Blue

Sixers’ veteran Amir Johnson opts to play for Delaware Blue Coats

How else can you explain what the 14th-year veteran approached the 76ers coaching staff about doing? The seldom-used backup center asked if he could play for the team’s NBA G-League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats. His thought was the Blue Coats game against the Maine Red Claws at the 76ers Arena in Wilmington, Del. will help get him into game shape. Plus, he wanted to play in a basketball game, regardless of the level.

Blue Jackets Add Matt Duchene, Making First Big Move Before Trade Deadline

The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired Matt Duchene from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a 2019 first-round draft pick and two top prospects on Friday, adding a veteran center as they make a push for a playoff spot.

Duchene, 28, one of the best players available ahead of Monday’s N.H.L. trade deadline, was dealt for forwards Vitaly Abramov and Jonathan Davidsson. Columbus also got the minor league defenseman Julius Bergman as the teams prepared for a game in Ottawa on Friday night.

Columbus will send an additional draft pick to Ottawa if it is able to sign Duchene to a contract extension. He will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.

Duchene is the second-leading scorer on the Senators, with 58 points (27 goals, 21 assists).

“Excited to join such a great team … let’s get in a spot and go for a run!” Duchene tweeted after the trade was announced.

The Blue Jackets badly needed another playmaking center behind Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Boone Jenner was pressed into action as the second-line center this season but has battled injuries. Coach John Tortorella has expressed frustration with the lack of production from centers Alexander Wennberg and Brandon Dubinsky.

Wennberg finished the 2016-17 season with 59 points, but his performance has dropped off. He and Dubinsky have combined for seven goals and 33 points this season.

A two-time All-Star, Duchene has 228 goals and 307 assists in 704 career N.H.L. games with Ottawa and the Colorado Avalanche, where he spent his first eight seasons after he was the third overall pick in the 2009 draft. This season, he has won 55 percent of his faceoffs and is averaging 19 minutes 14 seconds of ice time.

The Senators are at the bottom of the N.H.L. standings and a full rebuild is expected.

“When we acquired Matt in November of 2017, we had hoped his addition would drive us to another deep playoff run,” Ottawa General Manager Pierre Dorion said. “Obviously that did not materialize; more than a year ago, we shifted our focus to a proper rebuild of the entire organization. Our desire was to have Matt be part of this and as such we approached him with a fair and comprehensive contract offer to remain a Senator for the long term.

“As soon as it was determined that he did not want to be part of our rebuild, we shifted our focus to see what assets we could acquire in exchange for Matt that would help grow our pipeline of potential.”

Abramov, 20, a winger, had 12 goals and 10 assists in 54 games for the A.H.L.’s Cleveland Monsters this season. Davidsson, 21, has 10 goals and 10 assists in 35 games during the forward’s fourth season with Djurgarden of the Swedish Hockey League.

The Blue Jackets just seized control of the NHL trade deadline. What will they do next?

Mike Hume

Assignment editor for NFL and NHL coverage. Oversees the Fancy Stats blog as well as esports and gaming coverage.

February 22 at 3:04 PM

In the month leading up to Monday’s NHL trade deadline, the rumor mill revolved around two teams and four high-profile players. The speculation centered on Columbus Blue Jackets winger Artemi Panarin and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, as well as Ottawa Senators sniper Mark Stone and center Matt Duchene. All of them are super-talented players, and all of them lack contracts for next season.

The assumption was that these players could be shipped out, landing a lucrative return for two franchises that seem more likely to rebuild, in some fashion, than spend big in free agency. But Friday, firmly planted in the thick of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference, the Blue Jackets flipped that thinking on its head, acquiring Duchene for a package that included two prospects, a 2019 first-round draft pick and a 2020 first-rounder if Duchene re-signs with the Blue Jackets. Suddenly Columbus is the epicenter of the hockey world, at least until the trade deadline.

The move is fascinating because it opens up all kinds of options for the Blue Jackets, who have never been among the NHL’s top spenders and have never reached the second round of the playoffs since entering the league in 2000. But two scenarios stand out as particularly intriguing.

Option A: Go for it.

Not only has Columbus never seen the playoffs’ second round, the Blue Jackets are the NHL’s only team with that distinction. At some point, you have to break through and give your fans a reason to dream. And that’s particularly true with the team facing the potential of losing Panarin and Bobrovsky this offseason.

Adding Duchene gives the Blue Jackets a dual-threat center around whom they can build their second line. With 27 goals and 31 assists in 50 games, Duchene marks a significant upgrade from the struggling Alexander Wennberg (two goals in 59 games) and will prevent opponents from stacking their top defensemen and checking line against the trio of Panarin, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Cam Atkinson.

As constructed post-Duchene trade, Columbus’s roster is one of the strongest in the East and could contend with any team in the Metropolitan Division. The problem is that the team risks losing three top players this offseason, receiving nothing in return. And there’s also the fact that, at the time of the trade, the Blue Jackets were ninth in the East, leaving them, for the moment, outside of the playoff bracket. If they do make the field with this lineup, though, there aren’t many teams that would want to face them.

And who knows? Maybe winning a few rounds in the playoffs will make the pending free agents want to stick around.

Option B: Cash in on Panarin.

Win or lose this postseason, it’s going to be pretty tough to retain everyone Columbus would like to retain. Duchene, Panarin and Bobrovsky will be three of the most coveted unrestricted free agents, and the first two certainly will command huge raises over their current deals, each worth $6 million per year. With a new contract needed for young standout defenseman Zach Werenski (a restricted free agent) and one for Dubois in 2020, the Blue Jackets would need to do some salary cap gymnastics to keep this group together. It’s possible — particularly if Columbus can find a taker for Wennberg and his $4.9 million cap hit over the next four seasons — but unlikely.

There’s also the consideration that those three UFAs have to want to return to a franchise that, again, has never made it out of the first round of the playoffs. There has been long-standing speculation that Panarin and Bobrovsky have already planned their getaway and would like to end up with the Florida Panthers. If so, in the Duchene trade Columbus has added a player it could give the money that those players don’t want.

If Duchene signs for the long term, the Blue Jackets won’t be too much worse in terms of point production and can continue building around their young nucleus. And by seemingly removing Duchene from the trade market, they’ve increased Panarin’s value to teams seeking a top scoring option.

If the Blue Jackets spin off Panarin for a better package than they spent to acquire Duchene and Duchene signs an extension, that’s probably the best-case scenario — and it would be a big win for Columbus.

More from around the NHL:

Capitals make another deal, land defenseman Nick Jensen from Detroit for Madison Bowey

Tom Wilson comes through back home as Capitals edge Maple Leafs in Toronto

New scoreboard, SkyRing display coming to Capital One Arena

T.J. Oshie’s playing style is aggressively risky, and he doesn’t plan to change.