Rink Fries: What's next for the Columbus Blue Jackets?

“We get a lot of calls on Boone (Jenner), but Boone’s not going anywhere, and Boone doesn’t want to go anywhere.”

That’s an emphatic and defiant John Davidson, Columbus Blue Jackets President of Hockey Operations and interim General Manager, to me on my radio show Friday afternoon shooting down trade rumours about his captain’s future with the organization.

One of the teams we’ve wondered about with Jenner are the Edmonton Oilers, but as someone recently told me everybody in Columbus loves Jenner including ownership. That last part may be the most important. We’ll see where this goes.

The first name Elliotte Friedman wondered about for the GM position is London Knights GM and former Toronto Maple Leafs assistant GM Mark Hunter who knows all about development, having run one of the most successful junior programs in the CHL for years. And when the Blue Jackets actualize as a consistent playoff team it will most likely be on the timeline of the young players they boast in their pipeline.

Hunter is a good candidate, but I also wonder about him and the Oilers if this is Ken Holland’s last season running the team. Oilers CEO of Hockey Operations Jeff Jackson has always been a fan of Hunter as he always was of Kris Knoblauch -- and we all know how that played out.

Davidson mentioned he’s been busy with people calling about the GM position and to recommend people for the position. The Blue Jackets will take their time with the hire "unless somebody just blows your socks off and you want to get him before anybody else does."  See previous comment about Edmonton and Hunter. Interesting times.

Davidson has gone out of his way to stress what a great place Columbus is for players, which considering how many high-profile players have left -- most notably and recently Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky in 2019 -- it's something the organization is sensitive about.

One ex-Blue Jackets player I reached out to for the blog said: “The fans are incredible there.” Asked about living in Columbus he added "players enjoy it, especially ones with families in the suburbs.”

Personality in the NHL?

“People pay to watch me play.” That was Jack Hughes to Los Angeles Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson Thursday night after the two got tangled up and Hughes received an elbow to the head.

Hockey Twitter/X had a field day with that one, and why not? A great line from one of the biggest personalities in the sport. And what makes it so biting is it’s true. Hughes is a magician out there, consistently one of the most creative players in the league and probably still hasn’t scratched the surface of how good he can be. How did you like the bank shot goal off Joey Daccord’s head in the game against the Seattle Kraken last Monday night? You think that was accidental?

The LA Kings social media team had the last laugh after the Kings beat the Devils, though.

Great stuff by all involved.

At the beginning of the salary cap era there were only a handful of players you would actually pay money to watch play (and the league for the first time keyed in on the big two -- Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin -- and built the new league/game around them and their marketability) but now that number has multiplied. Have look around: Nikita Kucherov, Nathan Mackinnon, Connor McDavid, David Pastrnak (who doubles his watchability starring as the league's fashion plate), Artemi Panarin, Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar, rookie Connor Bedard and the aforementioned Jack Hughes, all worth the price of admission.

And even Nikita Zadorov, who respectfully nobody is reaching into their pocket to see play, did the league a world of good busting out whatever dance that was (I’m warned not to call it the Griddy) in front of Jake Walman during Vancouver’s 4-1 victory over Detroit Thursday night.

Who had ‘dance battles’ on their NHL bingo card at the start of the season?

Well, here we are.

And I hope we see more of it.

Look, change happens slowly in this league and I cringe every time I hear someone mention hockey is becoming too much like basketball with all the high drama and fashion statements in the NBA.

The NHL should be so lucky.

The more discussion points you can create the better off your league will be.

As an aside I still think the game is missing out on one of the most dynamic personalities in the sport in Mathew Barzal. He’s an elite player, an elite interview, and has elite fashion sense but because he plays on the Islanders we’re not going to get a full snapshot of what Barzal is all about. And that’s a shame.

As for the drama taunting, which always leads to bad blood and is usually accompanied with people feigning outrage at such disrespectful behaviour, I’d like you to consider something.

Have you ever heard anyone say: “I can’t wait to see these two teams go out there and respect each other"?

