Bigger on the Left Side

Forums/Armchair-GM

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Created by: ChucktheFNG

Team: 2023-24 Columbus Blue Jackets

Initial Creation Date: Apr. 26, 2023

Published: Apr. 26, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Description

It's a lot of money to throw into the defense, but I believe it's necessary. Pettersson and Graves would transform this defense into a truly physically imposing force. Ice time can be split in the bottom 2 pairings and they can all carousel around the line up. Loading up the left side will give Mateychuk a chance to develop in the AHL for a couple years.

If Pettersson isn't available, I would throw money into 2 years of Niko Mikkola.

Also, let's face it: Werenski will block another shot with his face or some improbable nonsense injury will knock him out of the line up for awhile at some point in the next two years. Pettersson and Graves can both handle that responsibility.

In terms of development, Jiricek is ready. But it's difficult to figure who leaves on the right side to make room. It's too early to trade or buy out Gudbranson, optically at least. Boqvist has that sweet, sweet team control on a good contract and incredible potential. Peeke has a really nice contract for a shutdown RHD who can stay healthy all year and can really be a rock for Werenski to rely on on his right side. I would say that Bovist is probably the guy to go in favor of Jiricek, but his trade value is really low due to his inability to stay healthy. But who knows, a new HC who knows what strength and conditioning means could change that

Blankenberg Forever.

Danforth - Voronkov - Chinakhov for a couple months in the A to get Voronkov ready to step into the big league. All three can get the call up as soon as injuries start. Dolzhenkov isn't available to sign an ELC until next year or else he would be in the line. I would name that line "turn your head and 'kov", but there's always next year.

To anyone that says "We need money to re-sign all our young guys": $8.3 million plus a real cap increase (which is inevitably coming soon), moving on from Gudranson in favor of Jiricek in '24, and some minor "prove it" contracts expiring will get it done. Jarmo loves his bridge deals.

Pick #2: Either Leo Carlsson or Adam Fantilli. I personally love what both can bring to the table and as a guy who loves Power Forward play I would take Fantilli. But I really like Carlsson's game and puck handling skills. He's also slightly bigger than Fantilli.

Pick #25(?): The Kings pick could be spent on an immediate upgrade in the Top 6 or another D-, but I want Kasper Halttunen and I want him bad. A big, skilled winger could be helpful to shadow a guy like Dumais in development. In 3 years he's going to be a serious handful to remove from in front of the net. I mean the kid's 17 and already 6'3" 207. He also has an incredible shot.

Free Agent Signings

RESERVE LIST		YEARS	CAP HIT
Voronkov, Dmitri		2	$925,000

RFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Berni, Tim	2	$900,000
Olivier, Mathieu	2	$1,500,000
Bjork, Marcus	2	$900,000
Christiansen, Jake	2	$850,000
Dunne, Joshua	2	$850,000
Fix-Wolansky, Trey	2	$850,000
Meyer, Carson	2	$850,000

UFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Pederson, Lane	1	$1,000,000
Luoto, Joona	1	$950,000
Graves, Ryan	5	$5,000,000

CREATED		YEARS	CAP HIT
Leo Carlsson, Adam Fantilli		3	$925,000
Halttunen, Kasper		3	$925,000

Trades

CBJ

Hayes, Kevin ($2,142,857 retained)

Additional Details:

I like a nice, solid, round number of $5,000,000. Keep the change, you filthy animal. Personally, I don't really want Hayes, but it looks like the deal is already in place. I hope Bettman walks up to the podium to say "I have a trade to announce" right before whoever picks first goes up, just for the pure chaos.

PHI

Bean, Jake
Foudy, Liam
2023 3rd round pick (CGY)

Additional Details:

Bean, when healthy, is capable of being a very versatile LHD throughout the lineup. Torts likes Foudy, and I feel like he has/had a ton of potential in Torts' system. I feel like both players would excel playing for Torts again and filling in after whatever moves the Flyers make this offseason.

CBJ

Pettersson, Marcus

Additional Details:

Gives the Pens a player to replace a probably bought out Granlund who can play anywhere in the Top-9. This trade should happen before his NTC kicks-in. Otherwise I doubt Columbus makes the list.

PIT

Roslovic, Jack ($1,000,000 retained)
2023 3rd round pick (CBJ)

Additional Details:

Retaining 25% in hopes to not have to include a higher draft pick. The high third rounder is the price of doing business inside the Metro.

