Speculation: 2022 off-season discussion

[majormajor]

What's your take on Ben Chiarot, Major? That would be pretty funny to swoop in and sign the two UFAs Zito just gave all those draft picks for.

Chiarot would be a great guy to have if you were in combat, or a playoff game.

As a deterrent for a soft young team in the regular season, I think he does the job, but I'd expect him to be a bit pricey because of his playoff experience.

My guess is that you can get Gudbranson for a bit less, and he's an RD, and a scarier fighter.

 

[ColumbusTrill]

Chiarot would be a great guy to have if you were in combat, or a playoff game.

As a deterrent for a soft young team in the regular season, I think he does the job, but I'd expect him to be a bit pricey because of his playoff experience.

My guess is that you can get Gudbranson for a bit less, and he's an RD, and a scarier fighter.

What about trading for Lawson crouse?

 

[majormajor]

What about trading for Lawson crouse?

What do you think?

He's certainly worth a look but my guess is that Crouse is going to have a big price on him. Some teams are going to want him to play a big man in the top 6 type of role. Do we want him that much?

 

[ColumbusTrill]

What do you think?

He's certainly worth a look but my guess is that Crouse is going to have a big price on him. Some teams are going to want him to play a big man in the top 6 type of role. Do we want him that much?

I think he’s a much better player than those previously mentioned, is younger, and obviously is willing to scrap. His metrics are also good despite being on a crap team. I’d like them to explore the idea of it

 

[majormajor]

I think he’s a much better player than those previously mentioned, is younger, and obviously is willing to scrap. His metrics are also good despite being on a crap team. I’d like them to explore the idea of it

I think we need a player like that. We're already so crowded on the wings though, so if we could get him with a winger swap, that would work better for us. Who would you move for him? (Feel free to duck that question, I'd rather other people take fire on that one myself).

 

[ColumbusTrill]

I think we need a player like that. We're already so crowded on the wings though, so if we could get him with a winger swap, that would work better for us. Who would you move for him? (Feel free to duck that question, I'd rather other people take fire on that one myself).

hmm, I'm not the best at coming up with trades but here is his player card and e-rob's. Both pretty similar value but Crouse brings the physicality that we need. I'd say giving up E-rob and a 2nd for Crouse? Or maybe Foudy and our 2022 first? Crouse is an RFA after this season.

 

[majormajor]

hmm, I'm not the best at coming up with trades but here is his player card and e-rob's. Both pretty similar value but Crouse brings the physicality that we need. I'd say giving up E-rob and a 2nd for Crouse? Or maybe Foudy and our 2022 first? Crouse is an RFA after this season.

View attachment 522744 View attachment 522745

Robinson and a 2nd gets easily outbid, no reason for Arizona to touch that. Maybe Foudy and a mid 1st, I'm not sure if that's the right value but it wouldn't be terrible for Arizona.

When I go through our future lineups, there are some tough decisions to make on the wing. If you put Crouse on the 4th line then you're not getting as much value from a guy you just spent a lot to get. If you put him in the top 9 then a scoring winger like Marchenko, Chinakhov, Texier, etc... is dropped to the 4th line or out of the lineup. I think the natural trade is moving one of our softer top 9 wings for Crouse.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

You can acquire toughness without spending an arm and a leg for it. Toughness grows on trees.

We don't need to trade a top tier asset for it. The question to me is acquiring toughness worth taking a spot from the young upcoming skill guys? It seems Marchenko and Johnson are locks or near locks to be on the team next year. Where are all these roster spots coming from?

 

[Cowumbus]

hmm, I'm not the best at coming up with trades but here is his player card and e-rob's. Both pretty similar value but Crouse brings the physicality that we need. I'd say giving up E-rob and a 2nd for Crouse? Or maybe Foudy and our 2022 first? Crouse is an RFA after this season.

View attachment 522744 View attachment 522745

There is a zero percent chance that our 1st rounder gets traded for Crouse

I’d maybe do Robinson + Foudy

 

[majormajor]

There is a zero percent chance that our 1st rounder gets traded for Crouse

I’d maybe do Robinson + Foudy

Maybe I'm off here but I think there is a bigger market for Crouse than that. 6'4 beastly 20 goal man? That will cost you.

 

[Cowumbus]

Maybe I'm off here but I think there is a bigger market for Crouse than that. 6'4 beastly 20 goal man? That will cost you.

