Blue Jackets Could Now Be Landing Spot For Cap Dump After Laine Trade

By the Columbus Blue Jackets trading Patrick Laine and not retaining any salary, the team has opened up a lot of cap space this season to work with. Nobody anticipates the Blue Jackets competing, but the expectation is that they do improve overall.

With the extra cap space to work with, Aaron Portzline reported that Don Waddell, general manager of the Blue Jackets, "might not be finished this offseason" as two teams immediately contacted him to see about taking on cap space. This came from two teams with salary cap issues still this offseason.

The defense seems set by Waddell's thinking, but also said, "if I could find the right guy to throw in that mix (forward), it would be good for us, to be honest with you." He does like the potential of the forward group, but it is young and there will be more assets attached to anyone the Blue Jackets bring in.

There is definitely room to add and no team wants to finish at the bottom of the standings. There are a lot of good young players on the Blue Jackets who could take big steps at any time. Who the teams that contacted Columbus about dumping a player remains to be seen, but I don't think we'll have to wait long for an answer.