After tonnes of speculation, it has happened, David Backes was dealt out of town. Again, this had nothing to do with problems with Backes, but more with the fact that the Blue Jackets are building for the future. We know that since the trade deadline last year that the Columbus GM has been probing the market to see what kind of youth he could receive for Backes, coming close multiple times to dealing him. The full trade ended up sending Backes, along with Ruslan Fedotenko and Patrick Kaleta to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Ryan O'Reilly and the Leafs first round pick in the draft, which is 13th overall. It's very sad to see David move on, as he almost netted fifty goals for the Jackets two years ago, and is consistently among the league leaders in hits.
Columbus was very ecstatic to receive Ryan O'Reilly in return, as he is a young defensive stalwart who plays centre and is already a whiz in the draws. The plan is for O'Reilly to become the franchise #2 centre behind captain Mikko Koivu. He is solid penalty killer and is starting to round out his offensive game. This is exactly the type of player they were looking for to help round out a solid core going forward. The 13th overall pick should also play dividends right away as Columbus should land another player who can step in and contribute right away. The Jackets have 5 picks in the first 34 including first overall, so the full on rebuild is underway!
Backes was, as you know, a player I had targeted for a long time and almost dealt my 1st rounder for him last season. I kind of regret it actually as he's a kind of player I would've liked to add to my roster.
ReplyDeleteBut you got a pretty good deal for him, especially since you're high on Ryan O'Reilly and looking to the future.