The Blue Jackets are primed for a big move, is there something already in the works?

The Columbus Blue Jackets are primed for a big move this summer. They have a couple of glaring holes in their lineup, with a lot of depth and prospects to throw around. Could something already be in the works?

Recently, we talked about the potential of the team acquiring the second overall pick from the San Jose Sharks. That would be a bold move, but in our scenario, that trade would involve moving on from one of the most promising young players in the organization. That's not ideal. Nor is it Don Waddell's usual methodology.

More than likely, it feels like this team is set to swing a big hockey trade. With the salary cap on the rise this summer, a lot of the insiders around the NHL are expecting trades to shake loose, as teams look to reconstruct themselves on the fly.

The Blue Jackets should be considered firmly in that mix of teams in the mushy middle. They want to climb out of it, and it goes without saying that drafting in the middle of the first round just isn't going to do it.

The only way to climb out of the mushy middle: go out and find upgrades, to fill the holes that are in your lineup. There are three holes that Waddell should be targeting here.

The Blue Jackets need a scorer, and better defenders.

The team was held back this season for two main reasons. Most faulty was their leaky defense, which still gave up way too much for the opposition. I do expect that having Rick Bowness behind the bench for a full season will help the team in that regard.

But, the fact of the matter here is, there are still too many puck movers on this team's blue line. They need to go out and find two guys that can play in a shutdown role, to offset the Ivan Provorovs and Denton Mateychuks of the world.

The other issue that shut this team down this season: their scoring dried up late in the year. There is still a need for scoring within the top-two lines. A bounce-back season from Kent Johnson and Sean Monahan would help. Ideally, having Conor Garland here to start next season will help them both.

However, that doesn't completely fix it. There is still going to be a hole on the top line, unless Waddell opts to bring back Mason Marchment and sees him as a long-term fit alongside Adam Fantilli and Kirill Marchenko.

With all of that aside, I have to point out one obvious outlier: what does the organization think of Dmitri Voronkov? If Marchment is re-signed, there isn't anywhere obvious to pencil the big man into this lineup.

Adding to this mess is the NHL readiness of prospect Luca del bel Belluz. With Charlie Coyle now re-signed for the next half dozen years, it's really difficult to find an opening for the young pivot on this roster, at any point in the near future. Unless they look to move on from another center on the roster, which is possible.

Either way, I think it's only a matter of time before we see a big hockey trade in Columbus. The pieces in play here would include Voronkov, del bel Belluz, and the team's 14th overall pick. Maybe even former 4th overall pick Cayden Lindstrom. Packaging that together could net the team a really nice core piece, that could help them immediately and well into the future.

Is the trade already pending?

If you believe in conspiracies, that trade may already be in the works. Charlie Coyle let a nice tidbit of information slip in his press conference the other day.

It's possible that the team convinced him to stick around, by letting their plans be known to him. That's a guy who knows what it takes to win in this league, so it will be fun to see if that comes true.

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