Should The Jackets Trade Johnny Gaudreau?

Should The Jackets Trade Johnny Gaudreau?

July 13th, 2022 will forever be a day that CBJ fans will remember. The day that the Columbus Blue Jackets signed American winger Johnny Gaudreau.

The hockey world was left stunned. How could little old Columbus with their tiny city, tiny market, and bad history land the best player to ever hit free agency? Everyone just knew he would end up in Philly or New Jersey, right? Wrong.

The reasons he chose to sign in Central Ohio are personal for him. Gaudreau said it was to be closer to family so that they could come to more games, which it is. It's just a short flight from Columbus to Jersey and not the global trek that most people assume it is when they're talking about Columbus Ohio. In fact, according to Giordanos.com, "nearly 48% of the United States population lives within 500 miles of Columbus. New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Washington, DC, are all less than a day's drive. The Canadian cities of Toronto and Ottawa lie inside that 500-mile radius as well, and Montreal sits just outside it." I'd like to think the Gaudreaus took those facts into account, but we're just wishfully thinking. 

Over the last few weeks, while the Blue Jackets have won a few and lost a few, people from all over the hockey world have started to wonder who would be traded. Because we all know, when a team flounders, everyone else in the league thinks teams will just sell off everything. According to a league executive via the Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch, “[The Columbus Blue Jackets] are willing to discuss just about anybody.” He also mentioned a few weeks ago that the Jackets were going to dump the front office soon too. So we really don't know what's happening, as no one else has confirmed these rumors.

But it did get me thinking about whether or not the Jackets would trade Johnny Gaudreau. Many fans have started to wonder if the CBJ should just break down and trade Laine and Gaudreau, and finish the rebuild like they started. Some say that when Jarmo landed Gaudreau, it messed up the timeline of the build. Obviously, you don't want to waste his years, so after you acquire him, you spend more money to build around him, but was this the best move? 

So, where do you trade him? The obvious choice is Philadelphia and based on the fact of where they're at in the standings, would the Flyers entertain it? Of course, they would. But the Jackets are going to want a mint for him, as they should. Gaudreau has a no-movement clause, so he'd need to approve any trades. Would he accept a trade to Philly to play with Torts? 

From the Flyers view, they would need to put Ryan Ellis on LTIR to push their cap space to close to $9 million, so it's possible they could make it work. The Jackets are also going to want a first-round pick, and two top prospects, possibly even two good roster players. 

So the question is, Should the Jackets trade Johnny Gaudreau? There are pros and cons to shipping him off. The public perception is that they landed him, and now want to trade him less than two years into his contract because it's just not working out, why? Johnny had a great year last year, while this year he's slumping majorly. No one needs to tell him about it, I'm sure he's his own worst critic. 

How would it look from players in the league that they traded him so fast? I doubt that the front office cares about public perception much, but from a fan's view, or people inside the league, it can look bad. 

While I'm sure that the CBJ front office has been fielding calls for Gaudreau all season, nothing firm has come up other than Garrioch's comment. There have been whispers from THN Columbus sources that Gaudreau would be out of Columbus before next season, but again, nothing to back that up has been proven just yet. 

Now we're in wait-and-see mode. Depending on where Philly is come mid-February is when anything would happen. If the Flyers were wise they'd get on it before the trade deadline. Obviously, things can change, but right now the Flyers sit in second place in the Metro and will most likely be looking to improve. Would they dare add Johnny Gaudreau to their rebuild? They seem to be ahead of schedule this season. Should the Jackets trade him and move on to continue their own rebuild? 

What should they do?

Next Up: The Jackets travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

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