The Jackets trade for a scoring winger and get over the playoff hump.
Matthew Duffey's prediction is that, rather than selling off assets near the end of the season: GM Don Waddell will go out and add a scoring winger. That addition helps this team get over the hump and into the playoffs for the first time in seven years.
It's far too early to speculate on who that player might be. That would depend on how the rest of the league starts, and where everyone lies in the standings as things really get rolling. Heck, the entire thing hinges on how the Blue Jackets come out of the gate.
If they start hot and are in the mix, I could definitely see Waddell looking to add some scoring punch to this roster. As it stands, a lot of their offense is going to rely on young players taking big steps forward.
Outside of some known entities (such as Zach Werenski), we simply don't know what this team's ceiling is. If everything goes well, they could be fine without any additions. However, if you want to make a real run, you can never have too much scoring depth.
The Blue Jackets should be in good position to make this kind of move. If all goes well, their first round pick would be in play. They also have some prospects that could move the needle for other teams-particularly in goal.
That would be especially true if our second bold prediction comes to fruition. Jet Greaves becoming an elite goaltender would make it pretty easy to move on from one of the younger goaltenders in the system.
This is one prediction that we would all love to see. It's been a long time since we have seen this team aggressively trying to make a playoff push. In fact, it's only ever happened once-in a year where a Russian winger refused to sign an extension.
History does have a tendency of repeating itself. Lets take a look at our next bold prediction, which is something we all agreed on.
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