After a disastrous 2011-12 season, the Columbus Blue Jackets needed to change the complexion of the team.
They did so by acquiring Sergei Bobrovsky in the same offseason. They did so by acquiring Jack Johnson and a first round draft pick at the trade deadline. All were huge in their own right but at the time of the trade, no one knew what the impact of Nick Foligno was truly going to be.
Acquired in exchange for Marc Methot, the initial optics of the trade made it look like the Ottawa Senators had won the trade. Methot was a top pairing player with the Blue Jackets. Foligno had just scored a career-high in points with 47 in 2011-12. The Senators were selling high on Foligno and the Blue Jackets were selling low on Methot.
Their pathway after leaving their collective teams isn't all that different. Both were leaders on their new teams and both played at a high level. They both played with two of the best players in the game at their peaks as well.
Foligno played with Ryan Johansen in what would be one of the best seasons for a center the Blue Jackets organization had ever seen. Foligno wasn't a passenger as they both topped 70 points.
Methot played with Erik Karlsson who is establishing himself as the best defenseman of this generation. Methot was always referred to as the "stabilizing" force on the pairing. He was more defensively-focused of the two and gained a reputation because of it.
Now with the Dallas Stars after being selected by the Vegas Golden Knights and subsequently traded, Methot has a chance to once again reinvent himself on his own. Mostly in the shadow of Karlsson, he gets to be one of the stars on Dallas' retooled blue line.
Foligno is captain of the Blue Jackets and is still in the midst of a long contract. While he isn't the 70+ point player from 2014-15, he is still a possession driving player with a good scoring touch.
The Blue Jackets needed to pivot to a different type of player after their 2011-12 season and they hit it out of the park with this franchise defining winger.
