Five Big Name Columbus Blue Jackets Trade Options
By William Espy
3. Tyler Johnson
Tyler Johnson is an interesting player to consider for the Columbus Blue Jackets. By far he has the most pure talent on this list to this point, however he often is a streaky player which is fairly common with Blue Jackets players. Luckily for Tampa Bay, they have plenty of talent to cover for his bad stints.
He’s off to a good start for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and is currently being used as a winger on the second line according to RosterResource.com. Using a natural center like Johnson on the wing is almost a waste of talent.
With contracts such as Mikhail Sergachev, Brayden Point and Andrei Vasilevskiy coming up within the next two years, they’ll need to clear up some cap space in order to keep all their young stars. Tyler Johnson is the easiest player to move, with the ideal player for Tampa to trade being Alex Killorn however no one would likely want to take that contract.
They’ll get some relief from the expiration of the Ryan Callahan deal at the end of next season, however that won’t be enough on its own to fix their entire cap situation as Andrei Vasilevskiy will likely be one of the highest paid goalies in the NHL when he signs his next deal.
As of November 4th, Johnson has 5 goals and 4 assists for a total of 9 points in his first 11 games of the season. He’s currently 28 which would make him a veteran on the Columbus Blue Jackets, however that shouldn’t be a deterrent by any means.