On June 6, 2023, the Blue Jackets acquired defenseman Ivan Provorov from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for the 22nd pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and a conditional 2024 second-round pick. Additionally, because the LA Kings retained 30% of Provorov's salary, his cap hit for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons will be $4.725M, as opposed to the original $6.75M.
The condition on the second-round pick is that the Blue Jackets must choose after the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft whether or not they want to send that year's second-round pick or their second-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft. Right now, the Blue Jackets would have the fifth pick in the second round, which is No. 37 overall, so they'd likely send the Flyers their second-round pick in 2025 if that's where they stand when the Draft arrives.
Provorov's Play
In 42 games this season, Provorov has registered 2-19--21, ranking him second on the team in assists. He's also played 22:58 a night, 1:02 below his career average, and has a -11 plus-minus rating.
Analytically, he's 26th among 29 NHL defensemen with at least 700 minutes of five-on-five TOI in on-ice five-on-five expected goals for percentage (5v5 xGF%) with 46.20% 5v5 xGF%, per naturalstattrick.com. According to evolving-hockey.com, he has the 21st-fewest even-strength defensive goals above replacement among NHL blueliners, the second-fewest among Columbus defensemen.
Ivan Provorov, evolving-hockey.com
Provorov has been a positive contributor on offense, but that's not what the Blue Jackets needed from him.
On the heels of a season where they allowed a franchise-worst 329 goals (4.01 goals/game), the Blue Jackets had to significantly improve defensively. This season, they've allowed 3.67 goals/game, which is an improvement over last year, but would be the second-worst mark in franchise history behind only the 2022-23 season.
Is it all Provorov's fault? Absolutely not. But, when giving up future assets to acquire help on the blue line, there needs to be a significant improvement.
To Provorov's credit, he's the only Blue Jackets defenseman and one of just four Columbus players to play every game this season, but the results haven't been close to good enough.
What The Blue Jackets Gave Up
This trade is more of an indictment of the front office than it is of Provorov's play.
With the 22nd overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the Flyers selected right-handed defenseman Oliver Bonk.
| Oliver Bonk stats (via hockeydb.com) | Regular Season | More -> | Playoffs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
| 2021-22 | London Knights | OHL | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2022-23 | London Knights | OHL | 67 | 10 | 30 | 40 | 38 | 17 | 21 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 6 | |
| 2023-24 | London Knights | OHL | 30 | 7 | 26 | 33 | 18 | -1 | ||||||
However, with the following selection, the New Rangers drafted forward Gabe Perreault, a player who set the U.S. National Team Development Program record for assists and points in a single season. After posting 10 points in seven games and winning gold at the 2024 World Juniors, he looks like he could be a steal. How good would he look in the Blue Jackets' prospect pool right now? That second-round pick will probably be a good prospect too.
But, because the Blue Jackets wanted to win now, we'll never know.
