The Blue Jackets had fine deadline. They needed to add depth and they did just that picking up Kyle Quincey and Lauri Korpikoski.
CBJ bring in 2 veteran players...Quincey,31...Korpikoski,30.Joining a roster that prior to today was one of the youngest in NHL.#NHLTrade
— John Shannon (@JSportsnet) March 1, 2017
They didn't mortgage the future and now have players that can fill in, in a pinch. This shows a lot of faith in the current roster IMO. #CBJ
— SB (@Sam_Blazer) March 1, 2017
These two tweets really do a good job of summarizing the moves. They add some veteran presence to a young team, without subtracting anything from the NHL club. This keeps the chemistry of the team both on and off the ice intact. I went into the players little more yesterday so check that out if you want more information on Quincey and Korpikoski.
The Jackets did well in these trades to not give up any draft picks. This was great work by the front office. The Jackets had five picks last season and will be losing a second round pick this season most likely, for John Tortorella. They did well to add depth without gutting an already small pool of picks.
They traded two players in Dalton Prout and Dillon Heatherington who both had fallen down the depth chart. Prout had spent most of the season in the press box, playing in just 15 games. He was the eighth defencemen and when injuries occurred it was Scott Harrington who more often than not was filling in. The Jackets were not only able to move a player they weren’t using, they were also able to clear some cap space for this season, but more importantly for next season. Prout has one more year on his deal after this one as the Jackets inexplicably gave him a two-year extension.
By trading Prout the Jackets save $325,000 this season (the difference between Quincey’s and Prout’s deals) and save $1.575M next season. That doesn’t seem like much but every little but counts as the Blue Jackets are expected to be close to the cap next season and have to sign Alexander Wennberg to a new contract and potentially re-sign Sam Gagner. What this also shows is the Blue Jackets moving further away from players who provide toughness and not much else. The Jackets have fully embraced four scoring lines and three pairs of puck moving defencemen who can skate. Prout had some decent underlying numbers but he doesn’t have the speed or passing ability to play in the Blue Jackets system.
This might be reading too much into it but it looks like this could be the start of a trend across the organization. Dillon Heatherington is young but is similar to that of Prout minus the fighting. Heatherington is a big defensive defencemen. He doesn’t move the puck very well and provides little offense. The Jackets have a ton of players like this in the system and hopefully they are starting to realize the risks of drafting these players. Heatherington was a second round pick in 2013; you can see how far he’s fallen in three and half seasons. He is nowhere near the value of a second round pick anymore.
Finally the other important part of these deals is they keep the Jackets at 46 contracts. That allows them to keep their options open to signing NCAA/CHL free agents like they did last season with Jordan Maletta and Justin Scott, or to sign undrafted free agents like they did with Dante Salituro.
Neither move made at the deadline was earth shattering. The Jackets needed to add cheap depth and did just that. They brought in a couple veterans who help an inexperienced team down the stretch and into the playoffs. In the process they were able to move a player they weren’t using and a prospect that has lost much of their shine. Overall a productive Trade Deadline for the Blue Jackets.
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