As the dust settled from the big move the Blue Jackets made with the Avalanche yesterday, the team continued to work behind the scenes. Just hours after altering their top-six up front, they made one trade and signed one potentially important contract.
First up was a minor league swap, with the Blue Jackets sending RFA center Hunter McKown to the Montreal Canadiens, in exchange for RW Luke Tuch. No, not that Tuch. His brother.
This trade doesn't feel like it will shift much for either organization at the NHL level. McKown was originally signed by the Blue Jackets as an undrafted UFA, after finishing an impressive career at the NCAA level.
He spent the last three seasons with the Cleveland Monsters, scoring 31 goals and 80 points in 184 games. He also skated in 12 games for the Blue Jackets at the end of the 2022-23 season, registering 2 assists.
Luke Tuch was originally a second round pick (#47 overall) by the Canadiens at the 2020 NHL Draft. He spent four years with Boston University after being selected, and has played the last two with Montreal's AHL team in Laval. In that span, he's accrued 112 games, scoring 15 goals and 28 points.
Like his brother, he's a bigger bodied guy who likes to play a physical game. He has a good shot and can finish, but has not yet put it all together well enough to be an NHL player. The 24-year old Tuch is also an RFA, and will need a contract before next season.
Tuna is back for two more years.
Later in the evening, the Blue Jackets re-signed another pending RFA; extending LW Mikael Pyyhtia with a two year contract worth $875k against the cap.
Pyyhtia finished second on the Monsters in scoring this season, with 21 goals and 49 points in 59 games. Slowly, he has developed into a promising potential bottom six forward for the organization. If his scoring is any indication, he might be ready to step into a role in the NHL next season.
The 6'0", 183 pound winger has a refined two-way game that has already given him several cups of coffee with the Blue Jackets over the last four seasons. Now that he's shown that he can add some secondary scoring, it feels like this is his final chance to steal a job out of training camp.
With Mason Marchment and Boone Jenner both likely headed to free agency, there could be a fourth line role for him to carve out this fall. Pyyhtia's extension was definitely overshadowed by the big trade yesterday, but I think this could be an important piece of business for this team to get done.
He's 24 years old, so it's not like the Jackets would be counting on a player before he's ready to make the leap. It's now or never for Mikael, and I think he's good enough to fill that role. We will be watching him closely once camp gets under way.
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