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There's been a lot of talk about Kerby Rychel since Elliotte Friedman tossed his name out as a potential trade candidate.
The Blue Jackets have made it no secret they'd like to bring in some help on defense - preferably a top-4 guy - and they appear willing to move Rychel, and potentially others, to make it happen.
Rychel scored 12 goals and registered 33 points in 51 games with AHL Springfield, and did not look out of place while recording three points in five games with the Blue Jackets.
As you would expect Rychel, who was the 19th overall pick in the 2013 draft, is drawing interest.
From Elliotte Friedman's 30 Thoughts: 20. Would not be surprised if Montreal is one of the teams in on Kerby Rychel, who may not be a Blue Jacket much longer. Columbus is looking for defencemen and is loaded with good, young forwards.
A 20-year-old two years removed from being a first-round pick is hard to find, so there’s going to be a market. Rychel had concussion issues last season, but word is he’s cleared.
Friedman said he wouldn't be surprised if Montreal is one of the teams interested, meaning there are multiple. That's not necessarily surprising, but the bigger the market the more likely it is that the Blue Jackets get what they want: a top-4 defenseman.
I was somewhat surprised to see Montreal as a potential landing spot for Rychel. The Blue Jackets want immediate help on their blue line, and I don't see a whole lot Montreal could offer.
P.K. Subban is obviously going nowhere. Andrei Markov is not going anywhere. Tom Gilbert isn't enough and Alexei Emelin is a) not very good and; b) overpaid.
Realistically Nathan Beaulieu and Jarred Tinordi are the only defensemen Montreal would be willing to part with that remotely fit the bill of what Columbus is looking for.
The issue with those guys is they probably haven't progressed as much as Montreal had hoped.
Beaulieu hasn't ripped it up in the AHL, has 13 points in 87 NHL games and needs a new contract.
Tinordi has yet to establish himself as an NHLer, has no offensive upside - he has never tallied 17+ points in a year (not even in junior) - and also needs a new contract.
If you're trading a 20-year-old who tore it up in juniors, performed well in the AHL, and did not look out of place in the NHL you'd like to get more of a sure thing.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out because, based on the interest Rychel is drawing, it seems like his days in Columbus are over before they got started.
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