To me, Jesse is already gone and made it clear he is not coming back, so he no longer has the trade value of a #4 overall pick. If we could re-acquire a #2 pick somewhere along the line, Assuming the CBJ brain trust (Jarmo + Torts) can determine that Jesse is not a head case and we can work with him, I would think a #2 pick plus a mid-level D man like Kukan or Nutivarra should be able to get it done. If not, we maintain discipline and move on.

Didn't the Blackhawks just luck out by getting two high draft picks at just the moment that Kane and Toews were available? Or did the NHL just put its thumb on the scale? :-)  :-) 

I think it is also called the "Pittsburgh Plan for Success."

I agree with the last three comments. In a perfect world where Murray plays in all 82 games and Jones and Kukan are still in the line up, Peeke is in Cleveland getting more experience. For now he is the 9th man deep in our D rotation and only playing because of all of the injuries. As well as he has played is more a testament to our depth on D and I believe he has done an admirable job. As OWSH points out, last night at least two of the three goals were deflections and just really bad luck.

@ OWSH;

Drouin wanted to go home to Quebec. For some reason he didn't like FL, so he forced his way out of Tampa. Yzerman did a great job, filling a need on defense and getting Sergachev back.

I agree that Jesse was poorly managed by the entire organization but he's not coming back to Edmonton. That will set his market value. The longer Holland waits and the longer Puljujaarvi is out of the NHL the lower the return will be for the Oilers. 

We were in a bit of the same bind last year when Bread & Bob made it clear they wanted out of Columbus and long term it was well known there were only two or three markets they were willing to resign with. 

IF I were GM Jarmo:

1) I am looking long term, so would more likely make moves in the summer. Prices for scoring forwards right now are too high. If the CBJ make the playoffs this year, it won't be for more than a round or two. Plus right now, as the result of injuries to Jones, Murray and Kukan we are utilizing  all of our defensive depth.

2) I would add Jesse Puljujarvi to the shopping list above. I know he is a RW, but looking at the analytics provided earlier this week, maybe it is not as hard to adjust to the off wing as we thought. He would be affordable, the Oilers have to move him and he should be motivated to do well in his first post-Edmonton landing spot.  

Not to make excuses, but as Asst Coach Brad Larson put it in the second intermission, Philly had three goals on zero shots. 

The CBJ puck luck just turned for the worse on a dime after the second period of the Colorado game on Feb 8. It is probably not a coincidence that Seth Jones went down late in the first period that night.

As I look at the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference, there are six teams working for four spots, and they all currently have between 68 and 73 points. the CBJ just can't afford to cough up any more points.

I've said it before, I'm also in Andy's corner, but IF, a good deal could be struck for Andy, I would hope it would be in the Western Conference. I would not want the CBJ playoff path through Boston to include Andy as a barrier.

And remember, Boston's draft picks for the next couple of years are very likely to be higher than the 25th pick in each round, so they aren't particularly valuable. 

I agree 100% with you guys. Honestly, who comes up with these ideas, a 14 year old in his parent's basement?

In fact, I can't think of any reason why Jarmo would even consider this deal. Now if the Canucks were to offer JT Miller (from Ohio BTW) + at least a second round pick or higher, I might have to think about it...

Most of the noise on this issue is still coming out of Boston. This is about the 4th article I have seen from a national source since New Years Day. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl/bruins-interested-in-blue-jackets-josh-anderson/ar-BB106vqM

The going rate would have to be pretty close to the Blake Coleman deal earlier this week: two first round draft choices. (i.e. Tampa's first round pick last summer, Nolan Foote + the first in 2020). If a team isn't willing to offer that; don't waste my time and don't even bother to call.

Please clarify. Seth is likely done for the regular season (& perhaps the first round of the playoffs) but I haven't seen anything describing this as a career threatening injury. 

The reality is that we are not as bad as we looked Oct/Nov, but probably not the world beaters we were between about Dec 15 and Feb 8. 

If NJ is having a fire sale, if the price for Gusev isn't too high, watching him last night, he could be a decent fit.

The NJ goalie played a great game; after the second goal he was truly "in the zone". At the NHL level, that happens sometimes and right now the CBJ don't have the firepower to overcome that;

I didn't thing Elvis played a bad game, he just didn't play a great game like the NJ goalie did. After his run over the last eight weeks, it's hard to remember that he is still a rookie.  

