Team: 2020-21 Columbus Blue Jackets

Initial Creation Date: Oct. 5, 2020

Published: Oct. 5, 2020

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Disclaimer: Don’t think CBJ legitimately have a shot at landing Hall and Hank. Hence, tried to cushion their salaries a bit more for the short term deals.

Hall would be a fantastic fit on the top line with Dubois imo and he wouldn’t have to be *the guy*. He drives play well, is a fast skater, and isn’t afraid to throw the body a bit. I think he compliments PLDs skillset very nicely.

Henrik would be a excellent backup to Merzlikins imo. I think Merzy and Korpisalo were neck and neck talent wise but to maximize trade value given Korpis cap hit i think he’s the one who gets moved. A legendary goalie like Hank would be an excellent mentor to Merzlikins and Hank has familiarity with Tortorella and his system.

Ryan Murray’s name has been linked to Florida with Zito becoming the new GM there. When healthy he’s a legitimate top pair defenseman who’s a fantastic passer of the puck and is good defensively. Unfortunately his health is a question mark so i think a 2nd is all we’ll be able to leverage for him.

Sabres have ample cap space and a guy like Jenner is a player who they could absolutely use. Would stabilize the 3C position, add some jam to the lineup and would be a good leader in the room there. Is a great netfront presence too. Would suck to see him leave Columbus bc he’s a heart and soul guy for us but his playstyle would be redundant and i don’t see CBJ trying to trade Foligno instead.

I think Korpisalo for Strome in general helps both clubs. Hawks have no young goalie for the future and Strome has been pushed down the lineup by Kirby Dachs emergence. I thought about a 1 for 1 deal here but not sure how Hawks view Stromes value so i added a 2nd and sent a later pick back. Strome still could be a 2C imo and putting him with a talented rookie and solid Vet in either Nyquist or Atkinson would give him talent to play with. Also gives the Hawks an affordable goalie option for next two years.

ANDERSON to Montreal has been rumored and it feels like Montreal would make a move similar to that when they acquired Andrew Shaw in the past and moved 2 2nd round picks. I think ANDERSON is a much better player than Shaw but coming off injury and needing a new contract I’m not sure how much that hurts his value. I believe either Lebrun or Dreger mentioned up to 12 teams would be all over him if he becomes available so that would help his value too i would think.


Fwiw i think Wennberg will be this years Nichushkin if he gets bought out. Very solid defensive player who has offensive skill but lost his touch a bit after Tom Wilson kachowed him in the head in 2018. Sucks that CBJ probably will let him go but we can’t keep relying on a possible bounce back given that his buyout is so cheap.


Obviously the free agent signings are kinda a pipe dream since they have to want to sign here, and CBJ have been notoriously poor at attracting premier UFAs but i think this would be a very well balanced team as constructed.

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