At the beginning of the month I looked at where the Blue Jackets
needed to improve before the trade deadline and concluded that with the roster they have they should just stand pat with that. Over three weeks has passed since then and some things have changed. The Jackets have lost Lukas Sedlak and Matt Calvert to injury.
The Jackets have essentially already replaced one of those players by calling up Oliver Bjorkstrand. Bjorkstrand has turned a potential hole in the line-up into a strength. The other spot is being filled by Markus Hannikainen, who hasn’t been bad but that is an area the Jackets could look to shore up. If they could get a depth forward cheap then that would be something to explore. The key here is cheap; we saw what Martin Hanzal just went for, I made my thoughts on that deal very clear last night on Twitter.
If that’s the market price for forwards, all teams, not just the Jackets, should stand pat. If the Jackets can trade maybe like a 4th or 5th round pick for an NHL forward that could serve as insurance to an injury and fill a bottom line role that would be the course of action for this deadline.
The pie in the sky idea is the Blue Jackets going after a Duchene, Landeskog or even a Shattenkirk type of player. The Jackets have the pieces to make a trade like that happen, but they would most certainly be losing a Ryan Murray or Boone Jenner in the process along with a first and a top prospect. The team isn’t quite ready for a move like that. This is something that would be better suited to an off-season move.
As far as selling goes, the Jackets obviously aren’t selling but even if they were they don’t have much to sell. Their only notable UFA is Sam Gagner who has struggled in 2017 and likely wouldn’t fetch much in a trade. At last year’s trade deadline there was chatter around Scott Hartnell and the Jackets looking to trade him to shed salary. That is not an issue this season as the team has about $7M in cap space per
Cap Friendly, since they were able to put David Clarkson on long-term injured reserve.
The Jackets are a young team and at this point are playing with house money. Nothing was expected out of them yet here they are in a great position to make the playoffs. They could make some noise in the playoffs but this is not a team expected to win the Cup. This is an opportunity to get these young players valuable playoff experience. They do not need to be going all-in and pay some ridiculous price to pick-up a rental. If there is a depth forward out there for cheap then that works, but a big blockbuster deal right now doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Expect Wednesday to be a slow day for Blue Jackets news.
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Well the Jackets cheaply added some forward depth claiming Zac Daple off waivers from Minnesota.
Dalpe isn't anything too special, he's played just nine games in the NHL season recording a goal and two assists. He's played under John Tortorella in Vancouver so their is some familiarity which may be why the claim was made. Dalpe brings some size and physicality but that's about it. He can play on the fourth line but he's best served in a bench role like Scott Harrington and Dalton Prout. He can be called upon in an emergency situation and play a couple games.
That looks to be the role Dalpe will serve as he is reporting to the AHL to play for the Monsters.
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