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Blue Jackets: Don Waddell looks to add two forwards to his lineup

 Jennifer Davis
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Blue Jackets: Don Waddell looks to add two forwards to his lineup
Credit: Getty Images

Johnny Gaudreau’s death has plunged the entire hockey world into mourning.

It’s a tragic event, which, unfortunately, in addition to its human consequences, also has business consequences.

This tragedy has left a gaping hole in people’s hearts, as well as in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ roster and salary structure.

Gaudreau’s salary (he had five seasons left at $9.75 million a year) has been removed from the Blue Jackets’ payroll, putting Columbus below the National Hockey League salary floor.

It’s a shame, but Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell must remedy the situation before the start of the 2024-2025 season if he wants to avoid penalties.

Presumably, if the Patrik Laine deal had happened later, Waddell would have been more open to withholding salary.

In short, Waddell needs to ignore the horrible Johnny Gaudreau tragedy and remedy the situation, when in his opinion, he is currently short two forwards.

Waddell is currently looking to sign free agents, not professional tryouts, in order to raise his payroll above the $65M floor.

Of course, the players Waddell signs will largely be there just to fill out a jersey, and thus help the Blue Jackets meet the salary floor.

Should Waddell fail to sign one or two free agents, he will have no choice but to turn to the trade option.

If he wants to be above the $65 million minimum, Waddell will have no choice, and many teams will be able to try to get rid of one or more bad contracts and/or surplus players.

This is where Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens could potentially come into play.

Christian Dvorak (one year at $4.45 million), Joel Armia (one year at $3.5 million) and Josh Anderson (three years at $5.5 million) represent three players the Habs might want to give to the Blue Jackets.

We could also include Brendan Gallagher (three years at $6.5 million), but I don’t see the Habs trading him.

One of these three forwards could therefore end up being of interest to Waddell and Columbus if they ever absolutely need a forward to comply with the salary floor.

Obviously, this is just speculation, but we know that Kent Hughes and Don Waddell already danced together in the Patrik Laine deal, and they could very well be tempted to conclude a new transaction.

Dvorak and Armia would be the most logical options, given their one-year contracts, which would give the Blue Jackets some breathing space for this season without hurting themselves in the long term.

In short, it’s one of several situations to keep a close eye on in the NHL between now and the start of the season.

In the end, the Blue Jackets may simply sign one or two free agents.


Overtime

– Don’t miss it at 1 p.m.

– To be continued. He already has several major concussions under his belt.

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