I think its fair deal. You cant comparare Atki and Voracek, they are different types of players. Voracek is more offensive guy and Atkinson two-way player. Columbus needed more on Panarin type of guy, who can be passer and offensive force. Laine is great player, not my favorite, but once he get his game back to shape, he is top 6 player. Voracek and Laine might be good duo which need two-way center middle of them. In this trade i see that Columbus fixed need what they had. They needed playmaker. You also have to remember, Jarmo didnt trade Korpi or Elvis to Voracek, he didnt use Jones to Voracek either. You have to pay something to get solid and good top 6 player in this league. Atkinson was great player for Columbus, loved by fans and will be missed. Both teams got great player, which fill teams needs. WIN/WIN in my mind.

This is about cap.
CBJ is trying to get out of long term commitments. They are selling the farm and starting over.
They could also be clearing out any older dissenting voices.
I don't think CBJ wanted to move on from Torts. He was a winner.
But you had issues amongst the players. This could be their way of saying GTFO.
I think CBJ did alright here. Cam did not play the way CBJ wanted to play. He was always the smaller guy they had to hide.
His effectiveness was really going down hill.
They clear his cap out, Now in 3 years, the cap hit is gone instead of 4.
In the mean time, they will probably look to flip Voracek out as well.

Atkinson was not a problem in Columbus, but he was still never going to reach his 40+ goal total again. His community involvement is an X-factor which should not be discounted, especially for a franchise struggling in the PR department. Still, salary aside, this is a fairly even hockey trade—Philly gets the better scorer, Columbus gets he better passer.
Yet salary is a factor. $5.75M down the road post-COVID is nothing compared to the $2.4M difference this season, with a flat cap and very good teams in cap hell. (That fourth season can be bought out for under $2M/year for two seasons.)
Look what Arizona has done selling their cap space for picks. Most free agents will be at a deep discount. (You think Taylor Hall would be available at $6M per in a few seasons?) Cap is king this year—and even (or especially) non-contenders can take advantage of that to set up future success. There’s a reason Voracek was left unprotected (and unpicked) while Atkinson was not.
Thus, this would have been easier to digest had Philly thrown in some assets, even a 2023 2nd round pick or something similar.
Now if Columbus can flip Voracek after laundering part of his salary, the perspective changes. But that deal better already be in the pipeline. If it’s just wishful thinking, this could really bite them. I’d have preferred if they spent the late evening hours edging out Florida for Sam Reinhart. That might have made this more palatable.
No time to stop now, though. If the Jackets are committed to an overhaul, obviously move a goalie sooner rather than later (Korpisalo makes the most sense). Why stop there? Jenner is on an expiring contract, and Gavrikov’s cap hit makes him worth more than his hockey ability alone. I would and will miss all of these players that finally built the Jackets into threats (not real contenders), but rip off the Band-Aid all at once. Far better than death by a thousand cuts over the next few years.

This is fair. Laine is going to benefit from Voracek's presence big time. Voracek also has a higher cap hit but shorter-term left on his deal. I think Jarmo is looking to return to the playoffs with this deal, it makes them more competitive.

This is a fair trade. People really sleep on how much of a game breaker Voracek is when he's on top of his game. He steps up a lot more than people think.

So Columbus is fully committed to Laine as their top goal scorer. That...is a very large gamble.

He can play both

Voracek is the better player, but Atkinson's cap hit is lower so I say that evens things out complimenting each team's respective cap situation