The Columbus Blue Jackets conclude the second half of their back to back with the final SoCal game of the season against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim at the Honda Center. This game is at 10:30pm on Bally Sports.
The Ducks and Jackets are both in the bottom five of the league standings and the Ducks are probably going to stay there for a while.
Anaheim has sold heavily in the lead up to the trade deadline.
Defender Hunter Drew was flipped to Chicago for winger Josiah Slavin.
Defender Hunter Thrun was moved to San Jose for a third round pick.
Winger Maxim Golod was dealt to Chicago for forward Dylan Sikura.
Defenseman Austin strand was sent to Buffalo for defenseman Chase Priskie.
Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was traded at 50% salary retention to Pittsburgh for winger Brock McGinn and a third round pick.
Defenseman John Klingberg was also moved at 50% salary retention to the Minnesota Wild for defender Andrej Sustr, forward Nikita Nesterenko and a fourth round pick.
The depth and strength of the Ducks is either young or nonexistent. John Gibson is a steady goalkeeper, but he is not the future. Amidst trade rumors, my gut tells my Pittsburgh. Send him home and they can have one last hurrah.
In regard to the lineup, I expect Gibson and Daniil Tarasov as the tender duel.
Projected Lineups
Anaheim Ducks
Brock McGinn--Trevor Zegras--Ryan Strome Max Jones--Mason McTavish--Troy Terry Frank Vatrano--Issac Lundestrom--Jakob Slifverberg Maxime Comtois--Derek Grant--Brett Leason
Cam Fowler--Scott Harrington Simon Benoit--Kevin Shattenkirk Nathan Beaulieu--Colton White
John Gibson Lukas Dostal
Scratched - Injured - Jamie Drysdale, Urho Vaakanainen, Adam Henrique, Anthony Stolarz
Columbus Blue Jackets
Johnny Gaudreau--Boone Jenner--Kirill Marchenko Kent Johnson--Jack Roslovic--Patrik Laine Liam Foudy--Lane Pederson--Emil Bemstrom Eric Robinson--Cole Sillinger--Mathieu Olivier
Tim Breni--Erik Gubdranson Gavin Bayreuther--Adam Boqvist Nick Blankenburg--Andrew Peeke
Michael Hutchinson Daniil Tarasov
Scratched -- Injured -- Zach Werenski, Jake Bean, Sean Kuraly, Justin Danforth
Players to Watch
Anahiem -- Mason McTavish --
Columbus -- Johnny Gaudreau --
Predicted Final Score
ANA - 1
CBJ - 2