Minor Random Thoughts

A compilation of relatively minor random thought processes.

The Center Trade Market

Ever since the season ended, it has been pretty much an open secret that the Jackets are looking to acquire a top 6 center to solidify the middle of the ice. Everyone from Kevin Hayes to Elias Lindholm to Ryan O’Reilly has been speculated as possible fits with the Jackets in different regards. However, it is incredibly fascinating to point out that there is actually not just one but two legitimate top 6 centers that are heavily rumored to be available via trade in Pierre-Luc Dubois and Mark Schiefele. Now obviously, anyone who even remotely follows the Jackets knows neither of these guys are non-starters given Dubois’ history with the Jackes and Schiefele’s rumored locker room conflict with current Jackets winger Patrik Laine. So aside from what was likely a cover all your bases type of phone call to each of their agents to ensure that neither of them are interested in being in Columbus, it is still so interesting to see that for a Jackets team that so desperately needs a higher end center, because of circumstances, they can’t even begin to go after the 2 guys who would in theory be the perfect solution to their dilemma. 

Rick Nash

So far this offseason, one of the overarching storylines has been that Jarmo is likely on his last shot to get the Jackets into competitive relevancy as evidenced by his big splashes to improve the defense. And logically speaking, if the Jackets are starting to think of a life after Jarmo as GM, it would be fair to wonder who they may have in mind as his successor. But if we take a closer look at how the front office has been operating, it is pretty clear that the Jackets already have their guy pegged. Rick Nash has been an assistant GM for a couple seasons now and his name and face is starting to pop up more and more with regards to areas such as FA pitches, signings, and player development. It was specifically interesting to see Severson name Nash as the one guy he knows well in the organization which makes it easy to suggest that Nash probably played a big part in the pitching and negotiations. So even if Jarmo can turn the Jackets around, I wonder if the Jackets are on track to move Nash into the GM role within the next few seasons.

Boone Jenner

Not only has Jenner established himself as the leader and captain of the team but in the last few seasons, he has stepped up into the role of fill in first line center as the Jackets continue to try and solve their center ice problem. Here is something to consider though, given Jenners injury history with his back, is it fair to wonder what his long-term future with the team is? The Jackets are clearly trying to move in a direction where there is more skill and pick possession which isn’t always his game. In an ideal world, Jenners game probably is more suited to a supplementary forechecking role, not unlike the Jackets 2019 playoff run where he was incredibly effective playing on a 4th line with Brandon Dubinsky and Riley Nash. He makes just under 4 million a year, has a modified no trade and will be 32 years old when his contract expires. Inevitably, as the roster transforms, he’ll likely see his role diminish and with Werenski as a prime candidate to take over as captain, is it possible that the Jackets look to move Jenner while his value is still relatively high? This will likely depend on how the roster shakes out over the coming season and it wouldn’t surprise me if come trade deadline his name starts to float around as a potential piece to be moved.

Waiver Eligibility

When trying to predict the opening night lineup for the Jackets, it can be quite difficult to guess as even though the Jackets are assumed to be moving 2-3 roster players out, there are still quite a few players that reasonably expected to be fighting for a roster spot come training camp. One of the clues that can be used to help determine as an outside is by looking at who is and isn’t eligible for waivers to be sent to Cleveland as players who are eligible are more likely to be sent down in the event where a roster is too close to call. By looking at the Jackets depth chart and especially further down the lineup where the battles are expected to take place, quite a few names jump out by looking through these lenses. Marchenko is almost assuredly staying put as is Johnson as they both solidified spots to finish out the season. Jiricek is looking likely to go down to start off the season even though he is probably NHL ready as the Jackets just have too many NHL caliber defensemen. Sillinger is also looking likely to start with Cleveland barring any sort of “blow the door off the hinges” type of camp. Chinakhov is the most intriguing case out of all of them. He was playing very well in a secondary scoring and power play role before being felled by injuries, but he is eligible for waivers and there will major competition for the 3rd line role he’s expected to be competing for. If comes down to potentially needing to risk exposing someone else to waivers by keeping him on the roster, could the Jackets instead decide to have Chinakhov go down to Cleveland instead? Fascinating indeed.