Columbus Blue Jackets: Which Prospects are Trade Bait

There are some interesting names in Europe that could be traded this deadline and one of them shares the same agent as Artemi Panarin. Russian defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov is represented by Dan Milstein and has had to have come up in conversations with Jarmo. The big defenseman has been one of the KHL’s top blue liners.

Gavrikov just participated in the KHL’s All-Star festivities and was on the Olympic team representing Russia that won gold in South Korea.

Columbus Blue Jackets

His contract in the KHL expires at the end of the season and he could be bound for North America. Whether that is in union blue or in another NHL teams sweater is unknown as he would be a nice piece in a trade.

The Jackets two other Russian prospects also have plenty of value as Daniil Tarasov might be the Jackets best goaltending prospect in a loaded goalie pool. The Jackets second round pick from 2018, Kirill Marchenko, is also turning plenty of heads and is seen as a future top six forward in the NHL. Both will be tough to get from the Jackets but are intriguing players that more than a few teams will have their eyes on.

The Jackets top pick from 2017, Alexandre Texier, is almost untouchable. The Frenchman has had a great season in SM-Liiga and is showing a lot of potential. Also in Liiga is goalie Veini Vehviläinen. Don’t expect either to go anywhere except to may Cleveland after their season in Finland is over.

Same can be said about the Swedish and Swiss prospects. Emil Bemstrom, Jonathan Davidsson and Elvis Merzlikins are all players that have an NHL future but they aren’t going to be traded at the deadline.

Whether just one, a few, or none of the players get moved at the deadline will be interesting to watch. Much of it rides on this week’s discussion with the Columbus Blue Jackets front office and Artemi Panarin’s representatives.