As for criticism I hope the players can share in the wisdom of the late, great coach Fred Shero. There has been no team more hated than his Philadelphia Flyers of the 1970s. They scrapped, played dirty, terrorized teams (the Philly Flu was very much a thing where some players would suddenly get sick before a game against the Flyers) and were soundly hounded by media, fans, others teams' management and in some cases the local authorities. And Shero would always remind the team if they didn’t want to be criticized the solution was easy: “Say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.”

Or as I like to put it: Dogs don’t bark at parked cars.

The Flyers got the message and relished their role as league villains.

Will the Flyers trade Sean Walker?

With the Philadelphia Flyers in Toronto this past week there was plenty of chatter about defenceman Sean Walker. Thursday was one of these "playing for free" games with so much family and so many friends to take care of to watch him play against the Leafs. One person who didn’t need tickets was Grandma Walker who is a long-time Maple Leafs season ticket holder.

Philly GM Daniel Briere and President of Hockey Operation Keith Jones caught up with Walker’s agent Cam Stewart who is based in the Toronto area. The three former players chatted informally at Scotiabank Arena during the Flyers morning skate. It doesn’t sound like any plans for Walker were decided and he remains one of the most intriguing players around the trade deadline. 

Walker is on an expiring contract and in some ways is found money for the Flyers. They knew they were getting a good defenceman from the Los Angeles Kings in the Ivan Provorov deal, but I don’t think they knew he was going to be this good, or this important to their season and maybe their future.

Where once Philly may have looked at Walker as a trade chip that would bring back a fourth- or fifth-round pick that ship has sailed. It is very much believed they’re hoping to get a first-round pick for Walker or at worst a high second-round selection. If they can’t get that or an equivalent prospect, I could see the Flyers keeping him for the remainder of the season and a playoff push.

Or, I wonder if they end up signing Walker to an extension. Based on his play this season he’s probably priced himself into the $4-5 million range.

A New Jersey Devils trade deadline thought

With Friedman’s report on Saturday Headlines that Noah Hanifin looks to be heading to market and the availability of netminder Jacob Markstrom, am I alone in thinking the New Jersey Devils could be the team to pull off a major blockbuster here and bring in both the defenceman and goalie from the Flames? The Devils have attractive young players, prospects and picks to get something massive like this done, I just wonder if Calgary has the desire to retain money on Markstrom. And if they do, how much will that cost? As much as a first-round pick?

First trade in PWHL history and an attendance record

Some interesting comments by Laura Stacey of PWHL Montreal on my radio show this week discussing the league’s first trade – Minnesota acquiring Sophie Jaques from Boston in exchange for Susanna Tapani and Abby Cook.

“It hit us in two different parts. The first one was ‘whoa, ok this is real. I could be moving cities at any point. It’s a business now. Who knows what’s going to happen with our team and should I even answer my phone calls from our GM?' That was said a lot. The second emotion was ‘OK, let’s zoom out and realize how cool and special and impactful this truly is. Now it is a business. We are able to be traded and completely move cities because another GM wants us.' I think it’s a big moment for women’s hockey…it’s pretty amazing and I don’t think we ever thought we’d be there.”

The PWHL announced this first trade on Super Bowl Sunday, which raised eyebrows. Weird timing, but when you make a deal you make a deal, right?

Congrats to the league on setting a new attendance record Friday night in Toronto as 19,285 fans watched the home team blank Montreal 3-0.

Also, on that same night the Concordia Stingers wrapped up a perfect regular season beating Montreal 2-0 to finish at 25-0. The Stingers are coached by Hall of Famer Caroline Ouellette and one day Hall of Famer Julie Chu. This team is a wagon with a legit shot at going to the U Sports National Championship three years in a row.

Historical trade of the week

We’re getting into the wayback machine again and heading back to November of 1990 and one of the most creative (and hilarious) deals we’ve ever seen. 

I want to say former North Stars GM Bob Clarke and his Oilers counterpart Glen Sather looked at each others' rosters and said “we owe this to hockey” but I’m sure there was more behind the North Stars moving netminder Kari Takko to the Oilers for defenceman Bruce Bell. 

Yes, a ‘Takko Bell’ trade. Pretty inconsequential deal for both sides as the goalie only played 11 games for Edmonton before heading back to Finland, while Bell only played a single game for the North Stars.