Blue Jackets thinking bigger moves this offseason
Aaron Portzline of The Athletic: Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen said that bigger moves are more likely to happen during the offseason as opposed to the trade deadline.
“The moves we’re looking to make are more offseason trades. Not a lot of teams this time of year, especially the ones who are gearing up for the playoffs, want to give up anything on their roster. We have plenty of prospects who are going to take a little time before they make an impact at the NHL level. So what we’d be looking for is a player who would be ready to make that impact right away.
“We thought there may be an outside chance that we could get into a deal that would help us down the stretch, but into the future also. But they just weren’t available right now, and we thought they wouldn’t be.”
The Blues Jackets hope to ink Patrik Laine to a contract extension and initial talks have begun according to a source.
They received deadline offers for a few of their veterans but only ended up moving Max Domi.
Islanders are going to have to make ‘hockey trades’ to improve
Kevin Kurz of The Athletic: The New York Islanders have had a disappointing season, looking too old and slow. They are going to have to make some changes this offseason as their issues are something they couldn’t fix at the trade deadline. GM Lou Lamoriello:
“I don’t think we’re going to get better by just adding a player. We’re going to have to get better by making hockey trades. That’s the only conversations we were having over the last several days. Can we make a hockey trade within our own team that will make us better tomorrow as well as today? That wasn’t able to get done.”
They will continue to monitor who plays well down the stretch and then make decisions on their group for next season.
“We have to see where our players are at, and then, no player is solidified in anything,” Lamoriello said. “Certainly we have core players in our minds … but there might have to be transactions within.”