I don’t think he’s worth a our first. He’s shooting at 15% (career 10) and playing 17 mins (highest of his career) a night in the top6.

Someone has to score on bad teams. He should be a bottom 6 guy on a good team.

12OA for that? Pass. I’ll take the chance on a Lundell/Sillinger. If someone else wants to pay that, that’s fine.

 

[EspenK]

I don't think the Jackets need an enforcer. Build the team in the TB mold. Two highly skilled top lines, a rugged,tough 3rd line and a fast, energetic 4th line.
I think that plan is effectively happening with the offense whether or not it is the ultimate plan. The D and G are another story. Elvis has shown flashes but there are doubts in my mind he is the 2nd coming of Vasilevsky. There is no Hedman. I think patience is the key. If I'm making a trade my primary target is Chychrun. UFA's? Forget about it. I hate the idea of adding a Bergeron, Getzlaff er al. Build through the draft and see what Sillinger & KJ develop into.

 

[Youngguns80]

I don't think the Jackets need an enforcer. Build the team in the TB mold. Two highly skilled top lines, a rugged,tough 3rd line and a fast, energetic 4th line.
I think that plan is effectively happening with the offense whether or not it is the ultimate plan. The D and G are another story. Elvis has shown flashes but there are doubts in my mind he is the 2nd coming of Vasilevsky. There is no Hedman. I think patience is the key. If I'm making a trade my primary target is Chychrun. UFA's? Forget about it. I hate the idea of adding a Bergeron, Getzlaff er al. Build through the draft and see what Sillinger & KJ develop into.

I agree that the focus should be on adding Chychrun. The defense while young are mistake prone and just to be clear that is expected but we need a right side for Z.

If we can get a big skilled younger winger to swap out for one of our own then do so

 

[Finner]

Use wingers and picks to get centers and dman. Cant be so difficult.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Use wingers and picks to get centers and dman. Cant be so difficult.

And yet an entire history of the league suggests it is.

 

[EspenK]

I agree that the focus should be on adding Chychrun. The defense while young are mistake prone and just to be clear that is expected but we need a right side for Z.

If we can get a big skilled younger winger to swap out for one of our own then do so

Capfriendly lists him as a LD/RD. If he can't play RD then his value diminishes but I'd still take him for a winger prospect and a pick.

 

[punk_o_holic]

Go find out if Zac Rinaldo is now vaccinated and if so give him a 2nd chance

 

[DarkandStormy]

Blue Jackets have emphasized team toughness, but they get pushed around too much

Opponents clearly are trying to push around the Blue Jackets, and they need a response this summer.

theathletic.com

Don’t be surprised if Korpisalo ends up re-signing with the Blue Jackets this summer as an unrestricted free agent. It’s amazing how situations can change, isn’t it? Korpisalo’s name has been kicked about in trade rumors for two years now, never more than when Elvis Merzlikins signed a five-year contract extension last year. But over those two years, the NHL goaltending market was flooded with free agents and Korpisalo’s game started to do a slow slide.

He never said a word about a hip injury, but did that impact his play? “I can’t imagine it helped,” Kekalainen said. The Blue Jackets know him better than anybody, and Kekalainen and staff seem convinced that Korpisalo can rediscover his game. He may prefer a fresh start with a chance to be an NHL backup (at least) this summer, but there’s no guarantee he’d get that on the market after last season. Word is that the Blue Jackets would be willing to offer him a one-way contract, too.

 

[Cowumbus]

Blue Jackets have emphasized team toughness, but they get pushed around too much

Opponents clearly are trying to push around the Blue Jackets, and they need a response this summer.

theathletic.com

Why not, if Tarasov still is on an ELC.

Best case Korpi plays well, you trade him at TDL (or keep him for playoff run )
Worst case he sucks and you play Tarasov and Elvis

 

[DarkandStormy]

Why not, if Tarasov still is on an ELC.

Best case Korpi plays well, you trade him at TDL (or keep him for playoff run )
Worst case he sucks and you play Tarasov and Elvis

Seems too much like a mess to me.

-Korpi's initial comments after Elvis signed his extension made it seem like he was blind-sided and not too happy
-He has mandatory military service in Finalnd this summer, but...
-He's also coming off major surgery that'll keep him out ~6 months
-He has been basically the worst goalie in the league the last two years

I'd rather roll with Elvis & Tarasov, with Berube as the 3rd goalie if he'd want to re-sign (or heck, even Berube as the back-up if we want to ease Tarasov back from his injury).

