With flurry of moves, Blue Jackets show they mean business this offseason

When the frustrating, disappointing and downright unenjoyable 2022-23 season came to a close, Jarmo Kekalainen promised changes to come in an effort to return the Blue Jackets to playoff contention.

Time will tell if Columbus can reach that level in this upcoming season, but it won't be for a lack of trying from the general manager.

Still almost a month away from the draft and the opening of free agency, Kekalainen swung two major deals this week, sending draft choices to Philadelphia for Ivan Provorov and a third-round pick to New Jersey in a sign-and-trade deal for Damon Severson.

The two veteran defensemen have been among the more dependable blueliners in the league the past few years, and the moves remake a Blue Jackets defense that has struggled in consecutive campaigns.

More than that, though, it shows Kekalainen is going to do everything possible to strengthen the Blue Jackets going into next season, and it gives the Jackets a leg up on competitors trying to do the same.

"It was really important," Kekalainen said. "It's a tough competition come July 1. There's more aggressive teams on the market then, and everybody has their song and dance to attract the unrestricted free agents. That's why we wanted to get ahead of it and get this done before it becomes an open market. We were successful at doing that."

Add in the return of Alexandre Texier from a stint in Europe a season ago and the signing of 2019 draft pick Dmitri Voronkov, and the Blue Jackets may have added four regulars to the lineup before the draft or the July 1 start of UFA season.

There's still plenty of time -- and cap flexibility -- to do more, but in the meantime, Kekalainen has fulfilled his stated goal of bringing experience into the fold. Not only did Columbus have to play a team-record 47 players last season because of injuries, 11 different skaters made their NHL debuts, and the Blue Jackets were often a stitched-together MASH unit just trying to keep their head above water. In multiple games a season ago, the Blue Jackets fielded a lineup with 10 or more players having skated 100 games or less in their NHL careers.

The hope is for better injury luck next year after a franchise-record 563 man-games lost to injury, but even with taking that into account, Kekalainen targeted such players as Provorov and Severson. In his eyes, players such as those bring a steadying presence and leadership to the table for a squad building around a bevy of youngsters like Kirill Marchenko, Kent Johnson, Cole Sillinger, David Jiricek and others.

"We just want to make sure we surround our young group with veteran players so that we can start taking the right steps," Kekalainen said. "We've talked about the standard; we want that standard every day with the core of our players showing the way. These are two experienced players that are going to join our group that are going to set the standard every day, starting in practice and then in the games. I think it's important to have this kind of experience around the young players."

Provorov, 26, has missed just three games in his seven-year NHL career, posting a 65-152-217 line in 532 games, including a career-high 17 goals and 41 points in 2017-18. A first-round pick in the 2015 draft, the 6-1, 201-pounder has proved to be a valuable minutes-eater in his career, averaging 24:05 of ice time in his career and 23:01 a season ago with the Flyers when he had six goals and 21 assists.

Severson (6-2, 205), meanwhile, brings similar numbers to the table -- he has a 58-205-263 line in 647 games over nine seasons with the Devils -- and has been just as durable, missing three games over the past five years. The 28-year-old, a second-round draft pick in 2012, is coming off a 7-26-33 season with New Jersey and has twice posted double-digits in goals, though he's known more as a puck mover from the blue line.

Severson, who signed an eight-year contract prior to the trade from New Jersey, was set to hit the UFA market but was receptive when he found out the Blue Jackets were interested in making a pitch before things got to July 1.

He is coming off a similar situation in New Jersey where the Devils built a strong young core in recent drafts, added veterans and then took off this year, ending a four-year playoff drought and winning a playoff series this year.

"We were in a rut there for a few years and had some draft picks and brought some guys in, did the right things, and we were able to prove a lot of people wrong this year," he said. "I look forward to running it back with Columbus. There's no better feeling than being on a team that has been through some tough times and helping them climb out.

"I was part of it in New Jersey, and now I have a chance to go to Columbus and hopefully be able to be a huge piece of the Blue Jackets organization, trying to pull the right strings there and get everything together to be where you want it to be."