Offseason Talk Part III

[Samkow]

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[Iron Balls McGinty]

Do we really think Torts and Kovalchuk would get along?

 

[mikeyp24]

Honestly I don't think management would sign him without checking with Torts.

 

[SavesEmNot]

Honestly I don't think management would sign him without checking with Torts.

Yeah, give them some credit!

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Holy hell I wish something would happen

 

[MAHJ71]

At this point feels like we're looking at not hearing anything more until Wednesday at the earliest..

Unless Kovy/Sakic want to really put the boom in CBJ's 4th of July .. but I doubt it.

 

[mikeyp24]

To be fair Kovy probably already put in his list and money wants it's on NJD right now probably high asking price trying to test the water.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

not sure if posted but

The Blue Jackets have by no means closed the door on making trades or signing free agents.

But general manager Jarmo Kekalainen signaled Sunday that he would have no problem carrying his current roster into the 2017-18 season.

That’s another way to say Kekalainen won’t gut his roster of young talent to land center Matthew Duchene via trade from the Colorado Avalanche, and he isn’t going to break the bank to land a big-name free agent.

“We have until the (trade) deadline next spring,†Kekalainen told The Dispatch. “We’re always trying to improve our team, but we’ve always said we’re not going to go crazy and mortgage the future to try and get a short-term fix.

“We feel like our window is just starting to crack open. We’re a young team. We don’t see any reason to try and go crazy. We don’t want to be kicking ourselves two or three years from now.â€Â

It’s no secret that the Blue Jackets would like to add a top-six center, and Kekalainen has made it clear that he wanted to be aggressive this summer in adding talent that could give his club a better chance against their elite Metropolitan Division opponents, especially Pittsburgh and Washington.

But he won’t be reckless.

“You can’t mortgage the future thinking this has to be the year,†Kekalainen said. “We’re not there right now.

“If there’s a deal there, we’ll make it. But it’s not as if our window is closing.â€Â

The current No. 1 center, Alexander Wennberg, is 22 years old. He had 46 assists and 59 points last season.

“Oliver Bjorkstrand (22), Josh Anderson (23) ... all of these guys are young guys who aren’t even at their prime yet,†Kekalainen said. “Our biggest improvement is still going to come from within, with our young players.â€Â

Reminder: The Blue Jackets were sixth in the league in scoring last season, scoring a franchise-record 247 goals.

The Blue Jackets lost center William Karlsson to Vegas in the expansion draft and fourth-line forwards Scott Hartnell (buyout, Nashville) and Sam Gagner (Vancouver) via free agency.

“No disrespect to any of those guys; they were good players for us last year,†Kekalainen said. “But we have some players who will be very hungry to take regular spots  Pierre-Luc Dubois, Sonny Milano, Markus Hannikainen ... those guys should be very hungry to be part of our lineup.â€Â

Kekalainen hasn’t given up on making big moves, he said. Free agency, trades  they are all still on the table.

He still is driven to make moves, but isn’t desperate.

ÀœWe have plenty of time in the fall and before the (trade) deadline to do something if we feel there’s something we absolutely need in our lineup,†he said.

http://www.dispatch.com/sports/2017...inen-says-he-wont-go-crazy-rush-to-make-trade

 

[elmariachi227]

I'm comfortable with that. Yea, it's counting a lot on the younger players to step up more but I don't want to blow everything up for one guy (or two).

 

[Jackets16]

You would think we were the worst team in the NHL last year. The negativity on this board is amazing.


We might be trading for Kovalchuk. Don't do it!

We might not be trading for Kovalchuk. Why aren't you trading for him?!

 

[DJA]

I'm still trying to figure out how trading a third liner, a bottom pair dman, and maybe some draft picks would be "blowing it up"

 

[CBJWerenski8]

You would think we were the worst team in the NHL last year. The negativity on this board is amazing.


We might be trading for Kovalchuk. Don't do it!

We might not be trading for Kovalchuk. Why aren't you trading for him?!

Well, we had a lot of players have really good seasons and some of those players are inconsistent year to year (Bob, Foligno), and we require those players to have really good seasons to even make the playoffs. So while we MIGHT be fine, we also MIGHT not be. I think adding a piece like kovalchuk or a duchene, depending on the price, makes it easier to assume we can do something.

 

[Jackets16]

Well, we had a lot of players have really good seasons and some of those players are inconsistent year to year (Bob, Foligno), and we require those players to have really good seasons to even make the playoffs. So while we MIGHT be fine, we also MIGHT not be. I think adding a piece like kovalchuk or a duchene, depending on the price, makes it easier to assume we can do something.

The point is, some of the people who were complaining about adding those pieces are now complaining that we haven't added those pieces.

The fact is, outside of a few teams, what you said could be said about every team. We have no clue what will happen. I will say this, I feel a lot better as a Columbus fan than I would about most other teams in the NHL. We are good. We are really good. Be happy and enjoy it.

