Welcome Matt: Two more top-four defencemen traded as Canucks search continues
It has to be frustrating for the Vancouver Canucks braintrust.
They’ve been trying to make trades since the season ended two months ago, and this week they watched Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen acquire two top-four defencemen.
Damon Severson and Ivan Provorov are now Blue Jackets. Even if the Canucks fancied them, they don’t have the cap space.
I suspect management might look back on last offseason when right-handed defencemen John Marino, Nils Lundkvist, and Brock Faber were all dealt and have some regret, not that they’d ever admit that.
But the missed opportunities this week may yet lead to opportunities. Columbus now has a glut of defencemen, including righties.
Adam Boqvist and Andrew Peeke have both played heavy minutes for CBJ in the past, the former logging 18:38 per game last season, the latter playing 21:15.
Boqvist was the eighth pick in the 2018 draft and turns 23 this summer. He hasn’t quite yet launched, although he has enough offensive tools to have scored 11 goals in just 52 games in 2021-22.
- You might also like:
- Can Canucks find the next Dakota Joshua? Here are 7 UFA candidates
Peeke won the NHL’s Green Jacket last season at minus-41, not a good look for a no-offence defender. Of course, Columbus was the second-worst team in the league last season, buried after losing top defenceman Zach Werenski.
The Jackets depth goes deeper still. With 2022 sixth overall pick David Jiricek likely to play in the NHL next season, does it mean that Corson Ceulemans, a first-rounder in 2021, is available? Ceulemans, also a right-shot, signed a pro deal and got some AHL experience last season after two steady years at the University of Wisconsin.
All three of these Columbus defencemen are cost-effective, and that’s a prerequisite given Vancouver’s cap situation.
The acquisition of Filip Hronek at the deadline alleviates some of the pressure to fix the Canucks defence, particularly the right-side. But this project is far from over, with a defenceman rivalling third-line centre for the Canucks biggest immediate need.