COLUMBUS, Ohio — A collection of notes, insights, ruminations and did-you-knows gathered throughout the week that was for the Columbus Blue Jackets:
Item No. 1: Trouba pursuit
The Blue Jackets were among the clubs that pressed hard to acquire defenseman Jacob Trouba from the New York Rangers last week, but Trouba declined to remove Columbus from the list of clubs on the no-trade clause in his contract.
It was nothing personal. The Athletic has learned from a team official that Trouba refused to approve a trade to at least two other clubs in the Eastern Conference, including the Detroit Red Wings, before he signed off on a trade to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.
Another reason it wasn’t personal: Trouba’s wife, Kelly Tyson-Trouba, is a doctor of osteopathic medicine at a hospital in New York, with a residency that reportedly runs through July. It was important to them that Trouba’s next stop work well for both of their careers.
“Anaheim was one of the places my wife and I were interested in,” Trouba told reporters in Anaheim.
It’s unknown what the Blue Jackets were offering the Rangers for Trouba, but Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell’s interest in the player makes two issues abundantly clear:
1. Waddell is not content
The Blue Jackets blue line has been significantly altered since Waddell was hired in late May, and he’s still perusing the league for upgrades.
Waddell has acquired Dante Fabbro (waivers), Jack Johnson (free agent), Jordan Harris (trade with Montreal) and Daemon Hunt (trade with Minnesota).
Fabbro has found a home on the top defensive pairing with Zach Werenski, while Harris has settled into the left side of the third pair. Johnson has been in and out of the lineup on the third pair, and Hunt was assigned to AHL Cleveland just after the trade.
Meanwhile, Waddell moved Jake Bean, Nick Blankenburg, Adam Boqvist and David Jiricek in separate deals. Those four played a combined 164 games in Columbus last season, but Boqvist (Florida) and Bean (Calgary) are playing minor roles with their new teams, Blankenburg (Nashville) has mostly played in the minors, and Jiricek just landed with the Wild.
It’s unclear what Waddell had in mind for Trouba if he had landed him via trade, but, at $8 million per season, he likely would have played on the top pair next to Werenski.
Overall, it indicates Waddell is still active and willing to be aggressive.
2. More nasty needed
The Blue Jackets have Mathieu Olivier and Zach Aston-Reese, along with a few other forwards who can bring the heat in a physical game. But the Jackets aren’t always difficult to play against — they don’t initiate, for sure — and that’s especially true on the back end.
Ever since veteran Erik Gudbranson went out with a long-term shoulder injury in October, the Blue Jackets have lacked a true physical presence on the blue line. Skill and talent, sure, but not a lot of jam.
Trouba, one of the NHL’s few remaining open-ice hunters, would have changed the entire look of the Blue Jackets defense and, really, the entire roster. Olivier would have been a busy man.
The New York Rangers traded Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. (Sergei Belski / Imagn Images)
Item No. 2: Thumbs up
It sure didn’t look good when Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov crashed awkwardly into the sidewall early in the second period on Friday in Vancouver. It looked worse when Provorov, grimacing in pain, removed his left glove as he lay on the ice.
Provorov’s thumb, captured by FanDuel Sports Network cameras, looked like he was trying to hitch a ride, 1970s style. He went straight to the Blue Jackets dressing room and did not return to the game.
It was an ominous sign, not only because the Blue Jackets rely heavily on Provorov, but because he’s seen as one of Waddell’s biggest trade chips should the Blue Jackets be sellers at the trade deadline in March.
After reviewing X-rays of Provorov’s thumb, however, the Blue Jackets medical staff has cleared him to resume play as soon as he can tolerate the discomfort. Without getting into details, Waddell said Provorov couldn’t do further harm to the thumb by playing.
If you know anything about Provorov, he’s playing tonight in Winnipeg.
Provorov has never missed a game due to injury. The only three games he’s missed during his NHL career — 640 games with Philadelphia and Columbus — were due to COVID-19 during the 2021-22 season, and he’s made it clear that it was NHL protocols that kept him from playing, not sickness.
The Blue Jackets rely heavily on Provorov, who is second only to Werenski in ice time, playing 23:18 per game. He quarterbacks the second power-play units and its heavy minutes on the penalty kill.
The Jackets may also be counting on him later this season when Waddell has to decide — more likely the Jackets will decide for him with their play over the next three months — whether he wants to be a seller, a buyer or a mix of the two at the March 7 deadline.
Most suspect Provorov could fetch a first-round draft pick, which would give the Blue Jackets three first-round picks next June. In addition to their own, the Blue Jackets acquired Minnesota’s pick in the trade that sent Jiricek to the Wild.
That trade with Minnesota also landed the Blue Jackets 22-year-old defenseman Daemon Hunt, who is currently playing with AHL Cleveland. Hunt and top prospect Denton Mateychuk are the reasons why Provorov, an unrestricted free agent this summer, may be deemed expendable later this season.
Item No. 3: Take 5 with Kuraly
Take 5 is a quick, breezy sitdown with a Blue Jackets player, coach or front-office staffer. This week’s features Sean Kuraly.
1. What part of Columbus is home and why?
Dublin. I’m from there. Home sweet home. There’s not another area in the city I’d live (in). I love the drive to the rink down Riverside Drive. I always stop and get a coffee. If I need two, I’ll stop at the other Starbucks and get a second. Perfect relaxing drive. No traffic. Beautiful in the fall, especially.
