The Blue Jackets are in a tough predicament. They only have Artemi Panarin for one more season, they need to decide whether to go for it with Panarin or trade him and continue to build around this young core. I have argued for keeping Panarin believing the Jackets should be doing everything they can to go for it and surround Panarin with elite talent. The Jackets front office appears to be having these discussions as well, as Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet 650 saying he’s heard somebody mention Columbus was trying to get in on the Erik Karlsson sweepstakes.

Friedman/Karlsson "But somebody was telling me that they thought maybe Columbus was trying to get into this too, which I thought was pretty interesting." #Sens #CBJ

— Chris Nichols (@NicholsOnHockey) July 3, 2018

This would be massive if the Jackets could somehow pull this off. Imagine this defence unit:

Nutivaara-Karlsson
Werenski-Jones
Kukan-Savard

Dean Kukan on third pair is a clear weak point but that top four would rival Nashville for the top group in the league. You could even split up the Zach Werenski, Seth Jones pair to ensure you have one of Karlsson, Jones or Werenski on the ice at all times. This would be a Cup contending defence core.

Karlsson only has a $6.5M cap hit for next season, per Cap Friendly making him very affordable. The Blue Jackets currently have about $14M in cap space, with Oliver Bjorkstrand, Boone Jenner and Ryan Murray needing new deals. Getting those three signed shouldn’t cost too much leaving the Jackets plenty of space to add Karlsson.

The Jackets would be unable to take on Bobby Ryan’s contract which would make the price of Karlsson a little bit higher. Columbus’ offer would need to be heavy with picks and prospects. Columbus’ 2019 first is a must, as Ottawa does not have a first round pick. Ottawa likely wants a defencemen back, so you’re looking at Murray or Savard potentially. Then a top prospect, one of Vitali Abramov, Alexandre Texier, Liam Foudy or Kirill Marchenko would need to be included as well. I could see Ottawa having interest in Foudy as he is a similar player to his London Knight teammate Alex Formenton who Ottawa drafted in 2017 and thought so highly of, they gave him an NHL game at the start of the season.

Some future picks and a young NHL player on the cusp like a Sonny Milano or Gabriel Carlsson would need to be included and even then it might not be close. However the Jackets showing interest in Karlsson is really good sign, they are exploring all options, and right now they look to be exploring the possibility of a building a super team.

You can follow me on Twitter @PaulBerthelot

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