Blue Jackets “desperately working the phones” to offload former 8th overall pick

The Columbus Blue Jackets are facing a serious log-jam of bodies on their back end and one lucky NHL team out there may benefit as a result.

The Blue Jackets of course lost forward Liam Foudy on waivers this past weekend after they elected to keep 8 defensemen in their lineup with assistant captain Zach Werenski returning from injury. Foudy, the Blue Jackets' 1st round selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, was scooped up by the Nashville Predators off of waivers but it's believed that several NHL teams had claims in on the 23 year old center.

Now, Blue Jackets insider Aaron Portzline is reporting that GM Jarmo Kekalainen is "still desperately working the phones in an attempt to trade a defenseman," in order to not lose anyone else on waivers. With the additions of Damon Severson and Ivan Provorov this past offseason and with the emergence of 2022 6th overall pick David Jiricek this season, there's little space left for Andrew Peeke and Adam Boqvist on the team's blueline. Which is pretty surprising when you consider that Peeke and Boqvist are just 25 and 23 years old respectively and both averaged nearly 20 minutes per game last season. In other words, these aren't your typical 7th and 8th defensemen out there for waiver fodder. These are legitimate NHL defensemen with a track record of success and still with some potential to grow into.

Don't be surprised if the Blue Jackets pull off a trade involving either Peeke or Boqvist this week, especially if the return involves picks, prospects or other assets that the team doesn't have to worry about losing on waivers.

There's been some chatter that the Vancouver Canucks would like to swap winger Conor Garland for a defenseman, but I'm not certain that the Canucks and Blue Jackets would line up on that type of deal. Rather, I'd look with plenty of draft capital and/or intriguing prospects to make a deal for Peeke and/or Boqvist. Sure, the Canucks could pull off a deal but their acquisition of defenseman Mark Friedman from the Pittsburgh Penguins last week looks to have shored up their defence for now.

Stay tuned.