While there have been whispers for a while regarding Blue Jackets center Pierre-Luc Dubois’ discontent in Columbus, the issue really came to a head in the Blue Jackets’ Thursday night overtime loss to Tampa Bay, when a noticeably “detached” Dubois drew the ire and eventual benching of head coach John Tortorella.

Friday, the rumor mill jumped into overdrive, with an emerging report of the Winnipeg Jets leading the pack in pursuit of the big, talented pivot.

Saturday morning, just a few minutes ago, in fact, the two teams completed a deal, with the Jets sending scoring winger Patrik Laine and forward Jack Roslovic to Columbus for Dubois and a third-round draft pick.

Almost immediately, Twitter accounts were leapfrogging one another to proclaim the deal a win for one side or the other. The Rink’s flash poll of its writers suggests this appears (on paper and in theory anyway) to be a win-win for both clubs. As with any trade, the true winner(s) are always somewhat “to be determined” based on a myriad factors: Adjustment to new coaching staffs, teammates and cities, injuries, etc.

The fact is, these were both good, typically playoff-quality teams—each missing a part or two. The Jets gain the second-line center they have been struggling to nail down. And Dubois also brings a lot of the on-ice qualities the Jets like: Big, nasty, skilled. The downside? The Jets add a guy who has now shown he can be a petulant troublemaker in the dressing room—as if they had not seen enough of that with Evander Kane.

Some want to blame Dubois’ unhappiness in Columbus on Tortorella and his old-school, red-ass style of coaching. But there was scuttlebutt that Dubois did not really care for Columbus as a place to live, either. How will he feel about living on the windswept tundra of Winnipeg? Meh, at least there is a French-speaking community in the ‘Peg.

In Laine, the Jackets somewhat backfill the prolific goal scoring from the flank that left town with Artemi Panarin heading to New York. The knock on Laine is average mobility and maybe not enough nasty, but he is plenty effective in tight spaces—and his shot is both lethal and amply proven. And he has been criticized at times for a lack of focus. However, few NHL general managers have as much or more familiarity with Laine than fellow Finn Jarmo Kekalainen.

Columbus native Roslovic is the lucky strike extra here, and could very well eventually tip the equity in this trade toward the Blue Jackets—giving Tortorella yet another high motor, coachable, skilled and versatile middle-six forward to go with the likes of Oliver Bjorkstrand and Liam Foudy.

The Blue Jackets have extended Roslovic’s contract for two years at $3.8 million total. Laine becomes a restricted free agent on July 28. However, Columbus has significant cap flexibility due to this trade and other factors.

What do you think? Comment below.

The post TRADE BREAKDOWN: Columbus acquires Laine and Roslovic for Dubois, pick appeared first on The Rink.

Dave Bolland standing with the Blackhawks starters while being honored for his One More Shift. (Photo by Chase Agnello-Dean/NHLI via Getty Images)

Prior to Friday’s game, the Blackhawks honored two-time Stanley Cup Champion and former Chicago Blackhawks forward Dave Bolland for his One More Shift. Bolland received a warm welcome from the home town faithful at the United Center.

A loud and well-deserved ovation for the return of Coyotes legend Dave Bolland. pic.twitter.com/0LogK0XTKc

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) October 19, 2019

The famous saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” was in order for head coach Jeremy Colliton ahead of the game. The only lineup change made was at goalie, as Robin Lehner was starting in goal:

DeBrincat – Toews – Caggiula

Shaw – Strome – Kane

Saad – Kampf – Kubalik

Smith – Carpenter – Nylander

Keith – Murphy

Maatta – Seabrook

de Haan – Gustafsson

Lehner

First period

After everyone settled into their seats, the third line did what they have done best throughout this young season: be a force to be reckoned with. Roughly fourty seconds into the period, Brandon Saad and Dominik Kubalik started a rush up ice with Saad dishing over to Kubalik. After the Czech winger crossed the opposing blue line, he dipped his shoulder and fed a pass to Saad in front. Unfortunately, the bid was denied.

Early in the opening frame, the Blue Jackets did a good job of controlling the pace of play. They generated numerous quality scoring chances early, including on the power play, but Robin Lehner stood tall. 

After very little action to touch on, the Blackhawks struck first. Calvin de Haan fed a pass up the left wing boards to Alex DeBrincat in the Blackhawks’ zone. DeBrincat subsequently fired a pass off the glass and down the ice. The feed perfectly found Drake Caggiula at the opposing blue line, waiting for the dish. Caggiula skated in on the two-on-two and wired a perfect shot to the top right corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

Drake Caggiula's first goal of the year is NICE

Stream the game here: https://t.co/heSdrKpFnT pic.twitter.com/4UMWQE1ceq

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) October 19, 2019

After the impressive tally by Caggiula, the Blackhawks took their lead into the first intermission, despite being outshot by the Blue Jackets 15–10 and badly out possessed. 

Second period

The middle frame against Columbus felt awfully familiar. The Blackhawks seemed to come out flat, unlike they did against Edmonton. The game Monday finally seemed like the Blackhawks improved in the middle frame. They didn’t play bad, but they were still outshot and out possessed.

The best chance of the early minutes came from Chicago. Calvin de Haan found the puck behind the net and dished it out in front to Patrick Kane. Kane was able to get a good shot off, but Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins made an excellent save on the play.

About five and a half minutes into the period, the Blue Jackets’ top center took over. Pierre-Luc Dubois was fighting for the puck against the Blackhawks’ top pairing and was able to wiggle his way around Connor Murphy for the loose puck. Upon gaining possession, Dubois out-waited Robin Lehner, forcing him out of position, and fired a bad angle shot into the back of the wide open net. The game-tying goal felt inevitable after Columbus had dominated possession.

The Blackhawks’ best chance of the period came about a minute after the Dubois goal. Merzlikins attempted to move the puck up ice but the pass was picked off by Andrew Shaw. Shaw found Kane down low to Merzlikins’ right side as he waited for one of his linemates to get open. Dylan Strome ended up being open back door, but could not connect on the one-timer that would have given Chicago the lead.

The Blackhawks survived the middle frame without yielding any more damage. Columbus outshot Chicago once again in the period and was the better possession team again. 

Third period

The opening minutes of the third period did not look great for the Blackhawks. They looked sluggish and behind in comparison to their opponent. Around three minutes into the period, a Blackhawks turnover led to a Columbus rush up the ice. Defenseman Markus Nutivaara fired a shot on net and followed his own rebound. The rebound shot wasn’t as strong as the first, but he got just enough on the puck to float it into the back of the net and give the visitors the 2–1 lead.

https://twitter.com/NHL_fi/status/1185518584627367937

Following the goal, the Blackhawks found more of a pep in their step. They seemed to turn it on after going down a goal in the third period. With about 12 minutes remaining, the Blackhawks had an important power play but nearly cost themselves. Nick Foligno had a shorthanded breakaway and the puck squeaked through Lehner. However, the whistle had already been blown before the puck trickled out from under Lehner and into the back of the net. Chicago lived to see another day.

The reason that power play was so important is because about forty seconds later, Gustafsson set up at the point on that power play and found Patrick Kane at his usual right wing spot on the man advantage. Kane gifted a perfect pass across the ice to DeBrincat, who was set up at the left wing face-off dot. DeBrincat wasted no time, one-timing the puck into the back of the net to tie the game at two-a-piece. 

pic.twitter.com/oApg048srb

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) October 19, 2019

For the remainder of the third, the Blackhawks penalty kill stood tall and Lehner looked good. The Blackhawks were able to generate a power play themselves, thanks to Ryan Carpenter, but they could not capitalize on the opportunity. The game required overtime to determine a winner at 1901 W. Madison St. 

Overtime

Columbus won the opening face-off of the extra frame and proceeded up ice. Despite having possession for the first forty seconds, the visitors could not do anything with the opportunity. 

Instead, the dynamic Kane-Toews duo proceeded up the ice with Toews feeding Kane as the trigger man. Kane put a shot on net, that ultimately hit Toews’ shin pad, and it found its way into the back of the net to secure the Blackhawks 3–2 victory. 

