Blue Jackets excited to add Laine, Roslovic in blockbuster deal

Put in the difficult position of having to trade his No. 1 center, Jarmo Kekalainen hit a home run.
At least that's the opinion of his head coach, John Tortorella, who was effusive in his praise of the Blue Jackets general manager after Kekalainen swung a blockbuster deal Saturday.
Center Pierre-Luc Dubois was traded to Winnipeg along with a third-round pick in the 2022 draft for All-Star winger Patrik Laine and Columbus native Jack Roslovic, a haul of two forwards that should quickly add some offensive punch to the CBJ lineup.

That Kekalainen could fetch such a return for a player who the entire NHL knew wanted a deal left Tortorella as perhaps the happiest man in Columbus.
"It was a hell of a spot (Kekalainen) got put into," Tortorella said after the Jackets' 5-2 win against Tampa Bay on Saturday. "He stood right in there. I talked to him a couple of times yesterday (about) the amount of time he was putting into things, so we're very happy that he found a way here, him and (Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff).
"We are really excited about these guys coming to us. Jarmo is not afraid of trying to make his team better and putting his neck out there a little bit at times, so I think that's a really good trade for us."

Adding two big pieces -- a first-line winger who has averaged 38 goals per 82 games in his NHL career and a homegrown center whose best days in the NHL are likely still ahead of him -- was seen as a coup in Tortorella's eyes, and the hope is the pair will help a team that finished 27th in the NHL in scoring a year ago and had scored just 10 goals in its first five games this season.
The offensive abilities of Laine need little introduction as exploits of the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft -- one spot ahead of Dubois -- are known throughout the league. Laine burst onto the scene as a rookie with 36 goals in 2016-17 then added a career-high 44 a year later. The 22-year-old is coming off a 28-35-63 line posted in 68 games last year, and one of the league's top snipers has 140 goals and 250 points in 306 career NHL games, including 52 power-play tallies.
Roslovic, meanwhile, was born in Columbus, came up through the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets junior program and played his college hockey at Miami University. The first-round pick (25th overall) in the 2015 NHL draft has a 26-41-67 line in 180 career games including career highs of 12 goals, 17 assists and 29 points a year ago. The thought is with more consistent playing time, those numbers could blossom even more for the 23-year-old.
"I think both of those guys bring offense to our team," Kekalainen said. "Jack Roslovic, I think he had (29) points last year. His ice time increased a little bit, but Winnipeg has a lot of skilled forwards, so I think he's going to get a more offensive role with our team. Obviously, he's going to have to earn that.
"Patrik Laine is just a pure goal scorer. He scored 36 goals when he was 18 years old in the National Hockey League. I think his best year was 44 goals. I've known him since he was 16 years old, watching him play in Finland. He won a championship there, being one of the top scorers and MVP of the World Juniors when they won gold, and he came into the National Hockey League and has done what he's done so far. He's still very young. Those are all very exciting things."
Roslovic was a restricted free agent this past offseason and did not report to Winnipeg, so he is yet to play a game this year. He has been staying sharp in Columbus and quickly signed a two-year contract with the Blue Jackets, so he has already entered the team's COVID protocol program and hopes to be able to join the team this week.
Laine, meanwhile, had two goals and an assist in the one game he has played this year but has missed recent games with an upper-body injury he says he does not consider serious. Before he can report to Columbus, the native of Finland must obtain a work visa and get everything with COVID protocols squared away, so his first day on the ice remains to be seen.
Both said they're excited to see what they can bring to the Columbus team when they do suit up.
"It's awesome to be part of the Blue Jackets organization right now, and I'm happy that they wanted me on board," Laine said. "I couldn't be more excited. It's always a new chapter, and going to a new place, meeting new guys, I'm kind of scared but it'll be fine. There's a bunch of guys that I know and a couple of Finnish guys, too, and I'm just super excited to meet everybody and get things going."
Added Roslovic: "I'm just really excited about the opportunity. It just makes it that much better too that it's in Columbus. I'm super happy to be here. Obviously I grew up living here, watching the team play, and it's definitely just an extra cherry on top."

It was a quick end to the saga involving Dubois, who was the team's top pick in the 2016 draft and had developed into the team's No. 1 center the past two seasons. Dubois didn't miss a game in his Columbus career, suiting up 239 times in the union blue sweater and posting a 66-93-159 line. He had career highs of 27 goals and 61 points two seasons ago and led Columbus with 49 points a year ago before adding 10 in 10 games in the NHL playoff bubble.
But when Dubois signed a two-year extension with Columbus as an RFA on New Year's Eve, reports got out that he was also looking for a change in scenery. Dubois had just one goal in the team's first five games and did not skate in the last 45-plus minutes of the team's overtime loss Thursday against Tampa Bay, leaving a trade all but an inevitability. Less than 48 hours later, he was on his way to Winnipeg.
"We've been working on this for a while," Kekalainen said. "We always said it could take a while until we found the right deal, but if the right deal is on the table, we're ready to move fast. Everything came together, and we're happy with the deal."
Kekalainen has shown he's not afraid to make big moves before, including the acquisition of Brandon Saad in 2015, the deal that sent Ryan Johansen to Nashville in 2016 for Seth Jones, returning Saad to Chicago for Artemi Panarin in the summer of 2017 and trade deadline deals to acquire Ryan Dzingel and Matt Duchene in 2019.
Those trades involve some of the biggest names in the game, but you could argue none is quite as captivating as this one. How it works out for both teams will be a storyline for years, and Kekalainen hopes it's positive for each side.
"I think the best trades are always the type of trades that help both teams, and I think in this case that's what happened," Kekalainen said. "They are going to get a good player and we are going to get two good players, and we both move on."