Korpi turns 28 in a month, is coming off major surgery and added uncertainty around his military time in Finland, and is a career .902 goalie in 182 NHL games. I don't see the upside or point to bringing him back. Thank him and move on.

Quite frankly, I want to see 5-7 more games from Berube down the stretch to see if he's worth bringing back next year as a #2/3 tweener with Tarasov. He's a .924 in four games (but also wasn't great for the Monsters in 19 appearances). Or hell, give Greaves a look with the big club.

They could always go the FA route, but I'm not sure there are many goalies, if any, who fit from both a cap perspective and also want to be a backup to Elvis. Some names are...Keumper (doubt it), Husso (have to see what St. Louis does with Binnington), Campbell (stays in Toronto?), Holtby (injured/done?), Wedgewood, Martin Jones.

That's why I think an Elvis-Berube-Tarasov top three is pretty good and Jet Greaves can be the backup in Cleveland. Then go draft a couple goalies because that's the entire pipeline. The only goalies Jarmo has drafted are Elvis (2014, 3rd round), Thome (2016, 6th round, didn't work out), Tarasov (2017, 3rd round...and with his injury history at the time and since it's looking like a mistake to not have drafted Jeremy Swayman instead), and Vehvilainen (2018, 6th round, traded for Lehtonen and now back in Europe). Everyone on this board said the team should have drafted a goalie in 2021 given how bare the pipeline was and they didn't.

tl;dr little upside to keeping Korpisalo around, would rather roll with an Elvis - Berube - Tarasov - Greaves lineup in net, with perhaps Berube and Tarasov swapping places in Columbus/Cleveland depending on level of play, injuries, etc.

 

[majormajor]

Everyone on this board said the team should have drafted a goalie in 2021 given how bare the pipeline was and they didn't.

Not quite everyone.

Just sign a backup - Elliott, DeSmith, Koskinen, etc... there will be plenty. There have been plenty every year.

I don't believe in drafting for backups or drafting just to fill a pipeline. If you see a future star, pick him, otherwise don't waste your picks.

 

[Jovavic]

The cap hit on the Elvis deal is still gross, but could you imagine giving that contract to Korpi in the summer instead? That'd be a league leading albatross contract before it even starts

 

[Youngguns80]

The cap hit on the Elvis deal is still gross, but could you imagine giving that contract to Korpi in the summer instead? That'd be a league leading albatross contract before it even starts

This is not meant as picking on anyone just an observation. Majority of this board (including myself) and other boards were okay/happy with the signing of Elvis. That is hockey gm'ing in a nutshell - players and terms look good, then fast forward a year and sometimes it looks good and sometimes it doesn't.

Elvis has had suspect defense in front of him, confidence (allowing soft goals), injuries and the season grind (not use to this type of schedule). This isn't an excuse or defending him but next year could be better and should be better. If not then we start trending towards this may be a sub-optimal contract.

As for Korpi - he has suffered the same fate as Elvis except not use to the schedule. Do I think Korpi is better than this year absolutely.

As for picking a goalie for goalie's sake - I am in the boat with some of the other board posters. If the BPA is a goalie and/or somebody the CBJ scouts want then yes select them, but the FA market is littered with capable back-ups. Otherwise I recommend we roll with Tarasov and/or Berube as a back-up to Elvis

 

[DarkandStormy]

The cap hit on the Elvis deal is still gross, but could you imagine giving that contract to Korpi in the summer instead? That'd be a league leading albatross contract before it even starts

Just among goalies off the top of my head...
-Jordan Binnington
-Matt Murray
-Sergei Bobrovsky
-Carey Price (current issues aside...hasn't been above .920 in a season since 2016-2017 and Montreal spent *14%* of their cap on him at the time)
-John Gibson
-Philipp Grubauer
-Jonathan Quick
-Semyon Varlamov (if only because paying $5m to a guy to be in a near 50/50 tandem doesn't make a ton of sense to me)

 

[Jovavic]

Just among goalies off the top of my head...
-Jordan Binnington
-Matt Murray
-Sergei Bobrovsky
-Carey Price (current issues aside...hasn't been above .920 in a season since 2016-2017 and Montreal spent *14%* of their cap on him at the time)
-John Gibson
-Philipp Grubauer
-Jonathan Quick
-Semyon Varlamov (if only because paying $5m to a guy to be in a near 50/50 tandem doesn't make a ton of sense to me)

None of them are as bad as Korpi has been over the years