...do they have a player the Columbus Blue Jackets would be interested in?
First off, hockeybuzz colleague Todd Cordell
alerted us to the possible availability of Rychel (citing Elliot Friedman, via today'sslapshot.com) by saying: "The Columbus Blue Jackets recently made Kerby Rychel available for trade in hopes of bringing in some help on defense.
"It doesn't sound like that will be much of a problem for [Jackets GM] Jarmo Kekalainen and co., as Rychel is generating a lot of interest around the league."
Columbus is loaded for bear up front and as Friedman pointed out, three youngins--Boone Jenner, Marko Dano and Alexander Wennberg--are in the top-nine mix going forward with Oliver Bjorkstrand not far behind. It's a bit of a quandary for Kekalainen, and as was mentioned by Rick Gethin of FOX Sports Ohio, the Blue Jackets at one point had five free agent forwards to make a decision on.
One of the youngins, RFA Cam Atkinson, was kept in the fold with a three year contract extension signed on March 2nd. Heading into the off season Columbus now has 14 forwards signed with decision to be made on UFA's Mark Letestu and Jack Skille as well as arbitration-eligible RFA Matt Calvert.
“Everybody knows the roster only holds 23,” Kekalainen said via the Columbus Dispatch back on May 9th. “When you count the guys and see the young guys pushing, you know we need to do some planning with that."
The writing seems to be on the wall for Skille, but as of yet there's been no word on negotiations with the versatile, all-situations Letestu. The 5'11" 195 lb. fourth-line center spent four seasons with the Blue Jackets scoring 98 points (43+55) in 233 games. At 30 yrs. old and with the young guns ready to make some waves, it would seem as if he'll be looking for work elsewhere this summer.
Things are a bit different on the back end.
Back in early February Columbus had nine NHL defenseman on the roster once Ryan Murray returned from injury and they were fine with that as they routinely dressed seven per game. That has changed to where now they have five under contract along with one UFA (Cody Goloubef) and one RFA (Justin Falk) to sign. But according to Hockey'sFuture.com, "The Blue Jackets have graduated the majority of their defensive prospects, leaving the blue line extremely thin on both talent and depth."
If that weren't enough to get Kekalainen thinking about acquiring a defenseman, last year's onslaught of injuries had the GM planning ahead back in March. "I think we need to add a little bit more depth on defense to make sure... I mean defense is a position that if you have injuries you're going to be in a tough situation," he told Gethin (via prohockeytalk) back on March 28th.
“The guys that come up to play from the minors have to be NHL-ready, at least, for the amount of games that they need to play at that time. That can expose you if they’re not.
“I think with the amount of players that we have now under contract for next year, and the prospects that we have, whether that’s in Springfield, junior or college coming to the pros, we have to make sure that we have enough depth for next year. That’s something that we’ll focus on in the offseason.”
Although Columbus is a little thin on wing prospects, especially the left side, their depth down the middle with the likes of Jenner, Wennberg, Dano, Sonny Milano and William Karlsson would allow them to fill a spot on the left side with a center. And that's where the "Rychel as a hot commodity" rumors are coming into play.
The Buffalo Sabres could most definitely use depth on the wing as that's an area of their prospect pool that's most thin.
Sabres GM Tim Murray began addressing the left side by signing UFA Matt Moulson last July then was able to make a trade for Evander Kane, who will occupy the top line left wing spot. After that Marcus Foligno can be slotted into the third line with Nicolas Deslauriers on the fourth line. In addition, many of the centers Buffalo has, including Zemgus Girgensons and Johan Larsson, can also play on the wing.
But after that, things are getting a little thin. Former Columbus Blue Jackets forward Jerry D'Amigo, 2011 Sabres draft pick Daniel Catenacci and former St. Louis Blues draft pick William Carrier headline the depth chart right now. Gustav Possler, should he come over to North America, would immediately move to near the top of that list.
So the Sabres do have reason to pursue Rychel as he could jump right to the top of the depth chart.
But Buffalo would need to send an NHL or NHL-ready defenseman to Columbus for the deal and as of right now, they don't have the prospect-depth they once had on the blueline. Murray used that position of strength to bolster organizational weaknesses up-front. NHL-ready d-man Brayden McNabb was traded to Los Angeles last March (along with two second-rounders) for Delsauriers and big right-winger Hudson Fasching. It was a move that immediately solidified their prospect pool up-front but depleted their defensive depth although they remain pretty solid on the back-end. Despite losing McNabb they can probably afford to ship out one more d-man before adversely affecting their overall depth.
Buffalo has a pretty strong blueline in the NHL featuring three big, mobile d-men in Zach Bogosian, Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov. They also have a veteran defensive defenseman in Josh Gorges and a rugged depth defenseman in Mike Weber.
Headlining their up-and-comers in the AHL is Mark Pysyk. Close behind him is Chad Ruhwedel and not too far away is Jake McCabe who's at least one year away from being NHL-ready. When talking to Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle and Amerks play-by-play man Don Stevens, they lamented that the defensemen they had in Rochester were pretty much all the same types of players. At the time it was somewhat distressing, but now it might be a blessing as one of those three may be moved without adversely affecting the depth-chart.
The most valuable chip that Murray has to play right now is Pysyk who has been NHL-ready for over a year but was caught up in a numbers game. Ruhwedel is a very similar player to Pysyk but with more offensive acumen while McCabe can move the puck as well as those two, can work the point real well and get his shot through traffic, while also playing with a definitive edge.
As for what the Sabres would be getting in Rychel, Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com
had this to say of him in his 2013 draft preview where he slotted Rychel in the mid-teens of an extremely strong draft:
"The Sabres have taken a liking to tough OHLers in the past (Foligno, Kaleta, Kassian, Kea, Weber, and then Ott via trade), and here is one who can fill the net at a higher rate. Think of a modern-day Brendan Shanahan and that's what you could be getting with Rychel, the son of former NHL vet Warren.
"The Spitfires sparkplug is a mix of hard-nosed grit with soft mitts. He doesn't wow you with his skating, but his excellent down-low presence and quick release allowed him to amass back-to-back 40-goal seasons in Windsor. He hits, scores, and defends his teammates. His engagement will stray at times, but many scouts still see him as one of the lower risks available in the middle of the round. If the Sabres want to be tough to play against, here's a player you won't take years to develop."
That's Murray's type of player.
But, imo, a straight-up Pysyk for Rychel trade is giving a little to much from Buffalo's end. Calvert is someone that would be very interesting to have thrown in the deal. He could slot into the top-nine on the left side and at 25 is right about the age that Murray wants to build with. Even that might not be enough for me as I think Pysyk is worthy of a player like Jordan Eberle from the Edmonton Oilers, which would be my first choice as a destination for him.
Murray doesn't need to move any of his d-men, especially Pysyk, but right there are two teams that could really use a player like him. They are also teams that have what Buffalo would want.
Like the Kane/Myers deal, that's the basis for a good hockey trade.
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