We are learning the hard way how much Seth Jones and his quiet strength mean to this team;

OWSH is right; too many injuries are finally catching up to us. A solid system and enthusiasm will only carry rookies and career AHLers so far. Actuaries and other math geeks call it "gravitating back toward the mean." It is now official, the CBJ have dealt with more injuries this season and yet we are still in this race.

BUT, look at the standings. Last night our one of our main competitors (Carolina) also was only able to scrape out a single point, on Saturday the NYI and the Flyers weren't even able to accomplish that and the Panthers with all their talent are fading out of the playoff picture. So don't despair fandom, we are still in a playoff position heading into the most important stretch of the season and when our injured players come back, it will almost be like a TDL acquisition. 

As a bonus, NONE of the players that left the CBJ last summer as UFAs are on a team that is in the playoff picture today. (Panarin/Bobrovski/Duchene/Dzingle)

Only picking up a point against the likes of Colorado and Tampa doesn't put the CBJ "behind par" but it means games like the ones tonight against teams the boys *should* win become even more important. Everyone has to be on their toes, play a smart game and take "care of business" as Torts would say.

Then as Philly Buckeye points out, the next two games; a home & home series against the Flyers becomes the most important games of the season so far

Given the lack of scoring talent we can put on the ice right now, the margin of error for this team is just so small.

PS -- I was also a season ticket holder at that old rickety barn OSU used to call its home rink in the 1980s and early 90s. The Buckeyes had some really good hockey teams in that era, and the worst seats were only about eight rows off the ice.

Agree. It is absolutely no disrespect to the guys we are putting on the ice, but we are starting to see how important Seth, Cam and Josh are to this franchise. This is still a [mostly] a fun team to watch, but a tight team system and intensity will take the CBJ only so far.

I would call it a partial rebuild...IMO we have to many quality players that are still RFAs to call it even a partial rebuild.

I think one of the interesting dynamics for this summer's trade season is that every GM will be building their roster with an eye to the Seattle entry draft in the summer of 2021. Some GMs may already be considering the entry draft as a part of their decision making process. I don't know how that will impact transactions, but I bet it will complicate the process. For example, anyone with a no trade clause may be close to un-tradeable and young players that fit within the two year exemption may become surprisingly valuable.

Thanks OWSH for the trip down memory lane...and thanks to a couple of you for the history lesson!

My first time to attend a NHL hockey game was in the early 60s at the old Olympia Stadium on W. Grand River Ave in Detroit.The first two games I saw were against the Rangers and the Bruins.  It was the Gordie Howe era so both were easy wins for the Red Wings. 

We are ten deep in NHL quality defensemen. Some are better than other, but all of them can contribute to a successful defense at the NHL level. By July 1 GM Jarmo needs to convert about 1/3 of that talent into forwards that can score.

I actually thought we would have seen Korpi by now...I'm starting to wonder if there is more to the delay than the public is aware of.

General M; I actually didn't think goal tending was that bad last night. I thought it was more about defensive breakdowns in front of the goaltender. Great players for Buffalo were just given pretty open looks and they converted. No one was going to stop the second (PP) goal and the first and fourth goals were just great plays by one of the best players in the world right now.

And those were all the kinds of errors that players make when they are pressing to make up for Seth's absence. 

Just for context, the current salary cap is about $82M. Each team has 23 players, so the average contract = $3.65M. Thus, Boone is being paid only slightly more than the average. Some may disagree, but I think Boone's contribution to the CBJ's success is way more than just average.

Great point. Thanks. that means we have $20M to work with.

Your point is valid ("we don't have as much cap space as folks think") but the # you quoted doesn't count a potential buyout of Dubinski, which should provide a little more breathing room 

Yep Philly Buckeye, lack of scoring prowess is a problem and I agree the best time to get good value in a hockey trade is this summer. Fortunately, with our two solid goalies + three more good goalies in the system + ten NHL quality defensemen, we have the assets to resolve the problem, without surrendering draft picks. That means we have come miles since Jarmo and Torts arrived. Five years ago we didn't have the luxury of organizational depth anywhere, so all we could do is draft and have patience. 

In the meantime, we have a heck of a good team on the ice.