Columbus Blue Jackets 2024 season preview, Jordan Harris brings depth and two-way acumen to the back end

Acquired in the Patrik Laine trade with Montreal, Jordan Harris comes to Columbus with hopes of proving himself further.

Tampa Bay Lightning v Montreal Canadiens
Tampa Bay Lightning v Montreal Canadiens / Minas Panagiotakis/GettyImages

At first glance, the Patrik Laine trade looked like a clear loss for the Blue Jackets. They unloaded the disgruntled winger for pennies on the dollar - even throwing in a second round pick to offload him. In return, they got only Montreal defenseman Jordan Harris; a player who played depth minutes for the Canadiens last season.

But in hindsight, I don't think this is as bad as we thought. In fact, Harris could be a nice pickup for the Blue Jackets. While he'll never likely exceed the value of a guy with 40-goal potential, this is exactly the kind of player the Blue Jackets needed to add to a back-end that surrendered so many goals over the last few seasons.

Harris posted modest offensive numbers with Montreal last season, scoring 3 goals and 14 points in 56 games played. He posted a -5 rating, which isn't bad for a team that had a goal differential of -53; and added 22 penalty minutes. All of this while playing bottom-three minutes (he averaged 17:28 per game).

More importantly, Harris has quickly earned a name for himself as a good locker room guy and a future leader in the NHL. I have to think this appealed to the Blue Jackets in a big way. And, his advanced metrics have been very solid:

The Blue Jackets needed to add players that would help them bring down their team goals against average. Harris looks very capable of doing just that, even if it's in a secondary role.

But, with that said, I think there's some untapped potential here. He's only 24 years old, and with two full professional seasons under his belt, should be stepping into his own. Perhaps a change of scenery will help him make a bigger leap?

I don't see him ever becoming a big-time point producer in the NHL. He's never been that kind of player. In four years at the NCAA level (Northeastern University), his point totals were: 13, 21, 19, and 20. Obviously, he has some skill, but I think his ideal usage would be on the second or third pairing; as a complimentary piece for someone like Damon Severson or David Jiricek. Or, maybe in a pure shutdown pairing with Erik Gudbranson.

One bold prediction: Jordan Harris leads all Blue Jacket defensemen in plus/minus this season.

I think Harris will step in and be a difference maker, transitionally and in the defensive zone, right away. He's a strong defender in the modern age of hockey because he uses his skating and gap control to prevent time and space for the opponents.

Plus/minus is far from the "be-all" stat category for defensemen, but it's an easy one to track and compare. If he can emerge as a strong defender and leader on the blue line and work into replacing Ivan Provorov on the second pairing by season's end; this trade will be fine from a Blue Jackets perspective.

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