The Blue Jackets had their end of season press conference with President John Davidson and General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen, they shared their thoughts on the season that was and where the organization is headed in the future.
The first big news to come out of the press conference was information about two defencemen, one who was injured and one who is healthy. Markus Nutivaara was the injured one; he will require off-season hip surgery.
#CBJ Markus Nutivaara having hip surgery on Tuesday. Out four months. No World Championships.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 24, 2017
This explains why he was used so sparingly down the stretch and in the playoffs. He must not have been 100%, and while he played in game four and five, that was clearly more out of necessity that out of health. The organization thinks highly of Nutivaara with Jarmo mentioning he thinks he has top four potential. I think he could be a top four defencemen as early as next season, especially if the team loses a d-man in the expansion draft.
As for the healthy defencemen, it appears Ryan Murray is healthy and would have been good to go for game six.
Jarmo on Ryan Murray's return: “I think he was ready to play Game 6.… #CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 24, 2017
This is great to hear. Murray will have a full healthy off-season, to further recover from his broken hand and to get ready for next season. He might never reach his potential as the #2 overall pick, but he's fine defencemen who had a good season this past year. The defencemen were the big talk of the press conference with Seth Jones and Zach Werenski getting some high praise.
Jarmo on Seth Jones and Zach Werenski: “I'd be very comfortable comparing them to [any other pair]. And they're going to get better.… #CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 24, 2017
There were 26 defensive pairs to play at least 800 5 on 5 minutes together this season. Werenski and Jones finished fifth with a 53.21% Corsi per Corsica and eighth with a 56.76% goals for. They are already one of the better pairs in the league which is crazy when you think about how young they are.
Davidson also had some good things to say about David Savard and Jack Johnson.
Davidson: “David Savard is a zero-maintenance guy. He plays well.… Also mentioned Jack Johnson being in a great place right now. #CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 24, 2017
There was also plenty of talk about the team’s future. They talked about the process and not wanting to do anything to get ahead of themselves and what they have been trying to build.
#CBJ Kekalainen, Davidson very much in "stay the course" mode with one of the youngest rosters in #NHL. But also noted wealth of prospects.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 24, 2017
#CBJ Kekalainen and Davidson say prospect depth can be used in multiple ways ... trading veterans to clear space, trading prospects, etc.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 24, 2017
I have no insider information on this but I feel like this off-season could be a big one for Sonny Milano. I think the organization either looks to get rid of veteran to give Milano a shot with the NHL team, or they use him as a piece in another Brandon Saad type blockbuster.
Finally the press conference ended with talk about free agents and free agency. The Jackets aren’t expected to be big players in free agency as they don’t have much cap space going into next season. According to Cap Friendly the Jackets have 37 players signed for next season for a projected cap hit of a little over $70M. That leaves them just $2.9M in cap space. They will need to find another Sam Gagner type of player. Someone they can bring in on the cheap, as it looks like Gagner will not be returning.
Nothing definitive, but sense coming out of today is that #CBJ RW Sam Gagner and D Kyle Quincey will test free agency this summer.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 25, 2017
The good news though is it sounds like Columbus is starting to build itself a reputation as good city and good place to play.
“The people that come in here, like Gagner, and Seth Jones, they go on about [Columbus].… #CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 24, 2017
Jarmo: “Guys have their list of teams they don't want to go to and we've played ourselves off that list.… #CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 24, 2017
That really helps the Jackets as they look for reclamation projects like Gagner. Having a good city helps, and having a sustained success helps even more, if they Jackets keep winning, Columbus will start to become more and more a destination for free agents.
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