The trade deadline isn’t until tomorrow but the Blue Jackets were not waiting that long to make a move. They have acquired centre and former Jacket Mark Letestu in a three team trade with the Edmonton Oilers and Nashville Predators.
#CBJ have acquired center Mark Letestu from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a 2018 fourth round selection.https://t.co/mai2NJJOOx
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 25, 2018
This trade was essentially two individual trades. The Oilers traded Letestu to the Predators for Pontus Aberg, and the Preds flipped Letestu to the Jackets for a 2018 4th round pick. Letestu was a member of the Blue Jackets for four seasons from 2011-12 to 2014-15.
Letestu carries a $1.8M cap hit and it set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
Letestu isn’t a great player; he has 19 points in 60 games. His 50.5% Corsi at 5 on 5 is negative relative to the Oilers, but he fills a role and it’s a role the Blue Jackets needed to fill. Letestu is a competent fourth line player. He’s an upgrade over Zac Dalpe, Nathan Gerbe, Markus Hannikainen and Jussi Jokinen, players who have recently been filling in on the fourth line. With this move, Hannikainen was sent down to Cleveland and Jokinen placed on waivers.
Mark Letestu is a fourth-liner. pic.twitter.com/PS0n3JlVdx
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 25, 2018
Letestu is a fourth line, his 1.17 points per 60 at 5 on 5 ranks 312th out of all NHL players who have played at least 400 minutes. The real value in Letestu is that he’s a fourth liner that you can trust to play 10 minutes a night. Rolling out a fourth line for five minutes like the Jackets were doing was not going to go well in the long run. The other part of this is Letestu is a real asset on special teams.
I’m a big believer that 4th liners in today’s game should have some special teams utility. Columbus made a killing last year squeezing value out of their 4th liners on the power play. Don’t think it’s an accident that they targeted Mark Letestu who has been sneaky good at that.
— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) February 25, 2018
It’s no secret the Blue Jackets special teams have been a disaster. Letestu isn’t going to instantly change that but he should improve it. He has six power play points which would be sixth on the Jackets. He’s also kills penalties; he was averaging 1:55 for the Oilers.
Considering what the Jackets have been rolling out on the fourth line getting a player who can trust to play in other areas of the game really helps. Mark Letestu isn’t a huge add but he raises the Blue Jackets floor as they continue to try and push for the playoffs. The cost was minimal a fourth round pick isn’t much to pay, especially when you consider what Derek Brassard and Tomas Plekanec just went for. This isn’t a splashy move but it helps the Blue Jackets, and isn’t that the goal of the trade deadline?
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