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Blue Jackets Expected To Be Active At Trade Deadline

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Amid another disappointing season, Lyle Richardson of The Hockey News wrote an article today encompassing the deadline plans for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Having not made the playoffs since the 2019-20 season, the Blue Jackets are expected to be an active seller at this year’s deadline.

Looking to take the next step in their short rebuild, Columbus made an unexpected splash two summers ago, signing Johnny Gaudreau to a seven-year, $68.25MM contract. Leading the team in points in his first year with the organization, the efforts of Gaudreau were not enough to get them over the hump, finishing with a 37-38-7 record.

Largely justifying the poor season by missing several players due to injury, the Blue Jackets doubled down this past summer, bringing in defensemen Damon Severson and Ivan Provorov through separate trades. Nevertheless, even with the new and improved defensive core, Columbus is on pace for an even worse record this year while they sit dead last in the Eastern Conference.

Appearing to understand the roster may not have been built as effectively as possible, a few days ago reports surfaced that indicated the Blue Jackets would be willing to listen to offers on both Provorov and Patrik Laine. Already unfeasible for the team to move on from Laine’s $8.7MM salary mid-season, he was essentially taken off the market due to his admittance into the NHLPA Player Assistance Program a few days after the initial report.

Adding to the list of players that the Blue Jackets may be willing to move on from, earlier this month, goaltender Elvis Merzlikins reportedly requested a trade once his role with the organization began to diminish. In a buyer market desperate for goaltending help, Merzlikins quickly became one of the most popular trade targets thanks to his .901 SV% on a disappointing Columbus team.

To add more salt to the wound, in the initial article from Richardson, he mentions that top-prospect David Jiricek has become increasingly frustrated with his situation in Columbus, leading to some speculation that the team could move on from him as well. Given his importance as a young up-and-coming blue liner for the team, it is more than unlikely that he will be included in any trade for the Blue Jackets this season, but after being ferried up and down from the minors of the last several weeks, his growing impatience with the team could be something to monitor.

Evening Notes: Fantilli, Capitals, Zadorov

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Star Columbus Blue Jackets rookie Adam Fantilli suffered a cut on the back of his leg in the team’s Sunday night loss to the Seattle Kraken. He was seen leaving the game on crutches and the team announced today that he will miss their Tuesday night game against the St. Louis Blues. Fantilli has been a bright spot in a dark Blue Jackets season, tied for second on the team in scoring with 27 points through 49 games. The 19-year-old is one of only four Blue Jackets to play in all 49 of the team’s games this season.

Columbus drafted Fantilli with the third-overall pick in last year’s draft and now becomes the last of the top-three picks to face an injury this season. Chicago Blackhawks sensation Connor Bedard is currently grappling with a jaw injury that’s limited him to 39 games, while Leo Carlsson faced a knee injury that’s held him to just 30 games this season. The trio of top picks is joined by Zach Benson – who has played in 38 games – as the only players to jump directly into the NHL. Despite playing in more games than anyone else in the class, Fantilli doesn’t lead the group in scoring – as Bedard has managed 15 goals and 33 points despite his injury.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Washington Capitals have signed a six-year extension with their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. The new deal carries the partnership through the 2029-30 season. Hershey has been Washington’s affiliate since 2005, when they were coached by NHL-coaching veteran Bruce Boudreau. Hershey won the Calder Cup Championship in their first year under the Capitals, and have since become a legacy team in the minor leagues, winning three other championships. This includes last season when they toppled the Coachella Valley Firebirds in a seven-game series. With six more years ahead of them, Hershey will look to continue to add to their trophy cabinet.
  • Player agent Dan Milstein has shared that his client Nikita Zadorov is not expecting to be traded by the Vancouver Canucks before the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline. Speculation arose after Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman discussed Vancouver’s desire to clear up cap space, listing Andrei Kuzmenko and Zadorov as options for moving out cap. Zadorov joined the Canucks on November 30th, with Vancouver sending a 2024 fifth-round pick and 2026 third-round pick to the Calgary Flames. The 28-year-old defender has since played in 24 games with the Canucks, scoring four points and recording 39 penalty minutes. He carries a $3.75MM cap hit through the end of the season and is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

Patrik Laine Enters NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program

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Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine will be out indefinitely while he receives care from the NHL and NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program, the league announced Sunday.

GM Jarmo Kekäläinen issued the following statement:

Patrik has our complete support, and our sole concern is his well-being. Out of respect for Patrik, we will have no further comment.

Laine, 25, has not played since sustaining a clavicle fracture on Dec. 14 against the Maple Leafs. Head coach Pascal Vincent said yesterday that Laine had suffered a setback in his recovery and left the team’s road trip to return to Columbus.

The Finnish winger is in his fourth season with the Blue Jackets since a Jan. 2021 blockbuster deal saw him arrive in Columbus by way of Winnipeg, who selected him second overall in the 2016 draft. The clavicle injury, as well as an illness, an upper-body injury and one healthy scratch, have limited him to 18 games in 2023-24.

