Columbus Blue Jackets' Worst Trade Of The Past Year

The Columbus Blue Jackets were sellers last season and this season, meaning most of their trades involve moving players out. In doing so, they clearly missed big on a trade that didn't need to be done. The trade that sent Oliver Bjorkstrand to the Seattle Kraken in the offseason didn't need to happen and the return was much lower than expected.

For a bottom of the barrel team, the Blue Jackets didn't have very much cap space to work with. They went out and signed a few big named players that ate up more cap space while also inking Patrik Laine to a four-year contract extension. They have a lot of solid young forwards, but also had the intention of at least competing for a playoff spot after signing the biggest free agent on the market. Instead, they are in the battle for Bedard.

Injuries couldn't be predicted, and the Blue Jackets had a lot of them. But they also gave up their top-six leading goal-scorer and second leading point-getter from the season prior in exchange for a third and a fourth round pick. Not only did Bjorkstrand score 28 goals and 57 points in the first year of his five-year, $5.4 million deal, he still has four years left at a good price for what he provided the team.

The Blue Jackets couldn't have predicted Jakub Voracek and Gustav Nyquist's serious injuries, but that took three of the top four point producers at forward off the board. It was such a bad trade because Columbus got so little in return for him and further put themselves in a hole. He proved himself to be very useful in the team's forward group and was willing to sign a long-term deal with them, only to get traded a year in.