Insider Darren Dreger: Columbus "Willing To Listen" To Offers On Patrik Laine & Ivan Provorov

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NHL Insider Darren Dreger mentioned yesterday that the Columbus Blue Jackets are “willing to listen” to trade requests for a pair of young players, Patrik Laine and Ivan Provorov. He made the comments yesterday on Insider Trading on TSN.

Dreger also mentioned Boone Jenner, but based on the fact that he has a very team-friendly contract, it’s unlikely GM Jarmo Kekalainen will try to move him.

Patrik Laine, who is currently on IR, is in the second year of a 4-year $8.7 million AAV contract that expires in 2026. He’s only played in 18 games this season due to various injuries, including a broken collarbone. Laine has 6 goals and 9 points on the season and is due back any day now. Some say Laine’s time in Columbus has been disappointing as he’s only scored 64 goals in 174 games. He’s had terrible luck with injuries no doubt. In my opinion, I don’t think Kekalainen gives up on Laine just yet.

Ivan Provorov was traded to the CBJ on June 6th of 2023. In terms of production, Provorov is having a bit of a comeback season with 23 points in 47 games. When the Jackets traded for him, they were able to get the LA Kings to retain 30% of his salary. The Jackets sent their 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 conditional second to Philly. Columbus must decide after the first round of the 2024 draft whether or not they want to send the 2024 second, or 2025 second to Philadelphia. The way this season has gone for Columbus, I’m willing to bet Jarmo will elect to send the 2025 second. When Columbus made this trade, many thought this was a wild attempt to right the CBJ defense which had been bad for a few years now. Personally, I always thought of this trade as a stop-gap until young studs like David Jiricek, Stanislav Svozil, Corson Ceulemans, and Denton Mateychuk were all ready to take over the Columbus blueline.

Based on how this season has been going, it’s not all that surprising that teams are circling like vultures to see what Columbus is willing to part with. Guys like Jack Roslovic and Ivan Provorov have gigantic “For Sale” signs on their backs. Goalie Elvis Merzlikins could be on the move as well. But, Patrik Laine is a different story. Is Jarmo willing to part with him this season, or at all?

The Columbus front office is on the hot seat for a variety of reasons, and fans are worried that they’ll make decisions that could be viewed as “job-saving” moves but could be bad for the franchise in the future. Adam Fantilli, Kirill Marchenko, Kent Johnson, David Jiricek, and Yegor Chinakhov should all be off-limits. But from what we’ve seen in the past, Kekalainen is prone to making surprising moves. Would he dare trade a young prospect like one of these? The entire City of Columbus hopes not.

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