More Cap Weaponization

Nah if this trade was available before bjorkstrand, I wouldn’t have minded this. However with bjork already gone. We are solid and done moving cap.

I don't think they'd be willing to give up Ceulemans to save Bjorkstrand. Bjorkstrand was great, but he's not worth giving up a top 4 RD prospect and Voracek considering he may have been a cap casualty in a couple years anyway. The harsh truth is that Bjorkstrand was only going to be useful for the next 2 or 3 years and after that he would be pushed out of the top 6 by better, younger players.

With jiricek in the system and having 2 young guys like boqvist and peeke I would’ve been fine using cuelemans to save bjorky. Now I don’t disagree with you that bjorky could get pushed out but that’s a different problem. That’s a too many solid top 6 guys scenario. And bjorky as a 3rd liner would be a killer. But this isn’t that. This is our 2nd (now third) best forward moving out for peanuts.

Prospects are great. But how many actually hit their potential.

I keep forgetting about Pilut, he'll be a nice 7th D, but I think Bryson beats him out for 3P LHD.

That's why they need to keep Ceulemans and Jiricek though. Nothing says that Jiricek or even both can't still bust. Keeping both at least helps to hedge their bets a bit at getting another top 4 RD. Even Peeke and Boqvist haven't really earned the designation of top 4 RD yet. I wouldn't be very comfortable taking a much higher upside guy like Ceulemans out of the system to save Bjorkstrand who, like I said, is probably an overpaid 3rd liner for the Blue Jackets in 2 or 3 years that they may have to pay to dump.

It sucks because we've really grown attached to some of the guys on the team now, but a lot of the veterans were a part of a team that finished 27th OA in the league just two years ago. The majority of the guys from that team are already gone and when the Blue Jackets are a contender again the remaining few may be gone too. I'm preparing myself for the day Boone and Elvis are gone with that in mind because there's just so much young competition coming for their spots in the lineup. It could be very possible that they're both cap victims in the last years of their current contracts.