Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson has requested a trade, reports Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required). Portzline adds that the ask was made several weeks ago with the hopes that a deal could be worked out before the trade deadline next month. Johnson and his agent Pat Brisson declined to comment while GM Jarmo Kekalainen had a brief comment to George Richards of the Columbus Dispatch (Twitter link).
“It’s the same with him as anyone else on our team: We’ll make a trade if and when we have something that makes sense for the Blue Jackets.”
This season hasn’t gone as well Johnson was hoping for. After failing to agree on a long-term extension over the summer (talks cooled down back in August), he has seen his role reduced and now finds himself on the third pairing. He’s averaging a career-low 19:24 per game while he’s on pace for his lowest full-season point total since his rookie campaign back in 2007-08 with the Kings; he has just two goals and five assists in 46 games so far.
Portzline notes that Johnson isn’t unhappy with the team and that if he was still under contract beyond this season, the request wouldn’t have been made. However, with this being his walk year into unrestricted free agency, he wants to be in the best position to cash in on the open market.
As things stand, it would appear that Johnson will be in tough to match the $5MM salary ($4.357MM cap hit) that he’s currently making. However, a bigger role on another team could give him the chance to show that he can still be a quality top-four defender.
If Columbus was to consider granting Johnson his request, it’s likely that they would be seeking another defenseman in return. They’re carrying just six healthy blueliners at the moment with Ryan Murray on injured reserve and while the team has high hopes for youngster Gabriel Carlsson, he isn’t ready for full-time NHL duty just yet.
Bozak plus a mid-late round pick?
I’m guessing since he’s a lefty, and they may want a D back, why not centre any deal to the Leafs around Gardiner instead
McQuaid and a pick?
He needs every dime he can get after what his parents did to him.
This time of the year you don’t tend to see playoff teams in the same conference making trades
So I’d scratch any leaf trade ideas
Not at all. Teams in the same conference will make trades with each other. You won’t see many, if any, trades happening in-division unless one team overpays, is a minor deal, or the two teams trading are in different spots (playoff contention and not in playoff contention). A big trade involving a superstar/star player probably wouldn’t happen in-conference but you rarely see a trade that big happen during the season.
New Jersey would be an interesting option where he could play top line minutes, but I’m not sure NJ has anything decent on defense to send back that’s not a vital part of the team. But it could make for an interesting trade within the division.