Who won the Seth Jones trade? What the early returns suggest
Jake Bean was on a boat.
Cruising along on Kalamalka Lake in British Columbia, the 23-year old defenseman found out in late July he’d been traded to the Blue Jackets.
“One of my best buddies broke it to me,” said Bean, who was acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes in July for a second-round pick the Blue Jackets picked up in a multi-faceted trade with the Chicago Blackhawks prior to the start of the 2021 NHL draft. “We were just hanging out on his boat, and he told me that I got traded. He found it on Twitter, and then shortly after that we docked the boat, and I made some calls to find out for real.”
Hours later, after making three first-round picks, Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen described the day as “bittersweet … but exciting.”
The bitter part was obvious.
Seth Jones, who will make his first return to Nationwide Arena Tuesday with the Blackhawks, was a potential captain had he stayed. It stung learning that he had no interest in signing a contract extension.
A trade was the best solution, and the return from it was the “exciting” part for the Jackets, who acquired Bean, Adam Boqvist and rookie center Cole Sillinger as part of it — along with an additional first-round pick from the Blackhawks in either 2022 or 2023.
All three were first-round picks and all three are NHL players, including Sillinger, the league’s youngest player at age 18. It was quite a haul from one trade, in terms of potential, but the final measure likely won’t be known for a few years.
“I don’t think you can evaluate this trade yet,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said Monday. “I think you wait probably two, three, four years down the road here. We got some good players, and there’s still another pick here to come. They got a real good player in Seth Jones. I’m going to pause on the trade evaluation. I’m going to wait here, like most people should, in two or three years.”
Enough time has passed, however, to look at some early returns. Here’s a glance at the key figures of the deal, how their seasons are going and what it all means for the Blue Jackets’ roster recharge.
Adam Boqvist, Jake Bean making progress with Blue Jackets
Jones is a rock-solid defender who also contributes offensively, which is something neither Boqvist nor Bean provides with consistency yet. Boqvist is only 21 and will play just the 100th game of his NHL career Tuesday against Chicago. Bean is 23 and has logged only 76 games at the NHL level, including 44 as a rookie last season with the Hurricanes.
The Blackhawks selected Boqvist eighth overall in 2018 primarily because of his high-end ability in the offensive zone, while Bean was taken 16th overall by Carolina in 2016 for largely the same reason.
Neither is built like a prototypical “old school” NHL defenseman with size and strength, so learning how to win puck battles and defend in their own zone against bigger, stronger forwards is a challenge for both. They’re each getting plenty of opportunities to work on it, playing top-four minutes, and both have flashed the kind of offensive skills that could make them fixtures on the Columbus blue line for years to come.
Cole Sillinger gaining valuable NHL experience with Blue Jackets
Most draft analysts expected Sillinger to be taken between the 12th and 16th picks, so it was no surprise when the Blue Jackets took him 12th overall with the pick Columbus received from flip-flopping first-round selections with the Blackhawks. The surprise came when Sillinger showed up to training camp and carved a spot for himself on the NHL roster.
The league’s youngest player has looked like it at times, but Sillinger has also shown flashes of what he might become for a team that finished last season with a glaring lack of two-way centers. He’s already built like an NHL center, has good strength and is gaining invaluable experience that could pay great dividends in a year or two.
Seth Jones thriving after rough start for Blackhawks
It was a rough go for Jones at first, and the Blackhawks stumbled to a terrible start while mired in multiple controversies that included accusations by a former player of sexual assault by a former video coach. It led to the ouster of a number of front-office stalwarts, including GM Stan Bowman.
The Blackhawks also fired coach Jeremy Colliton and continue to sputter near the bottom of the Central Division standings despite a brief resurgence under interim coach Derek King. Jones, however, has returned to pristine form on the Hawks' top defense pairing.
He has three goals, 22 assists and 25 points, which ranks him third on the team in scoring behind only star forwards Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat. The Blue Jackets would’ve loved to get his signature on a long-term extension, but Jones’ talent is the reason the return package was so enticing.
Blue Jackets hold potential lottery ticket with additional Blackhawks pick
The cherry on top for the Blue Jackets is the additional first-round pick they got from the Blackhawks, who protected it for only this year’s draft if they land one of the top two picks.
If that's the case, the pick will be pushed to 2023 and will belong to the Blue Jackets no matter what happens. Draft experts are downright giddy about the talent level that will be available with high picks in both drafts.
Each of those drafts include tantalizing options, including top centers, and the Blue Jackets' future appears bright — including their other two 2021 first-rounders, Kent Johnson (fifth overall) and Corson Ceulemans (No. 25).
“It’s an exciting time for us,” Kekalainen said after the Jones trades. “We had to deal with what we had to deal with, we made a trade and we move on and keep building.”
@BrianHedger
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Seth Jones trade: Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks — who won?