Jonathan Toews overtime winner for his first goal of the season. He’ll take it. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/Cwjr2pASuC

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 19, 2019

Quick Hits

• Day late, but not a dollar short: The Blackhawks lacked meaningful energy until the Blue Jackets took the 2–1 lead early in the third period. After that, the Blackhawks were by far the better team. However, one player’s energy that stuck out was Alex Nylander. He was constantly back checking and was almost always one of the first player up ice when he was out there. Other players had great energy too, but you could see Nylander embracing the fourth line role and making the most of it. 
• Is he a backup?: Robin Lehner, the “backup” goalie, looked sensational for the Blackhawks on Friday night. Despite giving up two goals, he made many big saves throughout the game, especially early in the first when the Blue Jackets were badly outplaying the Blackhawks. If the Crawford/Lehner duo look like they did on Monday and Friday, respectively, then the Blackhawks have something they can be proud of in net.
• Top shelf/top line: The Blackhawks “first line” was responsible for all three goals Friday night, as Alex DeBrincat scored on the power play and both Drake Caggiula and Jonathan Toews registered their first goals of the season. If the top line can get going and the second line follows suit, then the offense will continue to look like it did last season and, potentially, even better.

The Blackhawks will remain home as they wait for the Washington Capitals. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CDT on Sunday, October 20.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks come from behind, beat Blue Jackets in overtime appeared first on The Rink.

The down side of that is that all the meatball theories are being thrown on the table. On the commute in this morning, I heard a respected member of the Blackhawks media suggest that the Blackhawks trade their pick, Brandon Saad, Adam Boqvist and potentially another piece to move up one—just ONE—spot. Let me be the first to tell you, that would be immensely irresponsible and stupid.

Before you fire up your EA Sports NHL 19 video game and start constructing irrational trade scenarios, let me be the one to tell you to stop.

Just stop it!

I am as happy as all of you are and, potentially, even more happy. Last night was Christmas in April for me. Despite their faux playoff run, Blackhawks fell “bass-ackwards” into a top-three draft position. All the pieces have fallen into place. We all have to remind ourselves of some very important things, though. Tinkering too much with a brand-new, shiny toy could result in breaking it before you even get to use it. The Blackhawks, more specifically Stan Bowman, need to use this pick wisely.

I believe they will use it wisely. Bowman’s actions since Joel Quenneville was fired tell me he is on the road to improving this team for next season. My honest opinion is that Bowman has done some of his best work as a Blackhawks General Manager these last six months.

He cut bait on mistakes he made last summer instead of his normal regiment of doubling down and found a useful player in Drake Caggiula. He admitted Nick Schmaltz was not the player they had hoped he was and brought in two talented (and bigger) former first round picks in Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini. Instead of blindly buying into the playoff hype, he stood his ground and did not overpay for a low-percentage trade deadline acquisition. I have been far from a Bowman fan, but I am completely on board with these moves, or lack thereof in some cases.

Here comes the part where I make all the fans with wild imaginations and their crazy nonsense scenarios angry. These are just a few I have seen or read:

Point: The Blackhawks should trade down and select another defenseman. (?)
Counterpoint: NO! They are playing with house money, and they do not need another defenseman after spending the last two drafts stockpiling defensemen. That is silly. They needed depth scoring and a shutdown defenseman. This draft can bring the Blackhawks depth scoring, but no defenseman in this draft can step in before Toews and Kane are gone and be a shutdown defender. That kind of move will probably need to be done through a trade or free agency.

Point: The Blackhawks should trade up to take Jack Hughes or Kaapo Kakko.
Counterpoint: NO! Unless you can get a team to willing take your spare parts and garbage (which they will not), there is no package the Blackhawks can put together that does not set the roster back going into next season. Furthermore, the talent gap between Hughes/Kakko and third overall is not so wide that it would be worth overpaying to move up. Big market teams like the Rangers and Devils are not letting go of top-two picks for anything less than a blockbuster, franchise-changing deal.

Of the two scenarios, moving down the draft would hold the higher potential, but is unlikely. Bowman could acquire a useful player (or two) and still draft a high-end offensive player.

This brings me to my prediction. I think the Blackhawks stay at third overall and take a player like Dylan Cozens or Kirby Dach, unless something crazy happens like Hughes or Kaako dropping, ala Seth Jones.

This is a great opportunity for the Blackhawks organization. Just look at this list of recent players drafted third overall:

Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Miro Heiskanen
Pierre-Luc Dubois
Dylan Strome
Leon Draisaitl
Jonathan Drouin
Alex Galchenyuk
Jonathan Huberdeau

These are all potential high-end, difference-making players. Rejoice, Chicago, safe does not always mean bad. Take it in and celebrate.

Give us your thoughts below!

A mood.#NHLDraft #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/fRO2HdbcMY

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 10, 2019

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The post REACTION: What might the Blackhawks do with the third overall pick? appeared first on The Rink.