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Columbus Blue Jackets Potential Trade Chips

By Lansing Murphy

SUNRISE, FL - JUNE 26: President of Hockey Operations of the Columbus Blue Jackets John Davidson (L) and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen of the Columbus Blue Jackets look on from their draft table during Round One of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center on June 26, 2015 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
SUNRISE, FL - JUNE 26: President of Hockey Operations of the Columbus Blue Jackets John Davidson (L) and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen of the Columbus Blue Jackets look on from their draft table during Round One of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center on June 26, 2015 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Sonny Milano

Columbus Blue Jackets
COLUMBUS, OH – APRIL 19: Sonny Milano #22 of the Columbus Blue Jackets skates against the Washington Capitals in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 19, 2018 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Sonny Milano /

Sonny Milano’s future is still very much unknown. That’s part of the reason why he is such a valuable trade chip. The former 1st round pick is only 22-year-old and has only played in 62 NHL games. 55 of those came last year when he scored 14 goals and added eight assist.

Another GM could look at Milano and see a top six forward that is just being misused on the third and fourth lines in Columbus. And this armchair GM would agree with you. There just isn’t a ton of opportunity for Milano right now unless Panarin leaves or Milano takes a massive step forward.

That leaves him as an underutilized, young forward with pedigree. An ideal candidate for a trade. The Jackets also believe they have a decent stable of players that could fill in Sonny’s place such as Markus Hannikainen, Anthony Duclair or Lukas Sedlak.

Milano is in the final year of his entry level contact and won’t demand a huge raise. He is in RFA status heading into the next negotiations which is even more attractive to future teams. You hate to see a player with so much potential like Sonny go, but he would help bring back a win-now player.

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