Believe it or not, the NHL's Olympic roster freeze ends in less than a week. Next Monday, the league is back open for business, with GMs around the league having less than two weeks before the trade deadline to dial in their teams for a playoff run.
For the Blue Jackets, the pressure is definitely on. With 10 wins in their last 11 games, the team has gone from obvious seller, to one whose deadline plans could go in wildly different directions.
Over the coming days, we expect GM Don Waddell to work diligently to re-sign some of his pending free agents. We have run through several of their situations during the Olympic break. But, whether or not they decide to stay in Columbus, there are still going to be some decisions to make.
Today, we'll look at four different directions he could choose to steer this team ahead of the deadline. Let's dive in.
Option 1: ignore the hot streak, continue to build for the future.
With one swift action, the Blue Jackets turned their entire season around. After another long losing streak, Waddell pressed one of the biggest buttons at his disposal: he fired his head coach.
Since then, the team has lost only one game. They look like an entirely different group, one that is much more cohesive, playing far better in their own end, and getting timely scoring at the other.
They headed into the break on a seven game winning streak, and suddenly sit just four points out of a playoff spot. Whether they are aiming for a wild card spot, or a divisional spot, they are right in this race.
Still, a lot of people are wondering if this is just a "new coach" bump. That's possible. But, even if you don't believe that this team is for real, I don't see Waddell taking this option ahead of the trade deadline.
After all, he didn't fire his head coach to continue to drag this team through a rebuild. So, we can probably scrap any thoughts of him dealing away veterans for futures.
Option 2: load up for a deep playoff run.
Wouldn't this be fun?
Over the last month, the Blue Jackets have been one of the NHL's hottest teams. After a sleepy start that saw them sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference for most of the year, they found their rhythm under Rick Bowness and have finally been playing up to their potential.
Could Waddell reward their turn-around by going big game hunting?
He has a lot of draft capital at his disposal, as well as some pretty good prospects in the system. If the right player came along, I could actually see him doing this. But, with one caveat...
I don't see the Blue Jackets paying a high price for a rental. Any player coming back would have to have some term for the deal to make sense (more on that in a minute). So, as much as I would love to see this team go all in and push for a Stanley Cup, I just don't think we're at that point in their build yet.
As they say, maybe next year. Let's go over the last two options on the next slide.