Yes.

They’d be stupid not too

No. You can just have Bemstrom for free. Columbus doesn't have a roster spot. Kubalik's a fine player, but Columbus has so many roster players already under contract it's not practical to take on another one.

Taking on Bemstrom alone doesn't help our cap situation but I like him as a player so I'd take him because he's so cheap that he doesn't hurt the cap either.

The Blue Jackets have extra cap either way so how about this:

Emil Bemstrom 50% retained (450k for 1 year) to Ottawa for a 6th round pick.

Wait, who are the 12 better forwards than Kubalik? Bemstrom is going the other way, you are just upgrading a player for free…

Anyone who is on a 1-way and is not among the 13 best forwards, you send him down in the AHL and that’s it. He’d probably not be claimed anyway. Or were you scared to lose Danforth on waivers?

I can assure you your GM would do this (unless their goal was to finish as low as possible)

Not the original responder, but I will chime in. He said that we have too many forwards, not that we have 13 that are better. Bemstrom is 100% replaceable, but there is still hope for someone like Foudy to realize his potential. Danforth has been a great piece that should be a prime Babcock player at a low cost. Plus there is Voronkov that has to be up by Christmas or he can go back to Russia.

Capfriendly has us at 13 forwards. Plus Danforth, Sillinger, and Voronkov. This move makes no sense to help clear out space for guys (especially young guys) to get ice time and not lose others to waivers.

The difference between Kubalik and Danforth, since that's the binary choice we're now being forced to make thanks to the poster you quoted whom I have muted, is not great enough to outweigh the fact Danforth is cheaper and already on the team. Like I said, Kubalik is a fine player. In a different season, Columbus would love to take him. But this is a year to sort through the assets Columbus already has while still moving toward being competitive, and Kubalik isn't quite enough of a needle mover to outweigh that. I would think a team like Colorado, desperate for forward depth, would be a better place to send him.

Also, I am not a he.

He/she said "Columbus has so many roster players already under contract" so this probably only implies forwards on a 1-way

There is 11 guys on a 1-way contract : Gaudreau, Laine, Roslovic, Jenner, Kuraly, Robinson, Texier, Olivier, Bemström, Foudy, Danforth

The last 4 could be sent to the AHL without costing a $ on the cap but they are now waivers exempt though. Chinakhov is waivers exempt so you can afford to develop him one more year in the AHL (which would be a good idea IMO). Seriously, it would be extremely surprising that either Olivier or Danforth get claimed on waivers, every organization have several depth guys like that. For example, Sens have Matthew Highmore who has 139 NHL games and was near PPG in the AHL last season. The difference with Oliver and Danforth is that he is not signed to a 1-way contract.

Since Bemstrom would be going the other way in acquiring Kubalik, you have 10 guys on 1-ways plus Fantilli, Johnson, Marchenko, Sillinger and Voronkov that you might all want to give a spot to.

So what would be the forward group?

Gaudreau - Jenner - Laine
Johnson - Fantilli - Marchenko
Texier - Sillinger - Roslovic
Robinson - Kuraly - Foudy
Bemström

Olivier and Danforth to the AHL. Voronkov should start there too and get a call up when there is an injury.

Kubalik would be a nice add maybe it's Texier that should go the other way. Would he be available?

Texier for Kubalik + Thomson + 4th ?

I think they'd rather just stick him in Cleveland than retain money on him. The extra cap you're talking about is providing a cushion for all of their potential ELC bonuses this year. Between Fantilli, Kj, and Marchenko they've got the potential to earn $5.9M and will likely earn somewhere around $2-3M of that. If Jiricek and Sillinger make the team then that adds another $1.85M in potential bonuses of which they could easily earn another $800k-1M. Going over the cap would be pretty bad considering all of the RFAs they have due for new contracts next year.

Tex most definitely is not available. We didn't wait the last year and a half while he grieved his losses, to trade him immediately.

Again it doesn't matter that Kubilak is better than some of the options that will be on the roster on opening night or early in the season. This is still a development year to evaluate those other fringe guys, not take on a 28 year old that has no future with the team. On top of all of this, the Jackets have a potential of almost $6M in performance bonuses this season. Jarmo has no interest in getting closer to the cap unless it is a significant add for the future.

Yeah if Texier is not available then I see. With so many ELCs guys to integrate the lineup, there's a bit of a logjam. There's many other teams where Kubalik would be more needed.

Not many have cap space for him though.

Several would by sending a contract back. Sens only need about a million so it could even be a 1.2 AAV for example

And well, we don't know all the exact cap situations as some LTIRs will come into play. We have to be patient. Would be nice to see Pinto signed 1 year at 1.3 AAV for example, one more piece of the puzzle for us