The Blue Jackets did not make a splashy free agent signing. They made two small AHL signings, adding defencemen Cameron Gaunce and Andre Benoit. They are both veterans and bring leadership and experience to Cleveland. Gaunce the younger of the two at 27, signed for $650,000 per
Cap Friendly. He has played 468 career games in the AHL, including 197 with the Lake Erie Monsters back when they were Colorado’s affiliate. He won a Calder Cup with the Texas Stars in 2013-14, and spent this past season in the Penguins organization, putting up 13 points in 49 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and four points in 12 games for the Penguins.
Benoit, 33, has bounced around a lot in his hockey career. The Blue Jackets will be his sixth NHL organization. He also spent time playing professionally in Finland, Russia, and Sweden, where he was last year. He played 52 games for the Malmo Redhawks and put up 24 points. Benoit has some NHL experience playing 181 games. His best season came in 2013-14 with the Avalanche where he put up 28 points in 79 games. Much like Gaunce he's had plenty of time in the AHL. Benoit has played 391 games in the AHL and is a two-time Calder Cup Champion. He won it 2006-07 with the Hamilton Bulldogs and again in 2010-11 with the Binghamton Senators.
They provide the Monsters with some much needed defensive help, and if something drastic happens, could step up and fill in at the NHL level for a couple games.
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The Blue Jackets are still working on a trade for Matt Duchene.
The Jackets were one of what sounds like four teams interested in Duchene, along with Nashville, Boston and the Islanders. With Nashville refusing to give up one of their top four defencemen, and then signing Nick Bonino, they appear to be out. Boston has said they do not want to trade Brandon Carlo, who Colorado has expressed the most interest in, so they may be out as well. The rumoured price for the Islanders was so high it appears they are out as well.
If this were the Jackets, you’re looking at Pierre-Luc Dubos, Vitali Abramov, Gabriel Carlsson and a 1st round pick. That rumoured ask is insane and if it’s true it’s no wonder why this deal hasn’t got done. From what’s been reported it doesn’t sound like that is the ask from the Blue Jackets.
We do know that Gabriel Carlsson would be a part of the deal.
I mentioned this twitter and got some disagreements but I would be ok giving up both Carlsson and Murray to get Duchene. I don’t see the upside in Carlsson that others do. I see him as someone who tops out as maybe a second pair defencemen if everything breaks right. I see him getting exposed in the NHL next season. Regardless he should not be the reason this deal doesn’t get done. Murray is another story. He's shown he can play on the top pair, as he did with Seth Jones in the 2015-16 season. He has all the talent but just can’t stay healthy and put it all together. His loss would be felt, but it’s hard to count on Murray with his injury history. It might be time for another organization to take a chance on him. Moving both defencemen, a prospect like Sonny Milano or a first round pick is something the Jackets should do. That would open a hole on the third pair but it could easily be filled by a UFA defencemen, like a Cody Franson.
I am not going to dive into Duchene analysis right now, save that for if he actually gets traded, but he’s a really good player who has had his numbers dragged down by being on some bad Colorado teams. His point totals have been dropping, and aren’t what you expect from a top line forward, but we need to keep in mind this was a 48 point team last season. It would be hard for any player to have success in a situation like that. Duchene’s possession stats also do not look great, but relative to his team he’s been a positive. I think getting him out of Colorado would rejuvenate him and if you put him with some good line mates (Artemi Panarin??) he would get back to being an impact centre.
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