His six goals and three assists equate to 0.50 points per game, a sharp decline after averaging 0.97 points per game across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. This year’s injuries have played a significant role in his lack of production, though. Before sustaining the clavicle fracture, Laine had points in five of his last six games.

Laine has 64 goals, 74 assists and 138 points in 174 games since the Blue Jackets acquired him. His 204 career goals and 388 career points rank fourth among 2016 draftees behind Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk and Alex DeBrincat.

The 6-foot-5, 215-lb winger is in the second season of a four-year, $34.8MM contract with an $8.7MM cap hit signed in July 2022. He has a 10-team no-trade list and will be a UFA upon expiry in 2026.

Patrik Laine Suffers Setback, Not Expected To Return Before All-Star Break

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  • Star Columbus Blue Jackets winger Patrik Laine has experienced a setback in his injury and is no longer expected to play before the end of the team’s current three-game road trip, per team reporter Brian Hedger. The trip takes the Blue Jackets up to the All-Star Break. If Laine does indeed sit out the trip, his next chance to return will come on Saturday, February 10th when the Blue Jackets host the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Blue Jackets Place Adam Boqvist On IR, Recall Nick Blankenburg

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The Blue Jackets have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their game tonight against Vancouver.  The team announced that they have placed defenseman Adam Boqvist on injured reserve with an upper-body injury; taking his place on the roster is Nick Blankenburg who has been recalled from AHL Cleveland.

Boqvist was injured in Thursday’s victory over Calgary when he took a puck to the face on the bench.  Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch relays (Twitter link) that the blueliner lost teeth and something worse as a result.  Boqvist is in the middle of a rough season as injuries and scratches have limited him to just 20 games where he has seven assists.  Last season, the 23-year-old looked to turn the corner offensively with 24 points in 46 contests but he just hasn’t been able to get back to that type of performance this year.  There’s no word on how long Boqvist will be out with the team simply saying that he’s out through the All-Star break.

Blankenburg, meanwhile, was a full-timer on the roster for Columbus last season though he missed time due to injury.  This year, however, he has primarily played in the minors, suiting up in 19 games for the Monsters where he has three goals and nine assists.  The 25-year-old has played in six games with the Blue Jackets, averaging nearly 18 minutes a night.  This is his final season of waiver exemption.

Columbus recently sent David Jiricek back to Cleveland so it might be a bit surprising that he didn’t get the promotion to return.  However, with Jiricek’s ice time being limited lately, it might be more beneficial to have an extended stretch with the Monsters where he’ll get big minutes consistently over being sent back and forth as injuries come and go.

Columbus Willing To Entertain Offers On Patrik Laine, Ivan Provorov

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In today’s issue of TSN’s Insider Trading, Darren Dreger reports that the Columbus Blue Jackets are willing to listen to offers on forward Patrik Laine and defenseman Ivan Provorov. Making high-impact additions in the last two summers, it appears the Blue Jackets are at least willing to entertain the idea of a major selloff.

To say that trading away either player is complicated would be an understatement. Laine’s $8.7MM salary over the next several years makes it near impossible for most teams to acquire, while Provorov is less than a year removed from being acquired by Columbus in the first place.

Nevertheless, the value that each player could bring to an organization is inherent. Although relatively streaky and bringing some health concerns to the table, Laine is one of the more well-respected goal scorers in the league, while Provorov has transitioned nicely to the Blue Jackets, on pace to tie his career-high in points with 41.

In Laine, although his goal-scoring ability is apparent, there have been questions surrounding his work ethic throughout his time with the Blue Jackets. Infamously, earlier in the season, Columbus’ head coach, Pascal Vincent made Laine a healthy scratch, reportedly creating a rift between Laine and the rookie head coach. Keeping this in mind, it could be a reasonable possibility that if Vincent is set to lead the Blue Jackets in the future, he may not envision Laine as a part of that plan.

Drafted second overall by the Winnipeg Jets back in the 2016 NHL Draft, Laine has a total of 204 goals and 388 points, currently putting him in fourth place in both categories among all players of his draft class. Having already been traded once in his career back during the 2020-21 season, Laine’s name being mentioned in trade rumors should put him in familiar territory.

Provorov, on the other hand, is much more known for his defensive attributes rather than his offense. Over a seven-year span with the Philadelphia Flyers, Provorov played in a total of 532 games for the Flyers, scoring 217 points in the process. A regular member of the top penalty kill unit for both Columbus and Philadelphia, although Provorov’s physical play has decreased over the last handful of years, he still regularly racks up nearly 180 blocked shots each season. An effective top-four option for any team throughout the NHL, Provorov’s $4.725MM salary over this season and next is much more palatable to most teams than the contract of Laine.

At the end of the day, given that both players are signed beyond this season to relatively large sums of money, it is unlikely that the Blue Jackets will be able to find a trading partner until the draft or the opening of the free-agent market next summer. Nevertheless, with plenty of competitive teams looking to make a significant upgrade in a wide-open playoff race, Laine and Provorov could quickly become some of the bigger names on the trade market leading up to the trade deadline.

Blue Jackets Activate Zach Werenski Off IR, Reassign David Jiricek

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After missing a total of 10 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the team has announced defenseman Zach Werenski has been activated from the team’s injured reserve. To clear a spot on the active roster, the team has reassigned defenseman David Jiricek to their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters.

