It was a sad day for Jackets fans who saw a franchise take the next step this past season. The Blue Jackets made the playoffs for the 3rd straight season, beat the historically good Tampa Bay Lightning and found themselves in the second round for the first time.

Three vital pieces that carried the Jackets to a sweep over TBL have signed with other teams today.

Duchene signed a 7 year $8M per year contract to play in Nashville. While Duchene's time in Columbus was short, he played an influential role in the playoffs.

Panarin's time in the Union Blue was a bit longer, 2 years. He set single season records for goals and points in his time in Columbus and was also a key contributor to the CBJ playoff success. His talents will now be on display in New York with the Rangers for the next 7 years ($11+M per year).

Bobrovsky has relocated to the sunshine state (as expected) where he will make $10M per year for the next 7 years. His time in Columbus stabilized the team in net allowing the Jackets to focus on other positions on the ice. He got the playoff monkey off his back this year, shinning when the spotlight was the brightest.

July 1, 2019 was not a total loss for the Jackets. Korpisalo signed a 1-year deal to play for a starting role in the NHL. Success next season will certainly mean a longer more lucrative deal.

Ryan Murray, to the merriment of this fan, will be returning to the Columbus blue line for at least the next 2 years (at $4.6M per year)

The surprise of the day was Gustav Nyquist signing a 4-year deal with Columbus for $5.5M a season. He will help replace some of the scoring that vanished when Panarin left town.

Jarmo had an afternoon press conference where he said the usual and expected things. It was hard to see these guys leave, but the core team was still here. The Blue Jackets are still a good team and will compete next year. Elvis and Korpi will be fine in net. Nyquist is excited to join the team...

While the Jackets are left with some cap space there aren't many top players left to choose from. Any goalie option that could serve as a bridge stater for a year or two have been scooped up. Talbot signed with the Flames, Smith with the Oilers, Kinkaid to Montreal, Mrazek stayed in Carolina, Varlamov takes over as starter on the Island and Lehner moves to Chicago. They could turn to the trade market, but that would mean parting with assets.

Signing Werenski may be the last move of any significance in this off season. Looking forward to what some of these prospects can provide this season.

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