to be here are going to be here and the guys that don’t want to be here, good luck.
That commitment will be tested soon. After the 2021-22 season, Jones will be an unrestricted free agent and likely the most sought-after commodity on the market if he gets there. Max Domi, Boone Jenner, Dean Kukan, Elvis Merzlikins, and Joonas Korpisalo are all scheduled to hit the market at the same time. Zach Werenski will be an RFA. Will they decide they want to be in Columbus, or will Kekalainen be wishing more good luck?
What should be on the Blue Jackets’ holiday wish list?
Another weapon.
Just over a month ago, Gustav Nyquist underwent shoulder surgery and was given a five-to-six month recovery timeline. That means he won’t be available for a good chunk of this season, taking away Columbus’ second-highest scorer. Sure, Oliver Bjorkstrand looks like he’ll quickly take over that role (if not pass Dubois entirely) but the Blue Jackets need more at the offensive end of the rink.
Specifically, there’s no reason a team that boasts powerplay quarterbacks like Jones and Werenski should be near the bottom of the league in conversion. The Blue Jackets scored on just 16.4% of their man-advantage situations last season, fifth-worst in the league and unacceptable for a team looking to contend in the playoffs. They need to find a go-to option when a penalty is put on the board and there are still some available on the open market (cough–Mike Hoffman–cough). It doesn’t necessarily need to be a UFA mercenary, but something has to be added.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images