5 Blue Jacket skaters who could be moved for more roster flexibility

Patrik Laine

Through four seasons in Columbus, we have seen the evolution of Patrik Laine go from budding superstar sniper - to a prime aged player with a lot of question marks.

To be clear, I love Patty, and I do still think he can be a premier goal scorer in this league. The problem for us is, the dual superstar winger setup of this roster just hasn't worked out.

Laine's time in Columbus has been marked by injuries, illnesses, and inconsistency. He even missed the last three months of this season due to treatment from the NHLPA's Player Assistance Program.

When he's hot, he can seemingly score goals at will. We all love to see him unleash his absolute bomb of a one-timer; which, when it's working, seems like he could knock a postage stamp off of an envelope. His shooting in general is quite impressive:

But his confidence was lost at some point, probably at least in part due to the team force-feeding him minutes at center.

I would love to think that Patrik can come back to the Jackets this fall and be a 40-50 goal threat. That would be the best case scenario. With the way this roster is constructed, I just don't know if that's possible.

A move here could make sense, depending upon the return. If the Jackets can find a suitor willing to take on his $8.7M AAV and bank on his goal scoring upside, they could cash in big time.

Look no further than what the Winnipeg Jets got for the piece the Jackets originally sent them to acquire Laine. No big names came the other way, but they made their lineup deeper and harder to play against.

I don't think Patty will generate the same kind of return at this point. But, if you can get back one or two players who can help you immediately and into the future - as Winnipeg did for Dubois - that's the kind of move that can turn this team in the right direction.

One final thought: you know who has a lot of one type of player, that the Jackets could really use? The Ottawa Senators. They're loaded with big, heavy two-way players. I wonder if they might have interest in a prime-aged goal scorer, since they've gone through one ... or two ... in the last couple of seasons, as they search for the right fit.

We'll see what happens with big #29. I don't think that saga in Columbus is finished yet, and a year of evaluation may help the new GM decide. But, there are other pieces they can shuffle out here. Let's move on.

Alexandre Texier

Would you believe me if I told you that Alexandre Texier just quietly finished 8th on the team in scoring? What if I told you he finished tied for 4th in +/- amongst forwards who played more than 45 games?

Those are the facts. Texier scored 12 goals and 30 points in 78 games this season, while carrying a -5 rating for a team that gave up 63 more goals than they scored.

Still, it feels like he could do so much more. Tex oozes skill, can obviously shoot the puck, has size and the speed to burn. But no matter the situation, he cannot find his way into this team's top-six, or get much power-play time.

As a two-way player, it's hard not to love having this guy around. He's been a strong contributor to the bottom-six and penalty kill since returning from his two-year hiatus in Europe.

But at some point, as they did with Emil Bemstrom, you have to look at this objectively and ask the question: does Texier fit into the plans long-term?

If not, it may be time to cash in and get something in return for the young Frenchman. He's a restricted free agent this summer, with arbitration rights. Texier is coming off of a contract that paid him a $1.525M AAV, and he will almost certainly be demanding a raise. I would.

At that rate, I wonder if it might be better for the Jackets to fill in his productivity with a different type of player.

On the last page, I mentioned bringing in a heavier two-way presence. Ideally, one with more experience. To do that, they may need to move on from a player like Texier and free up the roster space.

Or, they could just turn to one of the youngsters coming up through the system. Gavin Brindley certainly didn't leave college without the thought of making the Blue Jacket roster this fall. And, James Malatesta looked good in his call-up stint. Really good.

We'll see what happens with Texier in the coming weeks and months. I think they could get some decent draft capital for him, if they do decide to move on.

Our next player is one of my favorites, but it may be time to explore alternate options.

Justin Danforth

For a team desperately short on veteran leadership, Justin Danforth does it all.

He's been an absolute workhorse since signing with the Jackets out of the KHL three years ago, playing in 122 games and scoring 43 points.

Really, they could use more guys like Danforth when they are ready to contend. The problem here is that they just aren't ready to contend.

At 31 years old, Danforth is the second-oldest player on the roster behind Sean Kuraly. Don't these guys deserve a chance to go and win somewhere, while they still have a lot of value?

Kuraly would be tough to move this summer due to his AAV ($2.5M) contract. Plus, I think it would be tough to replace his size and physicality.

Danforth brings a lot of the same things (except for size) - at a more reasonable $1.1M AAV. A contending team might look to add a player like this for depth and two-way support to their roster.

Perhaps the Jackets could find someone cap-strapped and built up a package to add something different to the roster?

Or, again, maybe they just want to free up a job for a Gavin Brindley or James Malatesta to play in the NHL full-time next season.

I love what Danforth brings, but I don't think it's anything we could not replace with what we already have in the organization. The thing we would miss the most here in my opinion, would be his leadership.

Let's look at the last two players on our list.

One of Ivan Provorov or Jake Bean

...or maybe both?

The Jackets don't need to make changes up front this summer. We talked quite a bit throughout the year about how the team has good defensemen, but it was just the wrong mix.

Part of that issue: all three guys playing on the left side are geared towards offense. Provorov's acquisition really felt like a fail-safe in case one of Werenski or Bean (or, Heaven forbid, both - again) were injured this season.

He's been Mr. Reliable as far as games played; and he fit that description this year as the only player to play in all 82 Blue Jacket games.

Defensively, however ... let's just say, it wasn't a perfect match. Provorov struggled quite a bit when the puck wasn't on his stick.

Still, he has a lot of value as a guy who can stay healthy and chip in offense. He scored 5 goals and 32 points for the Jackets this year, while seeing only secondary offensive minutes on a lot of nights due to playing behind Zach Werenski.

He could net a nice return for the team if they want to recoup some of the draft capital they gave up to get him last summer. Then, they could go out and find a nice heavy, stay-at-home defenseman to fill the void he leaves behind.

Meanwhile, Jake Bean hasn't quite developed into the player taken 13th overall at the 2016 NHL Draft, and I have to wonder if that will ever occur. He'll be 26 years old when next season starts, and his career year so far was a 25-point output in 67 games with the Jackets in 2021-22.

Otherwise, he seems relegated to the third defense pair - where he gets frequently outmatched physically. He's an RFA this summer, so it will be interesting to see if the team decides to extend him, trade him, or just move on. Trade value here would be relatively low, most likely.

All of this is a long-winded way of wondering how close Denton Mateychuk or Stanislav Svozil are to playing in the NHL. The team may want to clear out a roster spot for one of them to make a push this fall.

Which brings me back to needing a heavier, more reliable stay-at-home option. This would let one of the youngsters play in the offensive situations, while sheltering them in the heavier defensive minutes.

Doing that could mean moving on from both Provorov and Bean, depending on how they feel about the readiness of one or both of these two prospects.

It will be an interesting summer to watch, as the new GM of this team will surely want to make an immediate impact to the roster. How deep those changes go, will have to wait to be seen.