Kekalainen can still make some moves, and he will
Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen has been clear about what he’s doing. Give him that much.
When he mortgaged a chunk of the future to acquire Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, Adam Mcquaid and Keith Kinkaid at the trade deadline — piling four more unrestricted free agents on top of Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky — Kekalainen said he was prepared to lose them all.
On July 1, when free-agent
season opened, he lost Duchene, Panarin and Bobrovsky in a matter of hours. There went a No. 1 center, a bona fide superstar and the franchise goaltender. Kekalainen didn’t change his tune.
“We accepted the risk at the deadline,” he said. “We said all along that even if they’re all rentals, we’re fine. And that’s why we took the run at it. We wanted to make sure that if this was the last spring with Bobrovsky and Panarin, we gave it the best shot we could … and we’re comfortable with where we are.
“We kept all our best prospects, who are now pushing to make our team and are going to get a great opportunity to show us that they’re ready to play in the National Hockey League, and even more importantly, maybe even make an impact.”
In so many words, Kekalainen is asking fans to trust him.
Kekalainen believes the acquisition of forward Gustav Nyquist will at least soften the blow of losing Panarin. Nyquist, 29, has proved himself capable of putting up 60 points, but he has been more of a complementary player over the course of his career.
Kekalainen believes forwards Alexandre Texier, 19, and Emil Bemstrom, 20, are ready for the NHL — and may soon be ready to have an impact. He better be right.
There is no replacing Panarin’s sublimity or Duchene’s top-line talent. Kekalainen believes adding prospects to his core — Pierre-luc Dubois, Cam Atkinson, Josh Anderson, Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner, Oliver Bjorkstrand, et al. — supplies enough forward talent to contend for a playoff spot next season.
He believed that much at the trade deadline, when one
national publication awarded a grade of “A-plus” to the Jackets and said, “give Jarmo Kekalainen the GM of the Year trophy right now.”
He believed that on the first day of freeagent season, when the same national publication gave the Jackets a “D” grade and said, “Now the franchise is paying the piper and that means huge holes offensively and in goal that may take years to fill.”
A-plus for going all-in. A near-fail for going all in. Which is it?
The reward was the Jackets’ first playoff series victory. It was a resounding, four-game sweep of the mighty Tampa Bay Lightning. Next round, the Jackets lost to an experienced Boston Bruins team in six games.
The Jackets went from a nonplayoff team to a contender, disappointed.
The price was a firstround pick, a couple of seconds, a couple of later-round picks,
a couple of prospects and Anthony Duclair.
Was the springtime ride worth it? I think yes.
Next, fans can judge whether to trust Kekalainen about his young forwards and goaltenders. In the meantime, he has $24 million-plus in cap space and a depth of young defensemen to make a substantial trade if he can find one.
“Might be tomorrow, might be in August, might be later in the fall, but I think (we) have all kinds of options in front of us,” Kekalainen said. “And I think we’ve shown in the past that we’re not afraid to make a move if we think a trade makes our team better.”
Kekalainen has bought and sold Marian Gaborik and Brandon Saad, imported Seth Jones and acquired and lost Panarin and Duchene. He’s going to do something.