A lot of speculation and rumors came out about a hour leading up to the deal being completed, but the deal is done. Pending unrestricted free agent Matt Duchene is headed to the Columbus Blue Jackets…

We all knew that Duchene was going to be traded, but I don’t think anyone expected him to be dealt to the Blue Jackets, I didn’t at least. Even with this trade the Blue Jackets are still dealing with an internal decision that will probably haunt them until 3:00 PM Monday. Does this secure that Artemi Panarin will be kept past the trade deadline? I would not be so sure… This could easily be a move to fill the spot of Panarin, if traded. Panarin could easily see more of a return than Ottawa has received from Columbus in this trade. Could you imagine if Jarmo Kekalainen and the Columbus organization comes out of the trade deadline with Matt Duchene and then re-receives what they traded away to get him for Panarin. This is all hypothetical, but either way it seems Kekalainen has saved the Columbus Blue Jackets season…

On the other hand, this could totally blow up in the Blue Jackets face if Panarin and Bobrovsky are kept through the trade deadline. The Jackets now run the risk of losing Panarin, Duchene, and Bobrovsky all to free agency this upcoming summer. If you thought the situation on Long Island was bad with losing John Tavares, this would be 100 times worse.

Oh and if you didn’t know, the Blue Jackets play the Senators tonight in Ottawa. So all Matt Duchene has to do is walk down the hall into the opposing locker room and he is good to go.