 

[CBJx614]

Back in the thinking that we're gonna go with our roster as is and then if the youngsters aren't coming along as planned we'll start shopping sometime around the holidays or just after.


If Bjorkstrand can play up to his potential, Wennberg and Werenski can both maintain or progress further, and PLD doesn't look out of place I think we'll be in good shape.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

good riddance. Sakic apparently has no interest in rebuilding or making his team better. They can just roll into the same roster and whatever other scraps they can throw together to have a roster and enjoy last place again.

 

[db2011]

not sure if posted but





http://www.dispatch.com/sports/2017...inen-says-he-wont-go-crazy-rush-to-make-trade

The GM is right on, IMO, and your crying emoji is not what I'd have used. I think it'd be great to land Duchene, but only at the right price. I think we've talked ourselves into this deal here on this board the last couple of days, but if Sakic is compelled to be stingy, better for us that Jarmo won't get fleeced. As he says, we have until the deadline, there's no reason to be desperate to get this done yesterday and wind up regretting what went the other way.

Maybe Jarmo is lowballing Colorado, I know he played hardball with Joey in a way that I didn't care for, but in this case, the leverage is his.

 

[zukezuchegno]

Did we officially sign that other USHL goalie? If not any other AHL goalies we might be looking at?

 

[elmariachi227]

You would think we were the worst team in the NHL last year. The negativity on this board is amazing.

The last time CBJ got bumped out of the first round, it took a couple of years to get back. So it's a bit understandable why some would think that some of the pieces that have gone away will make history repeat itself.

Thing is, last time around, CBJ got in on a wing and a prayer. Their lineup consisted of people like Boll, Skille, Mackenzie, Umberger, Tropp, Comeau, Letestu, and Wisniewski.

Even with the losses this summer, the team is a lot better than it was then.

That's not to say the playoffs are guaranteed this time around, far from it, they play in the Murder Metro after all. But, they have a stronger lineup this time around.

 

[blahblah]

Sakic apparently has no interest in rebuilding or making his team better.

Pretty hostile. We're not even sure of what the details of a potential trade was. We know that these can take months to finalize.

 

[Bobcat110]

Poor Sakic, getting bullied by the Isles, Jackets, Pens, Bruins, Preds, Hurricanes and rest of the league? He should take the "For Sale" sign down if he doesn't like the offers, cause he clearly has a different perception of Duchene's value than the rest of the league.

Avs are on the short list of teams I'd be happy see stuck in the league cellar for next 10+ years. I'd throw Pens, Wings, Kings and Devils on that list.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

The GM is right on, IMO, and your crying emoji is not what I'd have used. I think it'd be great to land Duchene, but only at the right price. I think we've talked ourselves into this deal here on this board the last couple of days, but if Sakic is compelled to be stingy, better for us that Jarmo won't get fleeced. As he says, we have until the deadline, there's no reason to be desperate to get this done yesterday and wind up regretting what went the other way.

Maybe Jarmo is lowballing Colorado, I know he played hardball with Joey in a way that I didn't care for, but in this case, the leverage is his.

Sakic is like a GM at a car dealership. He knows he has a car this guy wants and maybe its been sitting on the lot a while. It's a good car but just not in many people's price range right now. He knows that nobody else is really in position to buy this car and he doesn't want to lose the guy who is interested.

However the guy who is interested is acting like he doesn't really want the car that bad and he may go shopping elsewhere if the deal isn't right on this one. He's got a relatively young car already with not many miles on it but just wants something with a bit more horsepower. He is content to keep driving his young reliable car for a while. If Sakic wants to get the car off the lot, he'll eventually need to come down in price or he'll lose the sale and it will sit unused on his lot. He knows he needs to move it eventually so he can get some younger inventory in.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Pretty hostile. We're not even sure of what the details of a potential trade was. We know that these can take months to finalize.

We don't know the details but Jarmo seems to have built a reputation as a fair deal maker and Sakic has been shopping this guy for 6 months.

 

[blahblah]

Ok, I seem to remember this pretty poor team whose franchise captain requested a trade. I remember a certainly GM that delayed trading until he got the deal that he could work with.

Dang people, chill the heck out.

 

[blahblah]

Sakic has been shopping this guy for 6 months.

And that is relevant how? The pressure to make a move is going to increase as the summer moves on. The deals aren't likely to get better as he has two years left on the deal before UFA. I'm not sure Duchene is going to be a big hurry to re-sign after this situation.

Sakic going to do what he feels is best for his franchise, why so much mockery and vitriol?

At any rate, it's 3 days into FA and we're overreacting. Sakic knows that teams will look at things closer after the primary free agents are gone. He might get more interest as the other options dry up. As it moves toward camp, he might feel more compelled to pull the trigger on a deal.

Pretty standard stuff.

Have a great 4th people.