Columbus keeps its options open
Blue Jackets general manager could still sign one or more of his pending free agents
They are heading out the door. But, according to Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, just because Matt Duchene, Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky are heading to July 1 does not mean the door has closed on bringing one of the free agents back next season.
“We don’t ever close any doors,” Kekalainen said.
“We keep an open mind and try to do the best we can to put the best possible team on the ice. I can’t answer on their behalf.
“On July 1, they can play wherever they want and I respect that and we’ll go about our business accordingly. We’ll always keep an open mind on our options.”
It was the great gamble of the trade deadline when Columbus not only hung on to pending free agents Panarin and Bobrovsky, but also went out and acquired Duchene and Ryan Dzingel from the Ottawa Senators.
At the time, the Blue Jackets were chasing a playoff spot. Then, despite finishing as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, Columbus shocked the hockey world when it swept the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.
The Blue Jackets lost to the Boston Bruins in the second round, but looking back it’s hard to say Kekalainen’s gamble didn’t pay off, even if Panarin and Bobrovsky both head to Florida and Duchene ends up signing in Nashville, as rumours indicate.
The team might be without three of its best players, but the cap savings does not exactly leave Columbus empty-handed in a summer where everyone from Joe Pavelski and Anders Lee to Semyon Varlamov and Jake Gardiner could become available.
Columbus has the money to sign all of them — not that Kekalainen is looking to spend for the sake of spending.
“It’s an opportunity if there’s a player that we think will help us, but it’s not just something that we’re going to fill no matter what,” Kekalainen said. “If there’s a true opportunity to add someone who we think is going to be a good fit for us right now and in the long term, then we’re going to do it. But there could be future opportunities where you could benefit from the space through trade.
“I don’t just want to fill it up to look like we’re doing something. Unless we find someone who can be a good fit with us, we’re going to go with the young guys.”
It was at this time a year ago when the New York Islanders made a push to re-sign John Tavares. It didn’t succeed, with the free agent taking his services to Toronto.
So when Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello was asked if he was hopeful Lee and goalie Robin Lehner would be back, he sounded like someone who had been burned before.
“Those are tough questions for me to answer,” he said. “Unless something’s done, it’s not done.”
Lehner is coming off a career year, as he and Thomas Greiss combined to win the Jennings trophy for the league’s best goalsagainst average. But because he shared the net, he might not be in line for a starter’s salary.
Lee is just as complicated. Two years ago, while playing on a line with Tavares, he scored 40 goals. This year, he finished with 28.
If there is one thing general managers learned from watching this year’s Stanley Cup final, it’s that you need four lines to go deep in the playoffs. More importantly, you need size. And there’s a ton of that to go around this summer.
If you’re looking for someone with experience, Wayne Simmonds and Corey Perry could both be options. A much cheaper player is Noel Acciari, who was part of the Bruins’ revamped fourth line that combined for 22 points in the playoffs.
The Vegas Golden Knights scored a big win this week when they signed William Karlsson to a team-friendly contract extension that carries a $5.9-million cap hit during the next eight seasons. And yet the team is still sitting about $7.5 million over the salary cap with 13 forwards, six defencemen and one goalie signed through next season. The number becomes worse if restricted free agents Malcolm Subban, Tomas Nosek and Nikita Gusev receive new contracts.
In other words, something has to give before the start of the season.
Finding a taker for David Clarkson, who hasn’t played a game since 2016 but carries a $5.25-million cap hit, is the priority. As we saw with the Patrick Marleau salary dump (the Toronto Maple Leafs sent Marleau to Carolina along with a conditional first-round draft pick and a seventh-round pick for a sixth round selection), a team willing to take that salary could also get a firstround pick in return.
Other players who could be available include defenceman Colin Miller, who has three seasons left at a cap hit of $3.875 million, and centre Erik Haula ($2.75 million for one more year), who is coming off a knee injury that sidelined him for the last five months.