Team holds extensive talks with Avalanche
While the rest of the NHL celebrated the opening of free agency on Saturday, the Blue Jackets continued their pursuit of a top-six center by holding exhaustive trade talks with the Colorado Avalanche.
As of late Saturday, the
Blue Jackets had not pried center Matt Duchene off the Avalanche roster, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying.
Talks between Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and Avs GM Joe Sakic drifted well into the evening, even as events earlier in the day seemed to set the stage for the longanticipated deal.
The Avalanche acquired center Colin Wilson for a fourthround pick, giving them a solid player down the middle in the event that Duchene departs.
The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, signed two minor-league defensemen with moderate NHL experience — Cameron Gaunce and Andre Benoit — to twoway contracts, giving the Jackets insurance for their third pairing.
The one player widely assumed to be heading to the Avalanche in a possible deal for Duchene is Blue Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray, who slid to the third pairing in Columbus behind Zach Werenski-Seth Jones and Jack Johnson-David Savard.
The Blue Jackets' third pair, if Murray leaves, would be some combination of Markus Nutivaara, Gabriel Carlsson, Scott Harrington, Dean Kukan, Gaunce and Benoit.
Reports by TSN, a Canadian sports network, had Columbus and Nashville duking it out for Duchene’s services, but the Predators may have bowed out with the signing of center Nick Bonino, formerly of Pittsburgh, for four years and $16.4 million.
That doesn’t necessarily eliminate the Predators from the Duchene talks, but with
restricted free agent Ryan Johansen needing a new contract — and seeking $8.5 million per season — it’s hard to see Nashville taking on Duchene’s hefty salary ($6 million).
The Blue Jackets could yet be a player in free agency, but it’s more likely they take that plunge only after a deal with Colorado. In addition to Murray, such a trade is likely to include another roster player — perhaps Boone Jenner, Oliver Bjorkstrand or Cam Atkinson.
A free-agent target could be Ilya Kovalchuk, who made it through Saturday without signing with the New Jersey Devils. The Devils own his rights and must sign him, then trade him to a new club.
Reports on Saturday indicated that the New York Rangers and Blue Jackets were Kovalchuk’s two preferred destinations.
It was a lucrative day for many former Blue Jackets.
Sam Gagner, who revived his career in Columbus in 2016-17, signed a three-year, $9.45 million contract with Vancouver. Not bad for a guy who made $650,000 last season.
Scott Hartnell,
bought out by the Blue Jackets on Thursday, signed a one-year, $1 million contract with Nashville, the team that drafted him and where he started his NHL career in 2000.
Defenseman Kyle Quincey signed a one-year, $1.25 million contract with Minnesota.
Minor-league forward T.J. Tynan, who played in three games late last season, signed a two-year, two-way contract with the expansion franchise in Vegas.