2. Favorite restaurant in Columbus.
Oshio. It’s a sushi place in Grandview. I went to kindergarten with the guys who own it and run it. I go there all the time.
3. What do you do on an off day Sunday?
Football on the couch. Walk the dog, have a coffee. Make some food or order some food. I was born in Buffalo, so I should maybe lean toward the Bills. But my fantasy team is the team I root for more than anything.
4. Favorite CBJ memory.
Rick Nash scoring that goal — yeah, yeah, the goal — against Arizona. They were Phoenix at the time. I remember Jeff Rimer’s call. I recreated that goal as many times as I could when I was a kid.
5. Which teammate should have a podcast?
It wouldn’t be me. No way. Just, no way. You know what? Riemer (James van Riemsdyk) has a lot of really good ideas. He’s got a lot of good stuff in his head. Let’s go with Riemer.
Item No. 4: Snacks
• Not since the days when Werenski and Seth Jones comprised the top defensive pairing have the Blue Jackets gotten this much pop from their back end. Heading into play today, the Blue Jackets were tied with Edmonton atop the NHL for goals (18) by defensemen. The Blue Jackets rank sixth with 64 points from their blueliners, trailing Colorado (77), Washington (74), Winnipeg (71), Tampa Bay (69) and Carolina (66). The Jackets are on pace this season to total 57-145-202 from defensemen, which would be a franchise best. In 2017-18, the Jackets scored 51 goals from their back end. The following season, they totaled 188 points from the blue line.
• The Blue Jackets head into tonight’s game vs. Winnipeg hoping to snap an ugly streak. They’ve allowed a power-play goal in 12 consecutive games dating back to Nov. 10 in Anaheim. It’s the longest streak in franchise history, and if it’s extended today against the Jets, it’ll be the longest in the NHL since the Washington Capitals gave up a power-play goal in 13 straight games from Jan. 6 to Feb. 5, 2009. Since that Nov. 10 game, the Blue Jackets have been short-handed 44 times and have allowed 17 goals, a 61.4 percent success rate that ranks last in the league during that span.
• There’s no such thing as an easy road game for the Blue Jackets these days, but the schedule is going to be much kinder the rest of the way. In their first 15 games on the road schedule, including tonight’s game in Winnipeg, the Blue Jackets have played only three times in the Eastern time zone. Five games have been in the Pacific, four in the Central and three in the Mountain. It’s going to feel dramatically different the rest of the way, with 22 of the remaining 26 roadies in the same time zone (Eastern) as Columbus. Only twice (Vegas on Jan. 30 and Utah on Jan. 31) do they go further West than the Central time zone. In fact, after Feb. 2, the Blue Jackets won’t leave the Eastern time zone.
• By the end of the month, Werenski, who will play in his 512th game for the Blue Jackets tonight in Winnipeg, will have passed Rostislav Klesla (515) and Jared Boll (518) to move into eighth place on the franchise’s all-time games played list. By the end of the season, Werenski could be as high as sixth, as David Vyborny (543) and Fedor Tyutin (553) are now within sight.
• You have to admire a coach who can mix his metaphors as effortlessly as he mixes his forward lines. On Friday, before Dean Evason made sweeping changes on all four lines, he said this after the morning skate in Vancouver: “We’re going to throw the ping pong balls in a blender … and hopefully the combinations we come up with are good.”
• Sunday Gathering trivia question: Mathieu Olivier, with eight goals and 47 penalty minutes heading into tonight’s game, is on pace to score 25 goals and accumulate 148 penalty minutes. Which Blue Jackets player scored the most goals in a season in which he also had 150 or more penalty minutes?
Luca double dipped!! Tied the game with just 1:05 to play 🔥
🍎: Hunt & LaBate pic.twitter.com/GNTD6ah5LI
— Cleveland Monsters (@monstershockey) December 7, 2024
• What a weekend — what a start to the season! — for Blue Jackets prospect Luca Del Bel Belluz, a second-round pick (No. 44) in 2022. On Friday, Del Bel Belluz scored two extra-attacker goals in the final 2:11 of regulation to lead AHL Cleveland back from a 4-2 deficit against Syracuse. The Monsters later won on a Corson Ceulemans goal at 2:36 of overtime. Then, on Saturday, Del Bel Belluz scored two more goals in the Monsters’ 4-3 loss after a six-round shootout. Del Bel Belluz, who had a strong training camp in Columbus this fall, now leads the AHL in points and is third in goals, totaling 15-11-26 in 23 games. It may be time to start mentioning his name among the Blue Jackets’ top NHL prospects.
• Hunt has three assists in three games so far with Cleveland. He’s paired with Cole Clayton on the Monsters’ second defensive pair and had assists on both of Del Bel Belluz’s late goals on Friday. Jiricek, meanwhile, was recalled from AHL Iowa to the Wild shortly after the trade but has yet to make his Minnesota debut.
• Trivia answer: In 2011-12, Derek Dorsett scored 12 goals and totaled 235 penalty minutes. He also, remarkably, had two power-play goals that season.
(Top photo of Jacob Trouba and Kirill Marchenko: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
