Seeking to strengthen their depth behind first-line center Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Blue Jackets acquired Domi and a third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft from the Montreal Canadiens in a trade for forward Josh Anderson on Oct. 6 and signed him to a two-year contract the following day. Then they signed Koivu, an unrestricted free agent after 15 seasons with the Minnesota Wild, to a one-year contract Oct. 10.
With Domi centering the second line and Koivu centering the third line, Alexandre Texier and Boone Jenner can play wing and Columbus suddenly has a much different look. Playing wing will allow Texier to concentrate on developing his offensive game without worrying about a center's defensive responsibilities and frees Jenner to utilize his aggressiveness as the first forechecker.
"We've always talked about getting strong in the middle," Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. "I think we've done that now this offseason with Max Domi and Mikko Koivu. I think we're a very strong team down the middle right now."
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The Blue Jackets (33-22-15, .579 points percentage) surprised some people last season by qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth straight season after losing goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (signed with Florida Panthers) and forwards Artemi Panarin (New York Rangers) and Matt Duchene (Nashville Predators) as unrestricted free agents. After defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games in the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers, the Blue Jackets gave the Tampa Bay Lightning, the eventual Stanley Cup champions, all they could handle before losing in five games (two defeats in overtime) in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round.
With the additions of Domi and Koivu, the Blue Jackets believe they can take another step this season. And they should have space under the NHL salary cap to further improve after they re-sign Dubois, who is a restricted free agent.
That salary cap flexibility could be utilized to sign another player or acquire one from a team that needs to create space.
The NHL salary cap will stay at $81.5 million for next season.
"It could be teams have to move money and, in order to move money, they might have to move some really good players," Kekalainan said. "So, I think the flexibility will come in handy here and we'll be ready to improve our team in whichever way possible."
Here is what the Blue Jackets look like today:
