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The Blue Jackets made the best of a bad hand in the Seth Jones saga |
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When Columbus Blue Jackets president John Davidson talked last month about Seth Jones' decision to leave, he sounded more resolved than frustrated.
He talked about the need for “rolling up the sleeves” and transforming Columbus into a destination city.
The Blue Jackets turned talk into action this offseason by getting a quality return on Jones and then signing Zach Werenski to a contract that states unequivocally that the Blue Jackets will pay top dollar to keep their stars.
What the Blue Jackets did was make the best out of a very bad hand.
You can say that the Blue Jackets overpaid Werenski (six years, $57.5 million, $9.583 cap hit), but they did what they had to do to make sure Werenski didn’t leave.
They gave Werenski a higher average salary than Jones received. My guess is that wasn’t accidental.
In the wake of Sergei Bobrovsky, Artemi Panarin and Seth Jones wanting out in recent years, the Blue Jackets needed to address the problem.
Davidson said first and foremost the Blue Jackets have to win again. Before they can embrace that mission, they had to get fair value for Jones and tie up Werenski long-term.
Check both of those boxes.
How can Werenski say ‘no’ to that kind of offer? That came on the heels of the Blue Jackets receiving quality young defenseman Adam Boquist and a 2022 or 2023 first-round pick. They also got to move up from No. 32 to No. 12 last week to draft prize prospect Cole Sillinger and received the No. 44 draft pick that they traded to Carolina for Jake Bean.
This doesn’t mean all of the Blue Jackets’ problems are solved. They don’t have a true No. 1 center. The Blue Jackets were 29th in scoring and 25th in goals-against. This isn’t a team that is going to turn around quickly.
They were aggressive this offseason, poking around the trade and free agent marketplace, picking up players such as Jakub Voracek, Sean Kuraly and Jake Bean.
The Blue Jackets still have Patrik Laine who will either again be a top scorer or he will be dealt for more assets. Maybe both.
Werenski gives them a star to build around, and there are quality players on this team. This will be a competitive rebuild.
But the importance of this summer is really the signing of Werenski. This sends a message to the NHL and future free agents that the Blue Jackets are going to figure out how to keep their top players.
Before you can prevent stars from leaving, you have to persuade some to stay.
Blogger •HHOF Writer's column on the NHL • 
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