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Way Too Early Expansion Draft Possibilities: Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus gave Vegas' expansion team William "Wild Bill" Karlsson due to a roster crunch in Ohio that wasn't seeing him get much playing time. Lo and behold, get him to Sin City and he becomes a 40-goal (and counting) player. What sort of player might Columbus send to the Emerald City?

(As always, the loose guidelines are here, big thanks to capfriendly.com and hockeydb.com for the basic data)

Forwards: Brandon Dubinsky, Nick Foligno, Alexander Wennberg, Cam Atkinson

Defensemen/Defencemen: Seth Jones, David Savard, Markus Nutivaara

Goalies: N/A

Even more than most teams we've profiled so far, Columbus has a serious cap crush coming. With seven players signed up to or past the hypothetical draft in 2020, Columbus has a decent part of its core identified and signed. That said, plenty of key players (Zack Werenski, Sergei Bobrovsky, Artemi Panarin and Pierre-Luc Dubois spring immediately to mind) will need contracts between now and then. While the three buyouts currently on the Blue Jackets' books will be clear by then, money's still going to be an issue.

With No-Movement Clauses, Dubinsky and Foligno would have to agree to be exposed. Honestly, I could see either of them being bought out before then just to make room under the salary cap. Atkinson has a No-Trade Clause which might not be applicable, but being much younger than those two I'd have to think Columbus would want to keep him before the other two. Wennberg has no such clauses and is the youngest forward of the four. Columbus would surely love to expose Dubinsky or Foligno but I just don't see it happening. Even if it cost them (again), I could see the Jackets paying a ransom of some kind to keep Seattle away from Atkinson or Wennberg barring the unforseeable.

Jones is going nowhere, he and Werenski are one of the best pairs on defense/defence in the league. You don't break that up, even if it'll be way more expensive to keep together between now and then. That leaves you with a choice of Savard or Nutivaara. The latter is significantly younger and cheaper, which makes him more desirable (to Seattle) and probably more likely to be kept (by Columbus). It make take some incentivizing by Columbus, but the pick here is:

David Savard

Why Columbus Would Want To Expose Him: Getting back to the forthcoming big contracts to be doled out, the 1.5 million a year Savard makes more than Nutivaara could come in pretty handy. Especially if either of the hypothetical buyouts I mentioned actually come to pass. Depending of how Nutivaara progresses between now and then, he'd probably wind up with a lot of that salary slot anyway.

Why Seattle Would Want To Pick Him: That cap hit wouldn't be nearly as big a drag on Seattle as it would be for Columbus. And if they aren't as competitive as Vegas has been this year to start, Savard could be a highly coveted piece to move to a contender. A Right-side defender capable of top-four responsibilities, he could easily have several deep playoff runs under his belt between now and then with an expiring contract. Lesser guys than him have fetched some high-end picks and that would help stock Seattle's farm team that much faster.

It might take some convincing from Columbus for Seattle to take Savard over Nutivaara (or Atkinson or Wennberg lest we forget). But it might also very much be worth it for both teams.

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