The Blue Jackets’ forward corps has shrunk in recent weeks. The organization relocated Patrik Laine to Montreal while Johnny Gaudreau was sadly died late last month. Meanwhile, GM Don Waddell informed reporters Saturday, including Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch, that forward Justin Danforth will be out for the start of training camp due to a hand/wrist injury.
Danforth sustained the injury late last season and had offseason surgery. However, it looks that his rehabilitation is not progressing as expected, and he will be re-evaluated on Monday. Last season, the 31-year-old recorded a career-high 10 goals and 16 assists in 71 games while playing on the wing and down the middle, establishing himself as a strong role player. But now, his
According to Waddell, the squad has only 10 healthy regular forwards heading into training camp. While players like Trey Fix-Wolansky, Gavin Brindley, James Malatesta, and free-agent signing Dylan Gambrell could find their way into the mix, it stands to reason that they’ll be trying to add some front-line talent.
While some may expect those changes to occur on the trade front, considering that they are roughly $3 million below the $65 million cap floor per PuckPedia, it does not appear that will be the case. Instead, Waddell stated that their objective is to sign one or two forwards before training camp, according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. These would be players with full contracts, not tryouts.
However, the list of remaining unrestricted free agents isn’t very long, especially among those who aren’t connected to a team by a PTO. Wingers James van Riemsdyk, Mike Hoffman, Kyle Okposo, Blake Wheeler, and Phil Kessel, who hasn’t given up hope of participating after missing out last season, are among the remaining choices who haven’t been invited to try out.
Signing a couple of those guys would help, but it would not get them to the cap floor, unless they overpaid on their contracts. However, Hedger says he has discussed it with the league and the NHLPA and is not concerned about getting penalized if they stay under that amount this season. While it is something for them to worry about.
