Jack Johnson asks to be traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets
By John Luke
Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman, and birthday boy, Jack Johnson has asked the team to trade him.
According to sources at the Athletic, Jack Johnson asked for a trade several months ago so that he could put himself in a better position in free agency. He also stated that his diminished role with the Columbus Blue Jackets was another reason that he wanted to be dealt elsewhere.
Jack Johnson had a career high season last year and ended up with a positive +/- for the first time in his NHL career. It wasn’t a small positive number either. Jack Johnson ended the season with a +23, 23 points, and the team relied on him in a lot of different scenarios.
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As the current starting defenseman, Zach Werenski and Seth Jones, have gained experience and confidence Jacks play time has diminished to under 15 minutes per game. With the strength of the Columbus Blue Jackets defense and the diminished play from Jack it is a great time for Jack to find a new home. He seems to agree.
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At the end of the season, if Jack and the Blue Jackets haven’t reached a new contract then Jack will go into free agency. This doesn’t come out as a win for either side as Jack has to join a new team and negotiate without any experience on how he plays with the new team. The Blue Jackets lose because they give up their second line defenseman and get nothing in return.
With the deadline quickly approaching it is time to get serious about trading Jack and it is a great asset to have him on board. The trade deadline this season is February 26th so if there is any hope of getting anything in exchange for Jack then the end of January is the time to make that happen. Best case scenario, the team might even have a chance of finding a third line center that could step in and pick up the slack in the muddling along offense.
Even with Jack’s play being at last years level it seemed likely that the Columbus Blue Jackets would not renew his contract. There are a lot of players coming into negotiations in the next year and the Jackets will need every bit of cap space to keep the young talent in Columbus. The cap space isn’t infinite so the team would have to make tough choices somewhere and a fan favorite was Jack. This seems to solve all of the problems in one fell swoop. If Ryan Murray can get healthy and Gabriel Carlsson is able to make some progress in his game then the team will be able to fill the gap left behind.
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I am a big fan of Jack’s so it is hard to say it is his time but….it is his time. Now lets see what the team can get for him.