NHL Trade Grade: The Columbus Blue Jackets

The Columbus Blue Jackets were not looking to make any massive trades by Friday’s 3 PM trade deadline. President and Interim GM John Davidson had said,

“The way it looks now going in is I don’t think there’s going to be anything major. We’ve gotta take care of business that’s our job too.”

The Blue Jackets made some moves but as Davidson said, they weren’t in the market to do something major. Defenseman Andrew Peeke and forward Jack Roslovic were the only two players traded. The Jackets got a defenseman in return, Jakub Zboril, and they also picked up goaltender Malcolm Subban for “future considerations.”

Andrew Peeke

Andrew Peeke was traded to the Boston Bruins. In return, the Blue Jackets received defenseman Jakub Zboril and a 3rd round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.

Drafted 13th overall in 2015 by the Bruins, Zboril has been assigned to the Blue Jacket’s AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. He has played in 76 NHL games for the Bruins but has been in the AHL for the 2023-24 season. In his NHL career, he has one goal and 15 assists. In 31 games for the Providence Bruins this season, he has nine assists.

The Blue Jackets drafted Andrew Peeke 34th overall in the 2016 draft. In college, he captained the 2016-17 Notre Dame men’s hockey team. He has played in 218 NHL games and has a career total of 10 goals and 32 assists.

In a meeting with the media on Friday afternoon, John Davidson said this is “A huge opportunity, really good for him.” about Andrew Peeke.

Grade: A+

Andrew Peeke worked hard for the Blue Jackets and earned his spot on the roster, but the Jackets have a plethora of young defensemen developing that need more NHL ice time. This could allow Peeke more playing time while allowing the Jackets to move up some of the younger defenders.

For the Cleveland Monsters, this gives them an experienced defenseman in Jakub Zboril. He can help them bolster their defenses, especially if other defenders are called up to the Blue Jackets.

Jack Roslovic

The Blue Jackets traded Jack Roslovic to the New York Rangers. In return, they received a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2016 NHL draft. The Blue Jackets retain 50 percent of Roslovics 2023-24 salary. He will be an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Jack Roslovic was drafted 25th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2015 NHL draft. In 2021, he and Patrik Laine were acquired in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois, plus a third-round pick in the 2022 draft. Roslovic made his NHL debut as a Winnipeg Jet in 2017 in a game against the Blue Jackets in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Since then he has a career total of 426 games played, 77 goals, and 136 assists. So far this season, he has 40 games played, six goals, and 17 assists.

John Davidson said, “With Jack, he’s gonna have an opportunity which is real good for him.”

Grade: A-
In my opinion, Jack Roslovic was one of the most likely players to be traded by the Blue Jackets, as he was the only pending UFA this season. There are a lot of other young, restricted, free agents on the Jackets who will need to sign new contracts at the end of this season. His contract had a $4 million cap hit. This move helps free up cap space at the end of the season while allowing some younger forwards to get more NHL time. Forward Trey Fix-Wolansky has been brought up from the Monsters to fill the empty roster spot.

The minus is for the condition of the pick. The retention of salary doesn’t matter because it’s only $2 million until the end of this season, and the Jackets have plenty of cap space. The condition of the pick is if the New York Rangers reach the Stanley Cup finals the pick goes from a fourth-round to a third-round. As of this year, it has been a decade since the Rangers have made it to the final. Anything is possible in hockey, but it’s probably best not to rely on getting a 3rd round pick.

Malcolm Subban

In exchange for future considerations, the Blue Jackets picked up goaltender Malcolm Subban. He has been assigned to the Cleveland Monsters.

The 30-year-old Toronto Native has played in 86 career NHL games in eight seasons split between the Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, and the Vegas Golden Knights. His NHL debut was with the Bruins in the 2014-15 season. Since then, he has a career total of 36 wins, 33 losses, and nine losses in overtime. This season he has played in 31 AHL games with an 11-14-4 record.

Grade: A?
What are future considerations anyway? At some point in the future, the Blue Jackets will send someone or draft picks back to the Blues. What that could be remains a mystery for now. Getting an experienced goalie in the Blue Jacket’s system will help the Cleveland Monsters out when Jet Greaves is needed in the NHL. Greaves recently had a call-up due to Elvis Merzlikins being ill and the Monsters had to sign a backup goalie to a PTO. This gives both teams more breathing room since goaltender Spencer Martin had been claimed from waivers earlier this season.

Taking Care of Business

After Friday’s trades, John Davidson said of Roslovic and Peeke, “They were both absolutely tremendous Blue Jackets.”

He mentioned again that it was just some business that needed to be done,

“We look at it as business we had to take care of. We took care of the business and did the best we could for us, and both of those players are going to have great opportunities to enhance their career and go forward.”

Overall Grade: A

There were no “blockbuster” trades to be done by the Blue Jackets. Many trade rumors had been swirling about Boone Jenner, Ivan Provorov, and Elvis Merzlikins, but Davidson said big moves like that would be left to the new General Manager coming in.

In my opinion, this was a good move. In the off-season, there will be plenty of opportunities to make bigger trades if needed. The Blue Jackets aren’t looking at lofty playoff goals this season. With a top-ranked prospect pool, the Jackets need to concentrate on the future and development of these players, not what big star they could trade for or gathering dozens of draft picks. This season has not been great, but the foundation is there, and the future building blocks look promising.