When Montreal Canadiens’ GM Kent Hughes acquired Patrik Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets last offseason, he had to trade young defenseman Jordan Harris. It wasn’t that Harris wasn’t a good player, but rather that the Habs had an overabundance of young blueliners.
The move came just before the start of the young rearguard’s contract year, and at that stage, Hughes had already decided that he wouldn’t be a member of the Canadiens’ core. Harris was good at everything but not great at anything, which is likely why he was the one who was sacrificed.
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While he was gutted to leave the team that drafted him and was on its way to relevancy again, life went on for Harris, who appeared in 33 games for the Jackets this season, putting up a goal and four assists in the process. This is the fewest games he played aside from when he signed his ELC in the final weeks of the 2021-22 season.
Unlike the Canadiens, the Jackets didn’t make the playoffs, and the 24-year-old has been enjoying the Summer holidays for a while. Still, this past weekend will be one of his most memorable for this offseason as he popped the question to his long-time girlfriend Codie Cross on the New York rooftops.
Harris had visibly planned the moment as he dropped to one knee in a sea of flower petals surrounded by candles, in true Hollywood movie fashion. The happy couple met in 2019 when they were in college. Like Harris, Cross went to Northeastern University and played hockey for the women’s program for four years. Our best wishes go out to the happy couple, and we wish Harris all the best this offseason as he’s a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
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