Frank Seravalli: Don Waddell Is Willing To Take On "Undesirable" Contracts
Despite the dreadful last two games, the Columbus Blue Jackets have played fairly well and given the fans something to be happy about the last few weeks.
NHL Insider Frank Seravalli said on his podcast yesterday that GM Don Waddell has begun to call around the league about making deals.
Seravalli says, "Well It's not going to be adding in the short term, which isn't a surprise to Blue Jackets fans. However, he has let teams know that he's interested in taking on contracts that may be viewed as undesirable, in exchange for assets. They've got cap space. Also, we're in a year in which, with increased cap space, there probably won't be a need for third-party brokers when It comes to the trade deadline. Columbus is aware of that. They want to flex that and use their cap space to take on deals. It's just that, to this point, the ones that have been floated to Don Waddell, are guys that have three to five years left on their deal, which is fascinating to think about. Teams that have made long-term commitments that they're already unhappy with. Don Waddell's response has been "Not really interested in guys for that long, because somewhere in that three to five-year window, my team's going to be better and should be pushing for the playoffs, and I don't want to devote cap space to players that are already viewed as undesirable." So, they're open and there's also no urgency to do this because they're already above the salary cap floor, so that's not going to be a concern moving forward."
Recommended Articles
If Don Waddell doesn't want the "lengthy" three to five-year deals, what does he want? Bringing on bad deals for just this year would allow him to send guys to Cleveland to get plenty of games under their belt. Guys like David Jiříček, Mikael Pyyhtiä, or even Jordan Harris could be moved to Cleveland to help refine their skills.
The Blue Jackets have $24,351,039 of cap space. They also have nine pending UFAs on the active roster and another four in Cleveland, so this could get very interesting.
What's Next - The Blue Jackets are off on their first extended road trip of the year. Their first stop will be San Jose to take on the Sharks on Tuesday.
What do you think? Please share your thoughts on our forum.
