Blue Jackets Shakeup
2023-04-06Columbus has been sniffing around the final playoff spot for much of the season but have not been able to close the gap in the race for the wildcard slots. In late March, in the midst of a strong 7-3 stretch of hockey, Blue Jackets General Manager Andrew Payeur made a couple of surprise moves by trading away top 4 defenceman Jake Muzzin and one of their top forwards in Valeri Nichushkin. The move was a signal to the rest of the league that the Blue Jackets may be sellers as the EHE trade deadline approaches.
Veteran defenceman Jake Muzzin spent two and half seasons with the Blue Jackets after signing as an unrestricted free agent in 2020. He lead the team in ice-time each of his first two seasons but fell down the depth chart after the acquisitions of Colton Parayko and Ryan Suter, struggling to make an impact this season both offensively and defensively. The primary return return from the Avalanch for Muzzin was prospect Artyom Duda, a big defence prospect expected to remain in Russia for a few more seasons as he develops in the KHL.
Valeri Nichushkin, who also joined the Blue Jackets in the 2020 offseason in a trade had up and down performances with the team. He was never able to breakthrough offensively but was a stallwart defensive presence on the penalty kill and when protecting leads at the end of games and was improving each season and expected to take a leap forward this season. In exchange for the forward, the Jackets received from Philadelphia Lukas Reichel a top prospect who will report to the AHL Greenville Swamp Rabbits and the Flyers own first round draft pick.
In a media scrum after the trades, Payeur thanked both players for their service and did not blame them for the team's struggles through the early part of the season. "We built a roster for a Bruce Cassidy coached team that played a strong 200 foot game. When Bruce flirted with other teams in the offseason we were delighted to get Jay Woodcroft, but his style of play is a bit more open and offensively driven. We need to build a team that gives him the best chance to succeed."
The Blue Jackets opened the season with hopes of busting a playoff drought, but Payeur acknowledged the team rebuild is still a work in progress and the team is still far from a finished product. "We aren't selling off anyone that can help us in the long-term. The core is there, we just need to wait for them to come along and take the reigns from the old guard". With that comment speculation began that the team will look at moving pending UFA Jeff Skinner prior to the trade deadline and that pending 2024 UFAs could be on the block as well.
I was delighted to bring Valeri back to Philly. All the best with Reichel!
Blue Jackets Shakeup
GM Payeur throwing in the towel?