I get the worry. I would have liked the 22OA but there's a lot of calculus that went into that trade.

1. There weren't many defensemen available who fit the pre-Mateychuk/Svozil window that were actually good. Provorov is certainly a risk, but as recently as 21-22 he was a top puck-mover and he's a decent cap-hit with a situationally perfect contract length.
2. There aren't many C's available this offseason for reasonable prices.
3. Cole Sillinger looked like a good player when playing with Voracek, Bjorkstrand, Nyquist, but we no longer have veterancy on the wings.
4. Jake Bean and Adam Boqvist are not reliable players in the D zone.
5. Future cap doesn't matter. Florida, Vegas, Tampa are proving that it's not that hard to get out of deals. Cap is going up.

3 and 4 compound to make a very difficult development environment for young players. Bean and Boqvist (and to a lesser extent even Gavrikov) struggled with too many fires to put out because we didn't have centers that could play. Sillinger tanked this last season because he didn't have defensemen that could help him get the puck out of the zone and he had to carry rookies who had played fewer games than him after injuries.

Jarmo's moves were attempts to reduce the development hurdles by 1. Now that we have Provorov and Severson it will be easier to integrate less-experienced forwards (or d partners) into the lineup without them drowning in pressure in their own zone. If we got a good, reliable middle-six center to help Chinakov, Johnson, Texier, Sillinger play their games it would be even better. It remains to be seen whether one of those is available. Hopefully an improved D corps serves as a platform for them to learn to impact the game without swimming in rookie-mistake chaos.

With 3OA we have a prospect that looks 90% certain to be a 1C in either Fantilli or Carlsson. We just have to not blow it and help further insulate players like Sillinger, Johnson, Chinakov, Marchenko with their Nyquist, Bjorkstrand, Voracek equivalents.

It literally doesn't matter if Provorov leaves in two years. In fact, the Jackets were trying to sign Gavrikov to a short term contract anyway. They need a stopgap until Denton Mateychuk is ready and 2 years is perfect for that.

It's shocking how bad people are at math. 29, 30 , 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36. He will never be 37 years old under the contract he signed. They've also got Jiricek and Ceulemans coming up so it'll be just fine if he's playing 3rd pairing in the final 3 years of his contract. If he's completely terrible the buyout on the last 3 years is like 2.75M for 3 years then 1.75M for 3 years. Totally affordable on a $90M+ cap.

They did get a guy who can play the game. They also got a guy who is a terrific locker room presence.

All of these moves have been to create an atmosphere that their upcoming players can thrive in rather than getting beaten both physically and on the scoreboard.

This right here is what people don't understand and why these two trades were made. Not only injuries protection because these two Dmen are noted for their durability but their 3rd line had nobody that could drive out of the neutral zone. First line had JG, second line had Roslovic and KJ, 4th line had ERob. Who on the 3rd line can move through the neutral zone with Gudbranson on the ice? THAT'S WHY Sillinger had such a miserable year then badly tanked his confidence. With Texier there that should immediately help that situation at a minimum.

Right now that's the biggest true issue with CBJ and their centers. None of their centers outside Roslovic had a good neutral zone presence but he also is so inconsistent and makes terrible hockey IQ plays is why we had such an abysmal offense this year on top of the defense couldn't get the puck out of their zone. If we get a new center their biggest attribute will be their neutral zone driving.

Yes where a lot of cbj fans are misinterpreting me is that all i am saying is i could see him doing this. In no way shape or form do i beleive he should. Columbus is my second favorite team behind the sabres, i get the market and how hard it can be to retain and attract players. All I am saying that if there is a chance provy wants to leave in 2 years time then you gave up an asset who you could have 7-8 years of team control up for a guy who may not even push you over the edge into becoming a playoff team. I said the same with ottawa and debrincat which was even more egregious because it was 7 overall. I get you have to take chances but for a guy in jarmo who is very likely on his last legs if this isnt successful makes me worried for the long term outlook of the jackets as he really doesnt care about 2-3 years from now.

Hence why i thought jt miller would be realistic lol

A lot of it is being on this website too much.

The fatigue from seeing people throw in 3OA for anything, especially after Portzline said 3OA would only be worth Lindholm + 2nd round pick, is very real. It's easy to be agitated and there's been a lot of bad-faith stuff thrown around on the website, especially directed at CBJ.

Not that you're doing that. You seem reasonable and with legitimate interest, but it's been a lot of not that.