The NHL trade deadline is less than a month away, and trade rumors are starting to pick up.
Among the most interesting tidbits out there - courtesy of Pierre LeBrun on TSN's Insider Trading - is the Blue Jackets are willing to move (Super) Cam Atkinson, and that the Boston Bruins are among the teams interested in his service.
Blue Jackets beat writer Aaron Portzline confirmed on Twitter that Atkinson could soon be on the way out, and speculated on what he could fetch in a trade.
RT @GonzalezPortia: @Aportzline say it isn't so about Cam trade rumors..... / Been saying it is so for too long now.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) February 11, 2015.@gris_ducktrance Not going to guess on specifics, but pick or prospects seems to make sense.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) February 11, 2015I can see why the Jackets would move him, but I don't think trading Atkinson makes a lot of sense. The Blue Jackets don't have a ton of cap space moving forward after giving Nick Foligno, Ryan Johansen and Sergei Bobrovsky new contracts, but it's not as if they'd break the bank to sign him.
Atkinson is also one of their only natural right wingers, and is far and away the best right winger the team has. They have some prospects coming up - notably Kerby Rychel - but Atkinson is just 25, and comes off as a guy who would be good to have for the long haul.
Atkinson had 21 goals and 40 points last season. While he went through a considerable stretch of hockey where he didn't contribute much, he still has 11 goals and 21 points in 48 games, which puts him in line to finish with about the same totals as last year.
He's one of the best players on the team in terms of generating scoring chances, and his speed forces defenses to back off when he's on the ice.
With Columbus so far out of the race, obviously they're going to make some changes. That said, depending how good the assets are, moving Atkinson for futures seems like a backwards move.
It'll be fun to see what happens in the coming weeks, as he's a guy that should attract plenty of interest, and his name being out there in rumors is a good way to notify teams that he's available.
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