Buyouts

Alexander Wennberg: $891,667

Retained Salary Transactions

Jack Roslovic: $1,000,000 (50%)

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2023
2024
2025

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$83,500,000	$73,478,747	$0	$3,550,000	$10,021,253

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Gaudreau, Johnny $9,750,000$9,750,000 LW NMC UFA - 6	Hayes, Kevin $1,428,572$1,428,572 C M-NTC UFA - 3	Marchenko, Kirill $925,000$925,000 ($850,000$850K) RW RFA - 1
Johnson, Kent $925,000$925,000 ($1,850,000$2M) LW, C RFA - 1	Leo Carlsson, Adam Fantilli $925,000$925,000	Laine, Patrik $8,700,000$8,700,000 C, RW, LW M-NTC UFA - 3
Jenner, Boone $3,750,000$3,750,000 C, LW M-NTC UFA - 3	Sillinger, Cole $925,000$925,000 ($850,000$850K) C RFA - 1	Texier, Alexandre $1,525,000$1,525,000 LW, C, RW RFA - 1
Robinson, Eric $1,600,000$1,600,000 LW UFA - 1	Kuraly, Sean $2,500,000$2,500,000 C, LW M-NTC UFA - 2	Olivier, Mathieu $1,500,000$1,500,000 RW UFA - 2
	Pederson, Lane $1,000,000$1,000,000 C UFA - 2	Bemström, Emil $900,000$900,000 RW, LW RFA - 1

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Werenski, Zachary $9,583,333$9,583,333 LD NMC UFA - 5	Peeke, Andrew $2,750,000$2,750,000 RD UFA - 3	Merzlikins, Elvis $5,400,000$5,400,000 G M-NTC UFA - 4
Pettersson, Marcus $4,025,175$4,025,175 LD M-NTC UFA - 2	Boqvist, Adam $2,600,000$2,600,000 RD RFA - 2	Tarasov, Daniil $1,050,000$1,050,000 G RFA - 2
Graves, Ryan $5,000,000$5,000,000 LD UFA - 6	Gudbranson, Erik $4,000,000$4,000,000 RD M-NTC UFA - 3
	Blankenburg, Nick $825,000$825,000 LD/RD UFA - 1

Apr. 26, 2023 at 2:49 p.m.

Pensman69

spoiled penguins fan

Joined: May 2022

Posts: 2,695

Likes: 1,487

Petts ain’t going anywhere sorry

Apr. 26, 2023 at 3:01 p.m.

JuanDamienNebraska

Joined: Jan. 2023

Posts: 2,289

Likes: 1,173

Why lose a top 4 d man when we can sign a comparable player to Roslovic through free agency?

Apr. 26, 2023 at 3:03 p.m.

ChucktheFNG

Thread Starter

Joined: Jul. 2021

Posts: 226

Likes: 173

Quoting: Pensman69

Petts ain’t going anywhere sorry

To be honest, I figured that may be the case. I would be okay with floating a 2 year contract to Niko Mikkola instead and give Graves and Boqvist more minutes per night.

Pensman69 liked this.

Apr. 26, 2023 at 3:09 p.m.

ChucktheFNG

Thread Starter

Joined: Jul. 2021

Posts: 226

Likes: 173

Quoting: JuanDamienNebraska

Why lose a top 4 d man when we can sign a comparable player to Roslovic through free agency?

The FA market isn't looking great for Centers this year. I figured Roslovic would satisfy the spot left by Granlund, assuming he's bought out.

Apr. 26, 2023 at 3:30 p.m.

Ajp_18

Joined: Mar. 2018

Posts: 9,851

Likes: 6,441

This is pretty good, and highly probable unless the UFAs want more term then we should offer, like Gudbranson did last offseason, I’d also add at the 34th pick we should look into one of the 3 top goalie prospects in Bjarnason, Hrabal, or Augustine. If Tarasov and Merzlinkins can’t get it done we'll need someone quickly.

CaseyFlyman and ChucktheFNG liked this.

Apr. 26, 2023 at 3:32 p.m.

CaseyFlyman

Joined: Sep. 2018

Posts: 2,107

Likes: 1,788

"Peeke has a really nice contract for a shutdown RHD who can stay healthy all year and can really be a rock for Werenski to rely on on his right side."

I'll d*e on this hill: Peeke is Gudbranson-lite. He gets caved in and his physicality is wildly misplaced most of the time. He's always out of position, looks lost, and flails around trying to make hits that don't make sense. I'd move him to the first GM that thinks he's worth a 3rd or higher, and keep Boqvist who at least can move the puck (and pray he stays healthy). Blanks can be our fan-favorite 7th-D.

"Danforth - Voronkov - Chinakhov for a couple months in the A to get Voronkov ready to step into the big league." -> I love this idea!

