Whether it is here and it is meant to be for the city of Columbus and a pure superstar talent, the Blur Jackets are riding the wave of Laine’s play amidst the final half of his qualifying offer contract, earning him $7.5M dollars, while having 24 points in 25 games played this regular yet shortened season for the Finnish forward. 12 of those points came in the last 6 games in his point streak. Anaheim, Florida, Los Angeles, and the New York Islanders all have interest in the expiring deal per sources all around the league on this one. Writing has been out on the Ducks and Kings since his time as a Jet, and it has also been public on his desire to join the Kings. The Panthers and Islanders have been more recent since his time with Columbus due to their strength in the Eastern Conference and having plenty of young pieces to move or part with. Even at half salary, or $3.25M, it could even add to the return of the Jackets, and improve their stock in two very strong upcoming drafts.

Domi and Korpisalo rumors have also been strong as of late, even with speculation they may add cap to obtain draft capital per Kevin Allen. Korpisalo has been linked to Edmonton per Eklund, in a tight race with Vancek (WSH), Khudobin (DAL), Jones (PHI), and Halak (VAN). He’s in the prime compared to other counterparts, but his $2.8M is in the middle compared to the other available netminders around the league. Domi has been slipping since the new year, but it could change with more games being played and teams looking for his style come postseason.

Defeating Washington, Buffalo, and Montreal brings them back to over a 0.500 winning percentage, their first time back in the over since the end of the 2021 calendar year, and all these games are currently the make up ones due to the league wide COVID outbreak around American Thanksgiving. Next, is the western trip back to Canada against the Calgary Flames, who just obtained winger Tyler Toffoli in a massive deal with the Montreal Canadiens, including a first round pick and forward Tyler Pitlick off the active roster. This was also the first big move in the road to the deadline… what comes next?!

More to come..

Join the Discussion: » 3 Comments » Post New Comment

» Be the GM — Jiricek

» CBJ Hockey Fights Cancer Night Goes High Scoring

» Hit List - Johnson, Lindstrom, Jiricek, Olivier  

» CBJ G17 @ Montreal Canadiens — On the Road Again

» CBJ G16 v Pittsburgh Penguins — Crosby Watch; Letang Illness