The Columbus Blue Jackets and Seattle Kraken have completed 1 of the largest trades in CCHL history yesterday! The BJs acquire current CCHL Co-MVP and Art Ross winner Patrice Bergeron along with all start Brad Marchand and defensive dman Adam Pardy for superstar Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Jay Bouwmeester & Brandon Carlo. This trade sent shock waves throughout the league, as rarely do 4 superstars trade place in such a monumental move. GM Steph Villeneuve had this to say this morning: "Obviously we're excited with the trade. We've been in constant communication with Mike for the better part of 3 seasons. Once we felt there was an oppotunity to land both Bergy and Marchy, we knew nobody was off the table. To bring in 2 world class players we certainly had to give up alot, and we want to thank Mac and Mikko for everything they did for the team. Carlo as well, and J-Bo, despite only being here a few months, was a vet. So it hurts to lose those guys, but we're now in a position to make a run for the playoffs. We feel we're as skilled as any team we will be facing heading into the stratch run here. We still need some guys to step up. Trouba should be back within a week, and he's going to be a critical piece, having missed all but 8 games. We're also pleased with how DeBrincat's hit it off with Aho and Point so far, they combined for 6 points last game, so there's something there. And we're hoping we can shuffle things around in the bottom 6 with Kane and Brass and get some depth scoring there. But overall, we're really excited to see Bergeron and Marchand. Boudreau has them skating with Blake Wheeler this morning, so I imagine those 3 will log alot of ice time going forward."
Outside of the big blockbuster, the BJ's recently acquired young winger Alex Debrincat for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Cat figures to get big minutes in all situations. The Jackets rumour mill has been busy, with talks revolving around Corey Crawford and Craig Anderson. The veteran duo haven't performed up to their usual selves, and that's led the team to explore trade talks. Names like Murray, Bobrovski and Holtby have been floated around. Also, the team's been linked to a top pair dman for what feels like forever. As the team moves into the deadline, with a healthy roster, expect a few deals to come.