Columbus Blue Jackets Minding the Metro: Tavares Watch, Canes Trade
The biggest news out of the Columbus Blue Jackets division, and the entire NHL, is Tavares Watch 2018.
Panda Watch 1974. Y2K. And now, Tavares Watch 2018. The eyes of Columbus Blue Jackets fans join the rest of the hockey world in watching what will happen with possibly the best hockey player to hit the free agent market in a lifetime.
John Tavares is meeting with six teams at his sports agency, CAA, in Los Angeles this week to determine where he will sign his $80 million contract. The six teams, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, are Dallas, Tampa Bay, Boston, San Jose, Toronto and his current squad, the New York Islanders.
Lebrun also reported that he would hear two or three pitched from teams over the phone. Technically all of these meetings are just discussions around the plan the team has for the future and how great of a city they are located in and nothing at all surrounding dollars and cents. Those talks can’t “technically” happen until July 1st. But Tavares and his team will get all the really need from the teams.
Columbus Blue Jackets
His decision will obviously have a huge impacts on the Columbus Blue Jackets and the rest of the Metropolitan Division. With Tavares, the Islanders are automatically a playoff contender. Even with no goaltender they will have a top center in Tavares, Calder Trophy winner in Matthew Barzal, elite winger in Jordan Eberle and an impressive corps of young players.
If they lose Tavares though, they instantly become the second or third worst team in the Eastern Conference only ahead of the Ottawa Senators and maybe the Buffalo Sabres. They will finish last in the Metro without Tavares and not be a worry for any team in the division.
Tavares met with two teams Monday. He will meet with two more on Tuesday and Wednesday in Los Angeles.
Canes make biggest trade at Draft
The 2018 NHL Entry Draft was quite in terms of the trade front. It was so quite that the trade the Columbus Blue Jackets made for the 159th pick in the draft was a notable trade.
Related Story: Jackets Trade for Pick #159, Select Tim Berni
But the biggest trade during the draft weekend involved the Carolina Hurricanes and the Calgary Flames. The Canes were long rumored to be one of the most active teams heading into the draft and they did not disappoint. They sent arguably the second best defenseman from the 2015 draft (behind Zach Werenski) in Noah Hanafin and Elias Lindhom to Calagary.
The deal saw the Canes get back the top goal scoring defenseman in the league in Dougie Hamilton. Along with Hamilton, top defensive prospect Adam Fox and Michael Ferland are headed to the land of the pine.
The old saying goes the team that gets the best player wins the trade. That would mean a Canes win on this swap. But I think that the Flames got the better of this trade. Hanafin is still only 21-years-old and has put up great number. It generally takes defenseman 200 NHL games to get their play in a place where they are confident and just around game 200 Hanafin was named an All-Star. The kid will be a star for years to come.
Not to mention that Lindhom is better than Ferland and Fox seemed unwilling to sign in Calgary because of the depth on defense that the Flames have. The Canes are not hurting for blue liners either so I am curious as to what Fox does in the future. He is a college player and still has two years left to sign a contract or go to free agency.
Next: CBJ Extend Contract Offers to RFA's
It was, and will continue to be a busy couple of days for the Metro Division. The Jackets have made qualifying offers and are running through their development camp. But the biggest impact on the Jackets will be what comes out of the meetings in Los Angeles pertaining to the future of John Tavares.