Jackets GM a seller with not much to sell
Kekalainen goes through trade deadline with 1 deal
In the NHL’S Eastern Conference, the playoff field was set by New Year’s Day.
The Blue Jackets weren’t in it. They aren’t in it now.
Coming out of the weekend, they were 13 points out of the second wild-card with 19 games remaining.
But, dang, much respect.
Even those grizzled Jackets fans who believe that it’s better to lose and draft in the top five than it is to flirt with .500 and draft Alexander Wennberg have to be heartened by these plucky, 2021-22 Jackets. A team with little or no chance climb above the playoff bar has continued to scratch.
If you were in Nationwide Arena or watching on TV Saturday night when the
undermanned Jackets (32-28-3) held off the St. Blues (34-18-9) in front of a sellout crowd, you know what I’m talking about.
There is a never-say-die culture that coach Brad Larsen and his charges have embraced.
It’s not conducive to improving one’s draft position, but it is admirable. And the culture is important. Much respect.
Monday, trade deadline day, marked the top of the homestretch for 2021-22. Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen was a seller.
Kekalainen was also a seller last year, when he moved Nick Foligno and David Savard for first-round picks. It was the start of a rebuilding process that continued with the draft-day trade of Seth Jones.
The Jackets came away with center/ left wing Kent Johnson, who looks like an elite prospect as Michigan takes aim at the Frozen Four; center Cole Sillinger, a teenager who is in the process of completing his rookie initiation into the NHL; and defenseman Corson Ceulemans, whose freshman season at Wisconsin recently ended.
This year, though, what Kekalainen had to offer — primarily, pending unrestricted free agents Max Domi, 27, Dean Kukan, 28, and Joonas Korpisalo — did not have as much cachet.
But Kekalainen remains in a rebuild mode (even though he shies away from saying “rebuild”) and piling up draft picks and developing high-end prospects remain a priority.
So the Blue Jackets GM made one deal: Domi was reportedly traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for prospect Aidan Hreschuk, a left-shot defenseman who recently completed his freshman season at Boston College. The deal was done just prior to the 3 p.m. deadline.
Domi was the only Jackets asset who seemed to draw any interest, and even in that case, there appeared to be no bidding war. The Jackets got something back — a player to put into their defensive pipeline, which was a need — for a player they were not going to re-sign.
Could've been better with, say, a fifthround pick thrown in there. It could've been worse. It's fine.
In hindsight, Kekalainen should have moved Korpisalo when there was a better market for the goalie. That said, it was difficult to foresee Korpisalo being so devalued with his performance this season. You live with it because Korpisalo is a consummate pro who has lent long, and often distinguished, service. Remember the bubble.
Monday was not splashy in part because teams began making moves back on Valentine's Day, when the Calgary
Flames acquired Tyler Toffoli (from Montreal). If there is a team to challenge the Colorado Avalanche in the West, the Flames are the best bet. Last week's addition of center Calle Jarnkrok (from Seattle) felt like just the right move.
These Flames have a well-shaped roster, a veteran coach in Darryl Sutter, they're tough and they've got the goaltending. But Colorado is still a beast, and the Avs added forward depth Monday.
Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito, who was assistant GM in Columbus when Kekalainen went “all in” in 2019, is mortgaging the future for a run at the Stanley Cup this spring. Although the health of defenseman Aaron Ekblad (long-term IR with a leg injury) is a big question mark, the Panthers are loaded.
Zito has added a superstar in Claude Giroux (from Philadelphia) and padded the defense with Ben Chiarot (whose production was down in Ottawa). The cost: Florida will be without a first-round pick for three of the next four years, and they still don't have the defense or the goaltending of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
I love what the Lightning did in acquiring middle-six forward Brandon Hagel (from Chicago) and fourth-line checker Nick Paul (from Ottawa). These moves weren't nearly as sexy, and they were nearly as costly, as Florida's moves. But they have a ring of 2020, when Barclay Goodrow and Blake Coleman were brought aboard on the way to a Cup title.
The East, with eight teams within 10 points of one another, is going to be a wild ride. Domi is now near the top of that mix. Good for him.
If all goes well, the Jackets will be a part of something similar in a year or three.
marace@dispatch.com