Could Alexandre Texier be the Next Trade Domino to Fall for the Blue Jackets?

Since the Blue Jackets acquired Alex Nylander, their bottom-six forward group seems to have stabilized a little bit.

As strange as it was to type out that sentence, it honestly seems to be the case. Maybe it's a square peg/hole kind of thing?

Whatever the case, the coaching staff seems to trust Alex Nylander a lot more than they did Emil Bemstrom. He's looked surprisingly steady on a line with Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger, which has resulted in Pascal Vincent keeping them in a regular line rotation.

For someone like Alexandre Texier, this is not ideal. The last thing a guy on the roster bubble needs, is another guy coming in and playing well.

It raises a bigger question for me: since interim GM John Davidson was so quick to deal away another Jarmo Kekalainen draft pick who had been here too long (Bemstrom); could he do it again with Texier?

Whether that happens before the trade deadline or not, I definitely think it's a possibility.

Texier hasn't been able to creep his way up a Blue Jacket lineup that needs all the help it can get. He hasn't turned into the middle-six center he was poised to become. He doesn't even play center; he's been stuck on the wing for most of the season. He's been passed up by roughly a half dozen guys this season alone.

He does have value as an NHL player. He's spent some time on the penalty kill unit, and has proven to be reliable and consistent.

For this reason, I think a change of scenery could be helpful to Alexandre Texier. In the same way it has been for Bemstrom. Give him a chance to earn a spot somewhere else. Things haven't worked out in Columbus.

While I don't see Nylander as the long-term solution to this team's depth problem, Texier hasn't been that solution either. The team's fourth line looks a lot more potent with a more physical presence on it (Mathieu Olivier).

For that reason, it may be time to recoup some assets in return for a player that doesn't fit into the future plans here.