My preferred approach

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Created by: Hockey_Soul

Team: 2024-25 Columbus Blue Jackets

Initial Creation Date: Feb. 6, 2024

Published: Feb. 15, 2024

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Description

The answer to a rebuild/RELOAD taking longer than you hoped is not to tear it down and start over. CBJ should not trade veterans being rumored like Jenner or Provorov. They have a good mix of veterans and young talent, so I think they need to remain patient and continue building slowly.

That being said, Laine, and Merzlikins due to their struggles and salaries could be summer trade candidates. This team is still very close to becoming playoff competitive, but those trades could both end up being addition by subtraction. I don't see a team taking a chance on Elvis with his contract though.

IMO, Provorov is underrated much like Gavrikov was, and the team should hang on to him. If they aren't in contention next year and get a good offer, they could ship him out at deadline then. If they ARE in contention at that time, then I would try to sign him to a 2–4-year extension at around 5.5m AAV.

I think Jiricek is clearly the top RHD going into next season, and he should only continue getting better. Letting him grow into the top role lets Severson be more effective on the 2nd pair. Mateychuk looked really good last preseason and seems like a solid bet for 3LD where he can play with the veteran Gudbranson, and both their minutes can be a little bit sheltered.

Peeke is overpaid, as is Gudbranson, but they are both good bottom of the lineup dmen who block lots of shots, lay the lumber, and are always healthy. No one is taking on either of the contracts next year, so CBJ should just hang on to them for at least one more year.

The biggest thing that needs to change is the men behind the bench. This team needs someone who can motivate, inspire, and coach their mentality. Nobody is inventing new NHL systems. Having structure is good, but the manner in which it is taught is most important.

I'd give Dumais and Brindley a year or two in the AHL and force them to really earn a spot. Brindley seems like a natural successor to Boone.

Free Agent Signings

RESERVE LIST	YEARS	CAP HIT
Brindley, Gavin	3	$950,000
Hreschuk, Aidan	2	$800,000
Whitelaw, William	2	$875,000
Pinelli, Luca	3	$885,000
Richard, Guillaume	3	$885,000
Keskinen, Oiva	3	$885,000

RFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Bjork, Marcus	1	$875,000
Blankenburg, Nick	2	$950,000
Christiansen, Jake	1	$920,000
Greaves, Jet	1	$920,000
Marchenko, Kirill	6	$5,850,000
Chinakhov, Yegor	6	$4,500,000
Johnson, Kent	3	$3,850,000
Sillinger, Cole	3	$3,500,000
Texier, Alexandre	2	$1,900,000

UFA		YEARS	CAP HIT
Toffoli, Tyler		1	$4,500,000

CREATED		YEARS	CAP HIT
Lindstrom, Cayden		3	$950,000
Sillinger, Owen		1	$800,000

Trades

CBJ

2025 2nd round pick (NYR)

ARI

Boqvist, Adam

CBJ

Vedenpää, Visa [Reserve List]
2025 2nd round pick (SEA)

SEA

Laine, Patrik

CBJ

2024 2nd round pick (CBJ)

PHI

2025 2nd round pick (CBJ)

CBJ

2024 5th round pick (BUF)

MIN

Roslovic 50% retained at '24 TDL

CBJ

2024 5th round pick (BOS)

BOS

Bean, Jake [RFA Rights]

Additional Details:

50% retained at '24 TDL

Buyouts

Alexander Wennberg: $891,667

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2024
2025
2026

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$87,700,000	$81,611,666	$0	$4,950,000	$6,088,334

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Gaudreau, Johnny $9,750,000$9,750,000 LW NMC UFA - 5	Fantilli, Adam $950,000$950,000 ($3,200,000$3M) C RFA - 2	Jenner, Boone $3,750,000$3,750,000 C, LW M-NTC UFA - 2
Chinakhov, Yegor $4,500,000$4,500,000 RW, LW RFA	Voronkov, Dmitri $925,000$925,000 LW, C, RW RFA - 1	Marchenko, Kirill $5,850,000$5,850,000 RW RFA
Johnson, Kent $3,850,000$3,850,000 LW, C RFA	Sillinger, Cole $3,500,000$3,500,000 C RFA	Toffoli, Tyler $4,500,000$4,500,000 RW, LW UFA
Texier, Alexandre $1,900,000$1,900,000 LW, C, RW RFA	Kuraly, Sean $2,500,000$2,500,000 C, LW M-NTC UFA - 1	Danforth, Justin $1,100,000$1,100,000 RW, C UFA - 1

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Werenski, Zachary $9,583,333$9,583,333 LD NMC UFA - 4	Jiricek, David $918,333$918,333 ($1,000,000$1M) RD RFA - 2	Merzlikins, Elvis $5,400,000$5,400,000 G M-NTC UFA - 3
Provorov, Ivan $4,725,000$4,725,000 LD UFA - 1	Severson, Damon $6,250,000$6,250,000 RD NTC UFA - 7	Tarasov, Daniil $1,050,000$1,050,000 G RFA - 1
Mateychuk, Denton $918,333$918,333 ($750,000$750K) LD RFA - 2	Gudbranson, Erik $4,000,000$4,000,000 RD M-NTC UFA - 2

Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
Blankenburg, Nick $950,000$950,000 LD/RD UFA
Peeke, Andrew $2,750,000$2,750,000 RD UFA - 2
Olivier, Mathieu $1,100,000$1,100,000 RW UFA - 1

Feb. 15 at 8:33 p.m.

CaseyFlyman

Joined: Sep. 2018

Posts: 2,150

Likes: 1,841

I feel like we've talked about this before, but I just don't see Peeke as an asset at all. He should be waived, sent to Cleveland, or claimed by someone looking to take a wild chance. Provorov just doesn't seem like a fit, he's a little overrated offensively yet underrated defensively, but is likely a TDL 2025 move where Mateychuck can replace him at 2LD.

I'd love a Toffoli signing for the 3RW, and I thinkn the top-6 forwards should be Johnny, KJ, Marchenko, and Chinakhov (plus Fantilli and either Sillinger or Voronkov) long-term. Giving Laine a fresh start somewhere else feels like a good offseason move.

Feb. 16 at 8:53 a.m.

Hockey_Soul

Thread Starter

Be formless

Joined: Jan. 2016

Posts: 2,913

Likes: 1,056

Quoting: CaseyFlyman

Yeah, Peeke is bad, we agree on that. The issue is he isn't going to be traded or signed off waivers with that contract, and our cheap ownership isn't going to pay him almost $3m to play in Cleveland. He's good at blocking shots, he's always healthy, he puts out a good effort every chance he gets, he's just mentally slow and shouldn't be getting a bunch of minutes or opportunities to flub the puck to the other team. If he was making 800k he'd be a great 7th dman. It's unfortunate that his salary is $2m more than what he's worth, but they have the cap to pay him now rather than buy him out and have 4 years of dead money on the payroll.

I like Provy's game. He does make too many mistakes, but he's still a pretty decent 3-4 dman. I think the right coach could make a difference for him and a lot of other guys too. For me it all depends on how the team is playing next year. If they're doing well, you hang on to him (if you can sign him to a reasonable deal), if the team is struggling, he is an obvious trade piece to sell at the deadline.

CaseyFlyman liked this.

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