The Blue Jackets went into the off-season reportedly looking to upgrade their defense. And then, on the eve of free agency, the hockey world was taken by surprise when it was announced that the Jackets had acquired Brandon Saad (along with Michael Paliotta and Alex Broadhurst) from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Artem Anisimov, Marko Dano, Corey Tropp, and Jeremy Morin.
All of a sudden, things had been changed, but it was the forward corps that looks drastically different.