The summer of 2022 started off great. The Jackets signed Johnny Gaudreau earlier in July, and rumors were floating around that Jarmo Kekäläinen was close to signing Patrik Laine to a multi-year extension. Great right?
July 22, 2022, was a roller coaster day for both the fans and team. On that day, they were able to lock down Patrik Laine with a four-year, $34.8 million contract. Great Right?
Suddenly though, Kekäläinen had a problem. That problem was that they were now 6 or so million over the salary cap and need to cut salary ASAP.
So what did Jarmo Kekäläinen do? He announced that he had traded beloved winger Oliver Bjorkstrand to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a third- and fourth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. Not so great! The 4th round pick would turn out to be Luca Pinelli, who will be playing for the Cleveland Monsters this year.
The former 3rd round pick in the 2013 draft had an excellent career in the Blue Jackets organization. He played 382 games in Union Blue, had 234 points, and also provided a couple key moments in CBJ history.
In 2016, he scored the overtime game-winner for the Lake Erie Monsters to secure the Calder Cup. Against Tampa Bay in the 2019 playoffs, he scored the game-winning goal in game four of the first round to secure their first-ever series win in historic fashion.
Oliver Bjorkstrand was traded from Seattle to the Tampa Bay Lightning and played only 18 games for the Bolts before developing Compartment Syndrome, which required emergency surgery. He is expected to fully recover and be prepared for the 25-26 season.
Could Jarmo Kekäläinen have taken another approach and shed salary somewhere else? Oliver Bjorkstrand was a really good player for the CBJ, and probably should still be in Columbus.
Let us know what you think below.
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