Bob McKenzie on a special TradeCentre edition of the “BobCast” went through every NHL team and how he thinks they will approach the deadline. He had some very interesting comments on the Blue Jackets, discussing how he thinks Jarmo Kekalainen will play out this deadline and moves he might try to make. The whole BobCast can be found
here, the Blue Jackets talk starts at the 32:51 mark.
McKenzie starts off saying he thinks Kekalainen is open to doing a lot of things, though at the end of the day it will be the play of the team that will determine what he's going to. He doesn’t think the Jackets are opposed to getting immediate help in terms of rentals as they have a real need for offense and goal scoring. McKenzie brings up the teams shooting, and mentions how the team has been getting chances, they just aren’t going in. If that shooting percentage, which in all situations is last in the NHL at 7.5%, regresses maybe the Blue Jackets wouldn’t need to go out and get anybody.
The price for rentals thus far has been extremely high. The price tag for rentals like Rick Nash, and Evander Kane is reportedly three pieces, a first round pick, a roster player and a prospect. McKenzie doesn’t believe the Jackets will pay a huge premium for rentals. He says that Kekalanen wants the price to be what he perceives as reasonable, that is not giving up a first round pick, but if the right player comes along and you have to give up a second or a third for a player that fills a need, they might go for it.
This is something I can get behind. Columbus did not have a first round pick last season and doesn’t have the deepest of prospect pools. It’s doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to deal those limited resources away, unless a rental would push them into legitimate Stanley Cup contender status, which at this stage it certainly would not. For a team like Tampa Bay or a Nashville who are the top of the win curve, they should be looking to make moves to further cement their status as Stanley Cup favourites. Columbus is not at that stage yet and doesn’t need to be giving up significant future value for a short term upgrade.
As far as individual players go, McKenzie brought up Jack Johnson and Boone Jenner, two names we know are out there, but he also brought up a new name and this one was curious, Alexander Wennberg.
McKenzie mentions there has been talk around the two young Blue Jackets, but doesn’t think Columbus is trying to get rid of either player. He brings up Wennberg’s long-term deal, and that Jenner is a part of the Blue Jackets leadership group. He goes on to say that neither player has been producing at the clip they can produce at, at least not on a consistent basis, and for Columbus to move on from either guy it would be selling low. But if teams are going to call they are going to listen. These talks are generated by teams thinking they can come in a steal a pretty good hockey player who’s not playing at his peak.
To me it doesn’t sound like the Jackets are going to move either player unless they are blown away with an offer. Wennberg hasn’t scored much but his possession numbers have been good, he has a 53.1% Corsi at 5 on 5. The team just committed to Wennberg for six years, it would be pretty bad if they were already sour on the player in year one. Of course if a team is going offer a Matt Duchene type package you have to consider it, never hurts to listen and see what’s out there.
On Jack Johnson, McKenzie believes a trade is a possibility, but he doesn’t believe the Jackets will trade Johnson if it’s just for a second or third round pick. The Jackets want to make the playoffs and make noise in the playoffs and getting a draft pick doesn’t help in this regard. This supports what Pierre LeBrun said last week. The Jackets want a forward and ideally they want to move Johnson for that. McKenzie goes on however saying that a first round pick doesn’t help in that regard either but a first round pick has that much more value. If the teams play were to go south this month the team would feel a little better about moving Johnson for a pick.
Last week
we learned that the price for Johnson appears to be a late first round pick. As this month moves on, regardless of how the Jackets play, I think they will move Johnson for a pick if they can’t secure a forward. I think the organization understands they have a diminishing asset in Johnson and a player who likely isn’t going to be back after this season. Personally I would take a first round pick in heartbeat, even if it’s a later first you have to trust that your scouts can find you a good player.
The Jackets are in a very difficult situation. They are right in the playoff race, so they should be buying, but have UFA’s on expiring deals they should be selling. The Rangers in a similar situation recently announced they were going the sell route. The Rangers play has been very poor and they were fortunate to be hanging around the race for as long as they have. The Jackets haven’t played very well the last couple weeks, so that could warrant selling, but the team started the season looking like one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. If that team were to return, Columbus would be a tough playoff opponent for any team. Jarmo Kekalainen has some serious evaluating to do over the next few weeks.
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