Right winger Emil Bemstrom, who did not generate much excitement during his four-plus years in Columbus, is suddenly a Blue Jackets fan favorite.

Bemstrom was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins nearly two weeks ago. In return, the Blue Jackets received forward Alex Nylander, a former first-round pick who was stuck in the AHL, and a conditional sixth-round draft pick in 2026. Bemstrom and Nylander needed fresh starts, and that's what they get as they approach restricted free agency.

The joke among Jackets fans is the Jackets traded Bemstrom for Bemstrom and a future Bemstrom. The thing about the deal, though, is the condition: If Bemstrom scores six goals over the last seven-plus weeks of the regular season, then the sixth-round pick becomes a third-round pick in ‘26. Optimally, that’s a better Bemstrom. Progress.

“We got a pick out the deal, and that pick could get better,” said John Davidson, the Blue Jackets' president of hockey operations and interim GM.

And that, folks, is the theme of the 2024 NHL trade deadline in Columbus. It’s root, root, root for Bemmie and see what else pops up before the deadline, 3 p.m. Friday. It's not very exciting, but it is reasonable.

Davidson and his staff have been fielding trade calls since Feb. 15, when Jarmo Kekalainen was fired after 10-plus seasons as GM. Davidson is also leading the search for Kekalainen’s replacement. Davidson is very busy.

The hope here is that Davidson, team president Mike Priest and majority owner John P. McConnell don’t settle for someone like, say, Mark Hunter, co-owner and GM of the OHL London Knights. The hope here is for someone younger and more progressive. Our beat writer Brian Hedger and I talked about it in a recent episode of our Cannon Fodder podcast, and we’ll be returning to the subject. Maybe, just maybe, the next GM will be a pleasant surprise and someone who can fire our collective imagination.

The next Jackets GM will be the team’s fourth (not counting interims) in the 25-year history of the franchise. The new GM will inherit a cache of young talent and have a chance to build a team that can aspire, something we’ve never really had in Columbus. Jarmo left a full cupboard.

“I said it at the press conference (last month) and I’m not just blowing smoke: This is a very good situation for a number of reasons,” Davidson said. “There’s a very, very high level of interest in the job. We haven’t started any interviews as of yet, but we have dozens of applicants, a long and deep list of names. Which is good. But we’ve got to sift through it. It (the search) is going to take a while.”

Which makes sense. Any candidate currently employed cannot be officially interviewed until season’s end. Not without permission, anyway. It’s going to take a while.

“The most important thing right now is the trade deadline,” Davidson said. "The next most-important thing — and we’ll have someone (a new GM) in place by then ― is the draft. Then, July 1.”

The draft will be held June 28-29, reportedly in Las Vegas. July 1 marks the opening of free agency.

Davidson said he is “not anticipating a whole lot” of trade action for the Jackets this week, for several reasons. Forward Jack Roslovic, who carries a cap hit of $4 million, is the only Jacket approaching unrestricted free agency. He could be an attractive rental, but the Jackets may have to eat some of what’s left on his contract.

Our man Hedger is busy picking apart the roster and assessing the potential for trades, so keep an eye on Dispatch.com. Suffice, 2024 will not be like 2023, when Kekalainen unloaded defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, forward Gus Nyquist and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo ahead of the deadline, or like 2021, when captain Nick Foligno, defenseman David Savard and forward Riley Nash were moved.

The Jackets, in last place in the Eastern Conference, are once again sellers. Davidson just doesn’t have the stock to shake up the market ― not unless he wants to consider a deal for, say, captain Boone Jenner. Something like that would involve an offer Davidson couldn't refuse and, depending on the trade partner, might require Jenner to waive his modified no-trade clause (which includes eight teams).

Such a deal is nigh impossible to imagine given Jenner’s importance to the franchise, on-ice productivity and team-friendly contract. In any case, it’s Davidson’s job this week to listen to any pitch that comes his way.

“Quietly take care of business,” is how Davidson described his approach.

“Keep the ship right, take care of business, max out what we can while we can,” he said. “When the new (GM) comes in, it’s that person’s workload. I’m not going to drop a bomb and blow things up. That doesn’t make any sense.”

Come on, Bemmie.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Davidson steers Blue Jackets to trade deadline as he searches for GM