Would the Blue Jackets consider trading Seth Jones to a division rival?
The jury is still out on that one, but there are definitely division rivals interested in Jones's services. Per a report from Elliotte Friedman, the Philadelphia Flyers are in on Jones, and are pushing hard to get a deal done. In his weekly 31 Thoughts column, Friedman wrote that he's "still hearing a lot of Philadelphia and Jones. The Flyers are definitely working at it."
While the report is brief, Friedman is typically very reliable. It makes sense that the Flyers are after Jones, too. After a very shaky season, they're looking to bolster their defensive corps. Philadelphia let in 201 goals in 56 games last season, which was good for dead last in the NHL. Jones would pair nicely with Ivan Provorov.
However, the Flyers don't have much in terms of assets that the Blue Jackets might want in return. Everyone and their mother know that the Blue Jackets are lacking center depth, but the Flyers don't have the young, talented center that the Blue Jackets are looking for. They do have a full complement of picks in the 2021 and 2022 NHL Drafts, if the Blue Jackets elect to go down that road, but Jarmo Kekalainen and co. are unlikely to part with Seth Jones for a package that doesn't include a center.
Recent CBJ-PHI Trade History
The two teams haven't made a deal in seven years, but they made some doozies in the early 2010s.
- 2014: Scott Hartnell to CBJ, R.J. Umberger and a 4th round pick to PHI
- 2013: Michael Leighton and 3rd round pick to CBJ, Steve Mason to PHI
- 2012: Sergei Bobrovsky to CBJ, 2012 2nd and 4th round picks, 2013 4th round pick to PHI
- 2011: Jeff Carter to CBJ, Jakub Voracek, 2011 1st round pick (Sean Couturier), 2011 3rd round pick to PHI
That last one's pretty tough to look at, isn't it? Sorry for the reminder.
