The Columbus Blue Jackets find themselves just short of the .500 mark through the first quarter of the season with a record of 8-9-2.
As you remember, their campaign began with the shocking and tragic death of forward Johnny Gaudreau; captain Boone Jenner has been unavailable after undergoing shoulder surgery, while Erik Gudbrandon is out until late December.
In the meantime, it looks like there’s smoke gathering around defenseman Ivan Provorov, who is a pending free agent at the end of the season. According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell could soon deal him and is asking for a first-round draft pick in return, via TSN.
“Ivan Provorov figures to be the No. 1 rental defenceman traded before March 7,” LeBrun explained on Insider Trading. “But the Columbus Blue Jackets. are calling the several teams that have reached out or telling them they’re not ready to deal with him quite yet.
“And there’s an understandable sensitivity to the Jackets wanting to give their group as long a leash as possible to remain competitive. But the business of the game will take over at some point here. They’re not going to make the playoffs. They have to manage their assets ahead of March 7. They will most likely deal Provorov.”
“The asking price will be a first-round pick, which is obviously pretty rich……But [Provorov] will be a name we’ll be talking about a lot.”
In 19 games played this season, Provorov has scored one goal with five assists while averaging 23:50 of ice time.
Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov is playing with his second NHL club
A native of Yaroslavl, Russia, Provorov was selected with the 7th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers, with whom he played the first several years of his NHL career; he scored six goals with 24 assists while playing in all 82 regular season games during his rookie season 2016-17.
He was traded to the Blue Jackets ahead of last season.
Provorov is not only known for his smooth skating, but also for his longevity, currently holding the record for most consecutive games played by a player for a club at the start of his career.
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