Blue Jackets Linked To Two Teams In Potential Trade Talks

After making an assortment of head-turning moves in recent days, the Columbus Blue Jackets are apparently not done just yet. 

Beat writer Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports that GM Jarmo Kekalainen is still looking to shake up his roster, and has been engaging in trade talks for a while now to try to move more bodies out.

Kekäläinen has been trying to swing trades for months now in an attempt to reduce his roster glut. It’s worth noting that Winnipeg Jets assistant general manager Larry Simmons was in Columbus for Thursday’s win over Tampa Bay, as was Philadelphia Flyers head pro scout Dave Brown and senior advisor Bob Murray.

The interesting notes here are that the Flyers and Jets have had scouts at Jackets games this past week, clearly indicating that there are talks involving the teams, and certain players that are being closely monitored. 

The roster will apparently continue to be in flux, in one way or another. Sophomore Kirill Marchenko was benched Saturday night, and only has two more games remaining before he becomes waiver-eligible. Similarly, 20-year-old Cole Sillinger has only six games left before he would have to be put through waivers to be sent down. In addition to all that, star forward Johnny Gaudreau was benched for most of the 3rd period Saturday night as well. 

It would seem that Kekäläinen has many balls in the air that he's juggling, and it'll be intriguing to see what happens with the Blue Jackets roster going forward. They currently sit at 4-5-2 after 11 games, 7th in the Metropolitan Division. 

Photo: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports