The Columbus Blue Jackets eschewed all expectations for their trade deadline by buying rather than selling. Although they were expected to deal star winger Artemi Panarin -- who is poised to walk after this offseason when he becomes a free agent -- they instead traded for Ryan Dzingel and Matt Duchene from the Senators, two other players who were expected to go to contenders.
If they weren't a contender before, the Blue Jackets certainly want to be treated like one. With a line that involves Duchene and Panarin and a second line that has Dzingel, they now have some goal-scoring depth -- but that depth came at a price. The Blue Jackets have traded away five of their six picks in the first three rounds of the next two drafts. The Senators own four of those picks, with 2019's being protected within the top three and 2020 being conditional upon Matt Duchene re-signing with the Blue Jackets -- which he's expressed interest in doing.
Panarin, Dzingel, Duchene and Sergei Bobrovsky are all on expiring contracts. Panarin and Bobrovsky are extremely likely to walk after this season, with Panarin having halted extension negotiations for the season and Bobrovsky reportedly having issues with coach John Tortorella.
This puts the Blue Jackets in a precarious position, and although they won the deadline from a talent perspective, all of their trades are listed as "incomplete" when you go to grade them. They need to re-sign at least two -- and arguably three -- of their key pieces to compete in the loaded East. Even this year, it may be a stretch. After all of their moves, the Lightning, Bruins and Maple Leafs -- not to mention the Capitals and possibly the Islanders -- all look deeper than Columbus for the time being.
Here's a look at each of the marquee trades the Blue Jackets made at this year's deadline, and what they mean for the franchise going forward.
Blue Jackets acquire from Senators: C Matt Duchene, D Julius Bergman
Blue Jackets give up: F Vitalii Abramov, F Jonathan Davidsson, 2019 first-round pick, 2020 first-round pick (conditional upon Duchene re-signing)
The Blue Jackets turned right around and flipped Julius Bergman to the Rangers for Adam McQuaid, yet another player on an expiring contract. Duchene gives the Blue Jackets scoring power, and he's reportedly interested in re-signing. However, giving up a 2019 first-round pick that is top three protected (the Blue Jackets won't pick in the top three) for a player who could well end up walking after this season on blind faith that he won't is risky at best and myopic at worse.
Even though at center Duchene makes the Blue Jackets markedly better a position they need to get better, this is an all-in move in a year where it's tough to go all-in. All things told, this trade is the riskiest of the bunch, but if Duchene re-signs long-term the Blue Jackets could be hoping it has far-reaching effects -- specifically on Duchene's fellow first-liner Panarin if they mesh well down the stretch.
Blue Jackets acquire from Senators: C Ryan Dzingel, 2019 seventh-round pick
Blue Jackets give up: F Anthony Duclair, 2020 second-round pick, 2021 second-round pick
That 2019 seventh-rounder from the Senators is a throwaway given what they acquired. This trade assumes a different kind of risk from the Duchene one, as the Blue Jackets -- whose 2019 second-round pick was already traded to the Golden Knights (who then traded it to the Canadiens for Max Pacioretty) -- are giving up second-rounders for three straight years. Dzingel is over 20 goals for the second straight season, and he further bolsters the center position for the Blue Jackets, but at just 23 Duclair had already shown legitimate potential -- he already has a 20-goal season in his young career.
Between losing Duclair and further hamstringing their prospect pool, the Blue Jackets just need to hope that Dzingel re-signs. If he doesn't, this could end up being the trade that hurts the Blue Jackets the most long-term -- even more than the Duchene trade if Duchene doesn't re-sign.
Blue Jackets acquire from Rangers: D Adam McQuaid
Blue Jackets give up: D Julius Bergman, 2019 fourth-round pick, 2019 seventh-round pick
This is belaboring the point a bit, but McQuaid was a player whose name was being heavily tied to the Tampa Bay Lightning before the deadline. He's yet another player on an expiring contract, and the Blue Jackets gave up another two picks to get him.
While McQuaid may not be the impact player that Duchene an Dzingel are (and the Blue Jackets didn't really give up impact picks or prospects to get him), it just further illustrates what the Blue Jackets' plan is -- which is to say -- it's not clear if they have one. They're loading their roster up with as much talent as possible, but after all of the movement, they may still be the fifth-best team in the conference -- maybe the sixth if you believe what the Islanders are doing is sustainable.
They also traded for goalie Keith Kincaid for a 2022 fifth-rounder and they traded center Alex Broadhurst away for future considerations.
All-in-all, the Blue Jackets were the deadline's busiest team, but they must be hoping for something bigger to come of these trades. For starters, they're looking to win their first ever playoff series. As of now, they're third in the Metropolitan, but with 21 games left they're only six points back of the Islanders for the division. Even if they do win a series, however, if they can't circumnavigate the Eastern Conference gauntlet and re-sign anyone next year, the victory would ultimately be Pyrrhic.
As nice as it is to see a small-market team go all-in, the Blue Jackets are doing it in an unorthodox way. This is an almost unprecedented amount of risk for an NHL team to take on, and for the Blue Jackets, there are two very roads that lead to making that risk worth it: Winning a Stanley Cup this year or re-signing the majority of these players and becoming a contender for the immediate future. Columbus hosts Pittsburgh on Tuesday -- which can be streamed in Ohio through fuboTV (Try for free).
