One of the biggest, most important trades in Blue Jackets franchise history occurred on this date in 2017. Nine years ago, with the team needing to find a dynamic scorer, then-GM Jarmo Kekalainen struck a deal that brought enigmatic winger Artemi Panarin to Columbus.
It's not hyperbole to say that the franchise has been different ever since.
That summer, the team was coming off of the greatest season in franchise history. The 2016-17 Jackets went 50-24-8, clearing the 100-point plateau for the first (and so far only) time in their existence.
However, in the Metropolitan Division gauntlet, they were but an afterthought. That 108 point campaign was good enough for fourth in the NHL-but only third in their division. They ran into the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, and without home ice advantage.
Despite fighting the good fight, that series was never even close. The Jackets lost in 5 games, ending their Cinderella run as one of the league's most exciting young teams.
It was obvious at that point, that this team needed more of a scoring punch. They were led in scoring by Cam Atkinson, who potted 35 goals and 62 points. There were only four other players who exceeded 50 points: Alex Wennberg (59), Brandon Saad (53), Nick Foligno (51), and Sam Gagner (50).
The Blue Jackets did not have an offensive weapon capable of helping this team keep pace with a team like the Penguins. Their only hope was to try to take a big swing in the summer of 2017. Jarmo stepped up to the plate and did just that.
The big trade happened on June 23rd.
Just days before the NHL Draft, the Blue Jackets made a blockbuster deal. Kekalainen shipped Brandon Saad back to the Chicago Blackhawks, along with goaltending prospect Anton Forsberg and a 5th round draft pick (ultimately traded to Arizona by the Hawks); in exchange for Artemi Panarin, Tyler Motte, and a 6th round draft pick (Jonathan Davidsson).
This deal shifted the power balance in favor of the Blue Jackets. Kekalainen had already fleeced the Blackhawks in one Saad trade, acquiring the young two-way winger in a deal that sent Artem Anisimov and some secondary pieces the other way back in 2015.
Saad spent two seasons in Columbus, scoring 55 goals and 106 points. He was a very good player, a complimentary winger who could play capably on the second line. But on this day, Kekalainen turned Chicago's longing for a reunion into highway robbery.
Panarin was easily the best player in this deal. In two seasons with the Hawks, he scored 61 goals and 151 points; winning the Calder Trophy as the best rookie in the NHL in a year that was chock-full of strong rookies.
Then-GM of the Blackhawks Stan Bowman felt his team needed the traits they lost in dealing away Saad back bad enough that he swung this deal, sending one of the best young offensive players in the league to the Blue Jackets. Call it an easy win for Kekalainen.
Despite only playing two seasons in Columbus, Panarin goes down as maybe the best pure skill forward in the history of this franchise. He owns the two highest scoring seasons in CBJ history (87 points in 2018-19, 82 points in 2017-18).
More importantly, he helped change this team's perception around the league. The Blue Jackets made the playoffs in each of his two seasons in Columbus, ultimately sweeping the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the 2019 playoffs.
Who knows what could have happened if they hadn't run into a future Hall of Fame goaltender on a white-hot run in the second round. We could be having a much different conversation right now. Maybe one that includes #9 hanging in the rafters some day. We'll never know.
Even though Artemi never truly wanted to be in Columbus, he's hard to look back on June 23, 2017; and not have fond memories of the time Jarmo Kekalainen swung a big deal to change his team's fortunes. Maybe history can repeat itself this summer.
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