Since the inception of their franchise in the 2000-2001 season, the Columbus Blue Jackets have only qualified for the playoffs four times, and they have made it past the second round once. The Blue Jackets have always had an OK squad, but never have they had one that would be taken seriously as a Stanley cup contender. That is, until this year.
They have a number one center in big Pierre-Luc Dubois, who has 52 points in 60 games so far this campaign, a big improvement over his underwhelming rookie year in which he put up a measly 48 points in 81 games. They also have a star right winger who is on pace for a career year in Cam Atkinson. Add two young stalwarts on defence in Seth Jones and Zach Werenski, and you have an almost perfect team. But there are two players that make this team complete. Those players are Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky.
Panarin has had at least 70 points in every one of his NHL seasons (excluding this year), and is a UFA after this year. Bobrovsky is a two time Vezina winner, and he has a career save percentage of .919. The 30 year old is also a UFA after this year, which makes the situation a little bit more complicated for Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen.
So he basically has three options. He could trade them both now, trade them at the draft or try to re-sign them in the re-sign phase, but risk losing them to free agency for nothing. I think it would make no sense to trade them now at the deadline. They acquired Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel, so it’s obvious they are going for a playoff run. If they are going to trade them, it would be best to do so at the draft, so they can take a shot at the cup this year. If I was Jarmo Kekalainen, I would avoid trading either of them. I doubt Panarin or Bobrovsky would walk in free agency. They have a chance to make big money playing on a contending team, without going through the stress of free agency. If Bobrovsky does walk or gets traded, not to worry, they have an up and coming goaltender in Joonas Korpisalo.
But what do I know. I’m just a ten year old aspiring GM.
I encourage everyone to comment on this post and share your opinion.
Until next time,
Johnny