Deal for Duchene just too pricey for Jackets
Matt Duchene, on the trading block almost as long as the Crew, was finally moved out of Colorado in a weighty, three-team deal Sunday.
Blue Jackets fans took note. Duchene would have looked good in Union Blue. He’s a top-line center, a position of need for the Jackets (and many other teams). Stick him on the roster, bump the other centers down a notch, and a lot of things make more sense.
The Jackets’ brass made their pitch. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen had his Colorado counterpart, Joe Sakic, on speed dial throughout the summer. So did Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion.
In the end, Sakic, Dorion and Nashville GM David Poile triangulated — and Sakic, who was criticized for demanding a steep price for Duchene, and for sitting on it, came away with a haul.
Colorado got a first-, a second- and a third-round draft pick, a high-end prospect defenseman in Samuel Girard, a high-end prospect forward in Shane
Bowers, a young center in Vladislav Kamenev and a serviceable NHL goaltender in Andrew Hammond. Ottawa got Duchene. Nashville got a solid, second-line center in Kyle Turris, who agreed to a six-year contract extension to facilitate the deal (after his negotiations with Ottawa stalled).
The big trade fell apart at the start of the weekend and was resuscitated by two assistant GMs: old friend Chris MacFarland, now Sakic’s right-hand man in Colorado, and Ottawa’s Paul Fenton, who is one of those extremely bright former Hartford Whalers (they’re everywhere). The deal was made in Ohio.
According to a report by TSN, MacFarland and Fenton ran into each other while scouting at Miami University on Friday night, and they ran into each other again while scouting at Ohio State on Saturday night. They talked, they called their bosses, Turris softened his contract demands and the thing came together.
The Predators were the visitors at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday night. Turris, who is working out visa issues, was not with the team. But Scott Hartnell, who was bought out by the Jackets and signed with the Predators last summer, was on the visiting bench. Hartnell got a nice “Welcome back to Columbus” message on the Jumbotron during the first TV timeout and, when the in-house camera zoomed in him, he looked up and waved. That was a classy move by the Jackets. Sitting next to Hartnell was another former Jacket, Ryan Johansen, whose presence was not acknowledged when he returned to Columbus last year. That was a petty move by the Jackets.
Life goes on, and Duchene is a Senator. I’ve had any number of conversations with Jackets management types about Duchene. Their stance is something like this: What Sakic was seeking in return — widely advertised as a prized young defenseman, another young player and at least two draft picks, including a firstrounder — would have dented their big-league roster in a way they felt would devalue their ride. It’d be like getting a shiny new grille and driving around with a big crease in the rear quarter panel, near the gas tank.
The Jackets are the youngest team in the league, they had a fine October and they’re not even humming yet. Management wants to see what this team can do. Duchene is due for a new contract in 2019 and there were no guarantees he would have signed with Columbus. The Jackets are conscious of longrange management of their salary cap.
Sure, Duchene would have looked good in Union Blue, but at what price? Credit to Sakic, who got more than anyone imagined he would for a talented, but not upper-echelon, No. 1 center. The teams involved in the three-way trade are all very happy, but that does not mean there is sadness among the uninvolved.