The Blue Jackets have completed a minor league trade, acquiring center Ryan MacInnis, the son of NHL Hall of Famer Al MacInnis, in exchange for defenseman Jacob Graves and a conditional sixth-round pick in 2019.
If MacInnis plays 20 NHL games in 2018-19, the pick becomes a fifth round pick (2020).
By NHL standards, it's not a huge trade. Neither player has played so much as one game in the NHL, but it has some potential for the Blue Jackets. He's a former second round pick who was not long ago viewed as a top ten organizational prospect.
Last season, the 22-year-old tallied 6-8-14 in 59 games for the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL and added 2-1-3 in nine playoff games. MacInnis has a strong pedigree; aside from his namesake, he was captain of his Kitchener Rangers OHL team and played for the bronze medal-winning Team USA at the World Junior Championships in 2015-16.
Graves was an ECHL-AHL 'tweener' in the Columbus organization, and with the Blue Jackets adding depth on the AHL blueline in free agency by adding Tommy Cross, Adam Clendening, and Dillon Simpson, Graves was deemed expendable.
Despite his lack of production at the AHL level, MacInnis should be an asset to the Blue Jackets organization. At worst, he's a 6-foot-4 center with a strong defensive acumen who will help the the Cleveland Monsters' depth. If he plays 20 games in the NHL this season, it'll be because Columbus is gutted at the center position.
Simply put, it's a nice play for an upgrade at an important position with no real downside.
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