Even though Werenski will likely not save the Blue Jackets from another disappointing season, seeing the return of a defenseman of his stature is a victory for the organization nonetheless. Leading the team in average time on ice at 24 minutes, Werenski has scored one goal and 25 points in 34 games for Columbus so far this season, putting him third on the team in scoring.

Not only the best defenseman but arguably the best player on the Blue Jackets, Werenski is rather unique in the sense that he is tasked with leading the team’s primary powerplay unit, as well as seeing a fair amount of usage on the team’s penalty kill. In Werenski’s absence over the last 10 games, the team’s powerplay has only been able to execute 12.9% of the time, with the penalty kill only achieving a 70.9% success rate, both marketable drop-offs compared to the team’s current averages.

Nevertheless, even with Werenski being one of the most important players in Columbus, there are very legitimate concerns surrounding his ability to stay healthy. Out of a potential 266 games since the beginning of the 2020-21 NHL season, Werenski has only played in 150 of those contests, meaning he has missed nearly 44% of games over the last several years.

Originally recalled back from assignment on January 21st, Jiricek will return to Cleveland to continue to regain confidence in his game. Since his initial reassignment on January 18th, Jiricek was able to suit up in two games for the Monsters, assisting on all three goals scored for the team in their January 20th matchup against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Zach Werenski Could Return Tomorrow

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  • Blue Jackets blueliner Zach Werenski was expected to return at some point on their ongoing road trip but it appears it’ll be sooner rather than later. Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch notes (Twitter link) that the 26-year-old appears to be on track to return on Thursday versus Calgary.  Werenski hasn’t played in nearly a month due to a lower-body injury but is still tied for second on the team in scoring with 25 points in 34 games.

Morning Notes: Laine, Werenski, Byram, Engvall

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Zach Werenski and Patrik Laine are expected to return on the five-game road trip the Columbus Blue Jackets begin on Tuesday. Laine has missed the team’s last 14 games with a broken collarbone, while Werenski has missed 10 games with an ankle injury.

The Blue Jackets went 3-4-3 without their pair of top talents, averaging just 2.7 goals-for and 4.1 goals-against. Werenski’s return will mark the most notable impact, as the 26-year-old defenseman still ranks third on the team in scoring – with one goal and 25 points in 34 games – despite missing 11 games on the season. Laine hasn’t been as productive, boasting six goals and nine points in 18 games, though he was on a hot streak before his injury – netting five points in his last six games. The duo have become pivotal to Columbus’ success, and frequent absentees from the lineup. Laine posted 22 goals and 52 points in 55 games last season, while Werenski was only able to appear in 13 games – and score eight points – as he missed most of the season with a torn labrum and separated shoulder. The Blue Jackets will hope both players can find a newfound bout of health upon their return, as they work to improve on a season that currently has them ranked in the league’s bottom five.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Colorado Avalanche have activated defenseman Bowen Byram off on injured reserve. The 22-year-old defenseman has appeared in 39 of Colorado’s 47 games this season, netting 12 points split evenly. He’s managed the scoring while serving in a top-end role, averaging over 20 minutes of ice time – though it’s a step down from the nearly 22 minutes of ice time Byram averaged in 42 games last season. Caleb Jones and Sam Malinski will likely step out of the lineup to make space for Byram, though one of the two could still see ice time as the Avalanche have opted for seven defensemen recently.

  • Stefen Rosner of NHL.com is reporting that New York Islanders forward Pierre Engvall is feeling better and has returned to full contact at Islanders practice. The 27-year-old has been dealing with an upper-body injury and has not suited up for New York since a 5-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on January 15th. Engvall’s style of play should be well suited for new head coach Patrick Roy’s system as puck possession remains a strong suit for the former seventh-round pick. Engvall’s numbers are down a bit this season as has just five goals and nine assists in 41 games this season. His shooting percentage has plummeted to just 7.5% down from a career-high 13% last season. There is no timetable yet for Engvall to return to the Islanders lineup.

Columbus Blue Jackets Activate Nick Blankenburg, Recall David Jiříček

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that defenseman Nick Blankenburg has been activated off of injured reserve and assigned to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, and defenseman David Jiříček has been recalled from the Monsters.

The 25-year-old Blankenburg has been out since December 19th due to injury. The former captain of the Michigan Wolverines was actually playing in the NHL when he was last healthy, skating in his sixth consecutive game with the club. Before that point Blankenburg was in Cleveland, which is where he’ll now return to. Blankenburg has played in 18 games for the Monsters, the first 18 games of his AHL career, and has gotten off to a nice start there with 11 points.

Jiříček now returns to the Blue Jackets’ roster after a two-game stay in Cleveland. The 20-year-old 2022 sixth-overall pick receives this recall fresh off of a three-point game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, a contest win which he played a role in all three of the Monsters’ goals. The six-foot-four blueliner has played in 36 NHL games already this season and registered nine points. He proved himself as an AHLer in his rookie campaign in North America, scoring 38 points in 55 games.

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