EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a three-part series breaking down the Blue Jackets’ 2014-15 season by positions, with separate installments including forwards, defensemen and goaltenders.
The process has been in place for a few years now, and it began with former Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson: the Blue Jackets wanted to change up their mix of forwards, and it’s been a fairly drastic turnover.
They traded Rick Nash for two key pieces in Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov. Before that, defenseman Marc Methot was traded to Ottawa in exchange for someone you may have heard of, a guy named (All-Star captain) Nick Foligno.