Do They Have Enough?
The Columbus Blue Jackets rocked the hockey world this past April when they swept the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs. They proved all the doubters wrong when they decided to buy and not sell at the trade deadline. But, four of their top eight players will be free agents this summer. Is there enough left on their roster to suffice for the Predators to trade Subban?
This trade was very tricky to make. Columbus doesn’t have with which to work given their free agents and immovable players in Seth Jones, Zachary Werenski, and Cam Atkinson. I originally had Josh Anderson in the trade before deciding to throw Columbus a bone and take Wennberg and his salary off of their hands.
Pierre-Luc Dubois is a premier young star in the NHL. I don’t think Columbus would actually trade him. But, adding Subban to the defense with Jones and Werenski makes them one of the best defenses in the league. They also have shown interest in resigning Matt Duchene who plays the same position as Dubois.
The biggest key is getting out from under Wennberg’s contract. Two seasons ago, Wennberg was becoming one of the best young players in the league. Then, he declined quickly after struggling with some concussion issues. The trade still nets the Predators almost $4 million in cap savings and huge potential. Dubois is already enough. But, if Wennberg can perform close to his previous trajectory, he will be a steal.