Rumor: Scott Hartnell on the trade block

The Blue Jackets are actively shopping veteran Scott Hartnell before the 2016 NHL trade deadline. The left winger would prefer to play for a Stanley Cup contender, and is not fitting in well with the Blue Jackets.

He is producing points with 15 goals and 16 assists in 45 games. However, he has a propensity to take penalties when the game is on the line. Hartnell has been healthy scratched twice under new coach John Tortorella. Tortorella said:

That decision isn’t made lightly. It’s easy to bench a guy because if a guy has a problem, you just bench him. That’s not the way to go about it. You gotta go through the process, and with Scotty, I’ve done that. 

It has been a lack of discipline and a number of different things in the past couple of weeks. We’ve got to get him back. He’s a good player. I like him. But we have to play under a team concept if we’re going to continue to grow as a team.

Hartnell, who leads the Jackets with 81 penalty minutes, had this to say about being scratched:

I don’t know if the leading scorer on a team in any league has been a healthy scratch before. Maybe once. Probably not twice. (But Tortorella) has his ways. I’ve got to be accountable. I came in with a good attitude and had a good workout. My parents are in town, and I’ll have a great day with them and come back and hopefully watch the boys get two points.

Players who get in the Torts doghouse rarely escape and are given a lifetime short leash. GM Jarmo Kekäläinen will try to move him before the trade deadline while he is still productive. Being a poor skater at age 33, the Jackets are expecting a decline in his play.

Hartnell is signed to a $4.75M cap hit and has three years remaining after this season. Contenders will not be able to add his salary unless they trade a significant contract back to the Blue Jackets.