The Columbus Blue Jackets made one move ahead of Friday's NHL trade deadline, acquiring forward Luke Kunin from the San Jose Sharks. The club had been reported to be shopping for a top-9 forward, however in the end, the prices seem to have been too high.
Instead of swinging big, they opt for depth in acquiring Kunin. A veteran of 422 career NHL games, he fits right into the archetype that Don Waddell seems to favor within his bottom six. He has good size, can skate, plays physical, and should fit right into the positive culture being built in Columbus.
Originally a first round pick (#16 overall) of the Minnesota Wild all the way back in 2016, Kunin didn't quite develop into the promising player you would expect him to after being taken so early in the draft. In 8 NHL seasons, he's scored a total of 73 goals and 142 points.
This isn't a real exciting pickup, but it seems like a serviceable move. Waddell was looking to add to his forward group, and the team definitely improved from one perspective: experience. Between Kunin and waiver pickup Christian Fischer, the Jackets have added 944 games of NHL experience to their bottom-six.
Kunin has been touted as a leader throughout his career, and honestly feels like a better add than people might have initially assumed. He's a known entity, having played under Dean Evason when he coached the Minnesota Wild. While he isn't going to shoot the lights out and score a ton of goals, I do think he'll be an upgrade over Joseph LaBate and Mikael Pyyhtia in the bottom six.
Worst case scenario, Luke Kunin becomes a press box forward for the Jackets, and I don't think that's the end of the world. He'll compete hard when he gets his opportunities, and will at the very least push guys to be better in practice. All this cost the Jackets was a fourth round pick, originally acquired in the Alexandre Texier trade over the summer. In what is expected to be a weak draft, this is a low cost to add a quality veteran pro to the mix.
Speaking of costs, they were probably too high for the team to make a bigger impact.
Waddell talked about weighing his options, wanting to balance making his team better with impacting the good thing he already has. In the end, it feels like there was no way to make this team better without either mortgaging off the future; or gutting something important from this team in its current iteration. This team just isn't in a position to do that, yet.
Rather than making any knee-jerk moves today, Waddell keeps his cards on the table and will enter the summer with plenty of cap space, along with two first round draft picks. Certainly, seeing what some of the major pieces went for at this deadline, it was a seller's market.
With the Jackets overachieving this season, they were in no position to go out and load up for a Cup run. It's better to stand pat, see what happens with this group, and head into the summer with a whole lot of assets to work with.