"Pick #2: Either Leo Carlsson or Adam Fantilli." -> If we can stay in the top-3 and pick one of these two, it's an absolute win and I won't complain. Pipe dream is Bedard, ideal is Fantilli at #2, win is Carlsson at #3, heart attack is someone picks Michkov at #3 and we get Carlsson at #4, pain is Bedard, Fantilli, and Carlsson are all gone by the time we pick 4th.

If Graves is actually left to walk, I'd absolutely push for him at 5x$5M, but I doubt NJ lets him go or that he comes that cheap. Pettersson isn't likely going anywhere (I'd hate to trade with the Pens anyway), so Mikkola would be fine...as long as he's not on the 2nd pair. Jarmo might have to get creative for LD.

tleaf28 and squashmaple liked this.

Apr. 26, 2023 at 3:44 p.m.

Haymaker26

Joined: Jun. 2021

Posts: 996

Likes: 422

Quoting: ChucktheFNG

The FA market isn't looking great for Centers this year. I figured Roslovic would satisfy the spot left by Granlund, assuming he's bought out.

I can see the logic from an outsider's view, but it breaks down under further examination.
Pettersson was the Pens' most consistent D this year, and the best defensively by a country mile. He's indispensible.
And Granlund actually spent very little time in Pittburgh at center. He played mostly RW, and Ryan Poehling spent a lot of time down the stretch as 3C. Roslovic is also listed as C/RW, so not entirely a point against your logic, but worth noting.

Apr. 26, 2023 at 5:55 p.m.

ChucktheFNG

Thread Starter

Joined: Jul. 2021

Posts: 226

Likes: 173

Quoting: Ajp_18

Jackets always seem to have a good G prospect in the pipeline. I know Sergei Ivanov is killing it for SKA right now.

Apr. 26, 2023 at 6:25 p.m.

ChucktheFNG

Thread Starter

Joined: Jul. 2021

Posts: 226

Likes: 173

Quoting: CaseyFlyman

I'll d*e on this hill: Peeke is Gudbranson-lite. He gets caved in and his physicality is wildly misplaced most of the time. He's always out of position, looks lost, and flails around trying to make hits that don't make sense. I'd move him to the first GM that thinks he's worth a 3rd or higher, and keep Boqvist who at least can move the puck (and pray he stays healthy). Blanks can be our fan-favorite 7th-D.

I will say that I partially agree with you. We did watch him take an impressive stride in his development by the end of the year regarding most of your points. He still did all of that, but he did it less. I'm pretty sure he also played every game which is a pretty big deal in my book. I think he makes a good jump this offseason with a HC who understands the term "defensive gameplan".

Quoting: CaseyFlyman

"Danforth - Voronkov - Chinakhov for a couple months in the A to get Voronkov ready to step into the big league." -> I love this idea!

Thank you! Not sure how to bring all three back up. Danforth was doing quite well alongside Gaudreau before his injury last year. Seems pretty "Make it or Break it" for his NHL career this year.

Quoting: CaseyFlyman

If we can stay in the top-3 and pick one of these two, it's an absolute win and I won't complain. Pipe dream is Bedard, ideal is Fantilli at #2, win is Carlsson at #3, heart attack is someone picks Michkov at #3 and we get Carlsson at #4, pain is Bedard, Fantilli, and Carlsson are all gone by the time we pick 4th.

Anyone going in the Top 5 is an excellent pickup. Will Smith is pretty good consolation prize and Matvei Michkov (even with the situations surrounding him) could be worth the wait.

Quoting: CaseyFlyman

If Graves is actually left to walk, I'd absolutely push for him at 5x$5M, but I doubt NJ lets him go or that he comes that cheap. Pettersson isn't likely going anywhere (I'd hate to trade with the Pens anyway), so Mikkola would be fine...as long as he's not on the 2nd pair. Jarmo might have to get creative for LD.

NJ will probably lose either Severson or Graves. With the RHD market right now, I bet NJ opts to pay up for him. Market price for Graves will probably be in the $4.25-4.75 million range but I agree he will go near $5.5. Carson Soucy could also be a UFA this year but he's option #3.

CaseyFlyman liked this.

Apr. 26, 2023 at 7:39 p.m.

#10

Ajp_18

Joined: Mar. 2018

Posts: 9,851

Likes: 6,441

Quoting: ChucktheFNG

Jackets always seem to have a good G prospect in the pipeline. I know Sergei Ivanov is killing it for SKA right now.

Yes, but he is also signed for at least 2 more seasons if I remember correctly, I’d also say those 3 will likely be better. I don’t see Ivanov as higher then a backup right now. He is also playing in the MHL and not the KHL.

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