Kekalainen pushed his chips in and Columbus can take pride in upsetting the best regular season team the salary cap era has seen. However, they are likely to lose several of their best players as UFA's and are left with few draft selections in the next couple of years. They have built a solid defensive core that Tortorella should be able to rely on to attempt to eke out games and remain competitive, but Columbus will have their work cut out for them in order to avoid taking a step back and try to build on their first playoff round win in franchise history.
RFA's
Werenski - Jackets lock up one of the top young defenders in the game to a max term contract. They see him as their future captain and will build their roster around him and Jones at the back end.
Murray - Sign him to a medium term reasonable value deal, solidifying the second pairing. They can also trade him or one of their younger LHD for help up front if the right offer comes along. The Jackets may be a candidate to end up protecting 4F & 4D instead of 7F & 3D for the Seattle expansion if they don't choose to move Murray.
Sedlak - Signs in the KHL.
Harrington - Signs a 1 x 925k to be the 6/7 defenseman, competing with Gavrikov for the bottom pairing LD spot.
Korpisalo - Is likely traded with Merkzlikins coming over to take over his backup spot and be groomed alongside a veteran starter to take over the starting job.
Clendening - Signs 1 x 825k to compete for the 6/7 spot or lead the AHL team.
Milano - Extended for one more year in hopes he puts it together and earns a spot on the big club. He is also a candidate for a change of scenery trade to recoup picks.
MacInnis, Scott, Somerby, Robinson - Signed for AHL team for one more year.
UFA
Panarin - Jackets offer him 8 x $9.25M but he likely elects to sign for similar money (or perhaps even more) in a larger market.
Dzingel - Likely offer him a decent contract (4 x $4M), but someone else overpays for his career year.
Duchene - Will be costly to re-sign as not only does Columbus have to out bid other teams, they would have to send Ottawa another first rounder. They choose to keep the pick and get forward help from another avenue.
Bobrovsky - Jackets are willing to move on from Bobrovsky after an up and down year. He's still a great goalie, but they can't afford to pay him what he'll get on the open market.
McQuaid - A tough, solid 6/7 defenseman, but I believe the Jackets will not bring him back.
Kinkaid - Moves on to another team looking for a veteran backup.
Jackets other UFA's are not re-signed either.
The Blue Jackets sign Varlamov to a short term contract to allow himself to prove he is still an NHL starter. He should also be a decent mentor for Merzilikins during his first taste of the NHL.
Did not want to add additional cap for next season as Dubois, Andersson, Kukan, Gavrikov, Harrington and Merlzilikins will need new contracts ($17M plus cap inflation available next season for these players). The Jackets may need to move out Nash & Dubinsky next season to free up some additional funds for these re-signings.
Trades
Comments in each individual move, but overall Columbus can look to their defensive depth to try to get a talented scoring forward. They can also take on bad money for the 19-20 season in exchange for picks.
Lineup
As a number of key UFA's were not retained by the club, the Jackets will have to see what they have in their top forward prospects (Texier .32PPG NHLe last year, Bemstrom 0.43PPG NHLe last year) and move some of their blueline depth for a scoring forward (Drouin). I've put the young guys on lines with good veteran mentors. The lineup also relies on Wennberg bouncing back. There's no point in trading a 24 year old #2/3C for pennies on the dollar. His shooting percentage was way below career average last season and feeding Atkinson and hopefully Bemstrom, who have been more traditionally goal scorers, should help this playmaking center bounce back.
Vegas likes Milano as a reclamation project better than most of the prospects available during their run of three 3rd rounders this year. They were a little weaker on the left side last season and they will need younger, cheaper players pushing for roster spots in the bottom 6 so they use one of their thirds to grab Milano.
Callahan waives to reunite with Tortorella who made him captain in NYC and play for a reasonably competitive team in what may be his last NHL season. Columbus moves into the first round taking advantage of a rivals cap situation.
TBL
Choix de 3e ronde en 2019 (CBJ)
Détails additionnels:
Tampa moves back two rounds early in the draft to get rid of Callahan's $5.8M cap hit.
Columbus moves their defensive strength, the pick they would have used to keep Duchene, and a good backup to get a skilled offensive player whose team is disgruntled with him. Drouin should help Columbus make up some of the scoring lost from Panarin's departure.
Montreal needs a goalie they can trust to win some games when they rest Price. Korpisalo has been effective backing up Bob (.907 save% in 90 games) so Montreal acquires him thinking he can do the same behind Price for a low cost. They also need LD who can skate and pass well to pair with Weber so they make the move to get Murray out of Columbus for their top pair. They also move up two rounds next draft to add to account for Drouin's higher value vs. the players they are acquiring. 1st is top 8 protected (if top 8, Montreal gets 2021 first instead).
So Murray won't be a fit with Weber on the top pair? I see Montreal moving a top 6 forward who the organization was unhappy with to end the year and which will soon be replaceable by the forward prospects coming up for a #2/3D and a young backup goalie. Columbus may need to sweeten the deal with a 2020/2021 mid round pick but I think it seems fair and addresses both team needs.
you must be high if you think this team is taking a step backwards. Bye bob, your playoff chokes will hardly be missed. We welcome Elvis with open arms.
Bye Duchene, we are are more than ready to let Foudy and Tex come in and play. Dezing who? Come in in Bemström, lets get the party started.
This team is so deep in good young players it's sickening. This is gonna be one of the most fun teams to watch next year. Hands down.
McDavid, Connor
250 000 $)
RoadRunner72 a aimé ceci.
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