How Matt Duchene impacts the Columbus Blue Jackets

Yesterday, the Columbus Jackets pulled off a massive trade for Matt Duchene. How does this move affect the team going forward?

The Columbus Blue Jackets got Matt Duchene and Julius Bergman from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a 2019 first-round pick, a 2020 conditional first-round pick (depending on whether or not he signs with them), Vitaly Abramov, and Jonathan Davidsson.

Duchene was one of the biggest trade pieces on the market this season so how does this acquisition affect the Blue Jackets?

1. Steadies Sergei Bobrovsky

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First off, it puts everybody to rest, most notably Sergei Bobrovsky. As he entered the 2018-19 season, he said that he wanted Carey Price money and he expected to have a big season to earn the big bucks. Instead, he had one of his worst seasons statistically, with a .906 save percentage and 2.82 goals against average. Night and day compared to his Vezina stats from just two seasons ago.

Joonas Korpisalo took over for a while in January and that did not sit well with Bobrovsky either. His looming contract negotiation, paired with the uncertainty of his future with the team has lead to the shaky play that he’s been experiencing.

With the Duchene trade, everyone in the Blue Jackets’ locker room is on the same page – go for it mode. Now that Bobrovsky knows what his future will look like for at least the next few months, it should put his mind to ease and allow him to focus on the rest of the season.

2. Strong center depth

Solid goaltending along with a reliable core of centers are the building blocks of a true Stanley Cup contender. The acquisition of Duchene has bolstered the Blue Jackets up the middle and now gives John Tortorella more options for line combinations. Duchene has always been strong in the faceoff circle and the only time his winning percentage dipped under 50% was his rookie season with the Avalanche. This will help the Blue Jackets when they want to match the top lines against each other and it gives Pierre-Luc Dubois an easier time.

Duchene is so skilled and having him centring Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson gives the Blue Jackets their own version of a super line, something that will be extremely hard for other teams to answer.

3. Improved powerplay

The Columbus Blue Jackets have one of the worst powerplays in the league, ranked 28th with a 15.1% success rate. Putting Duchene on the first powerplay unit can be just the thing the Blue Jackets’ need. Duchene is a good playmaker on the powerplay and setting up Panarin is practically a sure goal. At this point, anything will be an improvement and the Blue Jackets need their special teams to pick up if they want a sustained Cup run.

For the past few months, the Columbus Blue Jackets were a massive question mark. Were they going to sell at the deadline or go for their first playoff series win in franchise history? This uncertainty weighed on the players and the team wasn’t performing to the best of their abilities. Now that they know that they’re all in, it will inject energy and swagger into this team and will give the players a true purpose to play for.

The Metropolitan Division is open for the taking. The Washington Capitals are not the same as last season, the Pittsburgh Penguins are in limbo, and the New York Islanders are only 6 points away. With their new star center, the Blue Jackets have the opportunity to make a serious late-season run that could last well beyond the first round.