Kekalainen feels good about Jackets' present and future

Many NHL observers saw the trades the Blue Jackets made the past few days -- shipping out Anthony Duclair, prospects and at least six future draft picks to fortify the roster for the upcoming playoff run -- as the work of a riverboat gambler.
It's Jarmo Kekalainen pushing his chips to the center of the table, going all-in, even if his pair of 10s might not be able to hold up against the aces and kings of the league.
One person who doesn't feel that way: Jarmo Kekalainen.

Yes, it's true he made some moves geared toward winning this season.
It's the "mortgaging the future" part Kekalainen does not agree with.
"I think that we have a good foot in the future as well," Kekalainen said after the NHL trade deadline came and went Monday and Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky remained on the roster. "We have a lot of prospects that don't get the respect they deserve that are very close to playing in the National Hockey League."
TRADE CENTRAL: Read about everything the CBJ did at the deadline
For example, Kekalainen said, take Emil Bemström, the 19-year-old Swede who has had a heck of a season. Bemström currently leads the Swedish League in scoring, starred at this year's World Junior Championship and recently made his debut with the full Swedish national team.
Then there's Liam Foudy, last year's first-round pick who has racked up the goals this season with London of the OHL. Or Alexandre Texier, a second-round pick two seasons ago who has 34 points this season in 48 games at age 19 in Finland's top league.
Kekalainen said he receives calls about all three of those prospects on a regular basis, and the answer to his fellow general managers is the same each time.
"It's a no every time," he said. "It's a nonstarter. We know we're not overrating those guys because that's the first question they always ask is about one of those three guys."
It's reasons like that, Kekalainen said, that he's not worried about the Blue Jackets' future no matter what the draft pick pool looks like at the moment. It's the same reason Kekalainen figures the Blue Jackets will be OK if any of the team's unrestricted free agents -- a group that includes Panarin, Bobrovsky, and new acquisitions Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel -- choose to go elsewhere next season.
Add the prospects -- not to mention likely 2019-20 arrivals like defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and goalie Elvis Merzlikins -- to the team's core that includes Cam Atkinson, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Josh Anderson, Seth Jones and Zach Werenski, and Kekalainen says the Jackets didn't mortgage the future with the aggressive moves of the past week.
"This is definitely not a spring or deadline where we're saying, 'OK, we're all-in for this spring and then it's like we're just going to start a rebuild,'" Kekalainen said. "That's definitely not what we're doing here. We have our core in place. It's going to be in place no matter what happens with the unrestricted free agents.
"We have a lot of good players. We're going to have a good team next year no matter what happens with the UFAs."
With Kekalainen feeling secure about the future - and the fact the team can always circle back and add more draft picks in the future, if it so desires - that allowed him to make moves he feels good about when it comes to the team's present.
At the top of the list was keeping Panarin and Bobrovsky. Panarin is on pace to break his own team record for points in a season with 66 on the board this season in 58 games, while Bobrovsky had an up-and-down start to the season but has allowed just 16 goals in his last nine starts and has a .937 save percentage in that span.
"I can't keep repeating myself enough here about the importance of those guys," Kekalainen said. "I never wanted to trade them. I keep saying the same thing: Wayne Gretzky was traded, so you always have to have an open mind and see what's best for the franchise now and into the future.
"That's why I never closed the door, but I never wanted to trade Artemi Panarin or Sergei Bobrovsky. They're great players. I love them both. They've done great things for the Blue Jackets."
So now what? Kekalainen has made it clear that the Blue Jackets made these moves in part to show the locker room that the front office believes this group has the tools to not only qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs but make some noise. Trades made Monday fortified depth on the blue line (Adam McQuaid) and at goaltender (Keith Kinkaid), while the big-ticket moves for Duchene and Dzingel give the Jackets three legitimate scoring lines and some help on the power play.
Add it all up and Kekalainen said he thinks the Blue Jackets have a legitimate chance to contend. And his hope is that much more than the franchise's first-ever playoff series win follows.
"I keep saying the same thing about the first-round success, that I don't think it's as important as some people make it sound," the general manager said. "I'd like to win four rounds. I'm not satisfied if we go two rounds or three rounds. I'd be happy if we go four rounds."