Columbus Blue Jackets net minder Sergei Bobrovsky is willing to waive his no trade clause.
According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the Columbus Blue Jackets two time Vezina winning goalie is willing to waive his no trade clause. Sergei Bobrovsky, whose contract expires at the end of the year, is willing to give up his right and be traded, presumably to the right situation.
This news is apparently only fresh to the public as Bob’s willingness to be moved to the right situation has been known by the front office for some time. Just another layer of drama in this season long hockey soap opera that continues to play out between the elite goalie and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
There is little thought that Bob would fully waive his no trade clause and be open to all 30 other NHL teams. Rather, he likely provided the team with a few options of teams and situations he would be comfortable moving to.
Moving a goalie at the trade deadline is already difficult enough considering most teams pushing towards a playoff run already have a reliable goalie. Limiting that pool further to teams that Bob would go to makes moving him even more challenging but at least the team has some options.
The recent “incident” and Joonas Korpisalo’s stout play have to give the front office more confidence in moving Bob now rather than hold on to the net minder through the rest of the year.
At the beginning of the year laid out some possible trade destinations for Bobrovsky and many of them are still plausible. Carolina is making a surge and is still in need of a true number one goalie. They have all the cap space in the world and enough young assets to make a deal.
The New York Islanders have long been rumored as a landing spot for Bob but with the great play of Robin Lehner, that possibility seems to be dwindling. Calgary, St. Louis, and Florida are all still options as well.
The Jackets have just two games left until the nine day day All-Star break where many front office meetings will take place. I expect more news surrounding Bobrovsky’s future to come out during that break.