Blue Jackets Move(s) Imminent?

[Virtual Jarmo]

Unhappy with his team's stretch of play entering the All-Star Break, GM Adam Burke had two options. One was to let the team relax and re-charge. The other was to get proactive and shake things up.

"I made a threat to this team a couple months back and they responded in a big way," Burke said via his weekly conference call with the media. "Things went well for about six weeks and then we got lazy. This league's too competitive to be lazy. Things progressed over the break and we're moving forward."

No word yet on what players may be on the move or what the Blue Jackets GM is looking to improve. Some fans have speculated that Ruslan Salei would be a better fit mentoring the inexperienced defense corps than taking a regular shift. Others have questioned if the Blue Jackets offense is strong enough to compete. The team is in the top five in goals per game, but cannot be happy with the way that they've struggled offensively over the last ten games.

When asked about Salei, Burke laughed, adding, "Ruslan's a veteran player. We know what we can expect from him. He's also a great character guy in that locker room. If we feel that we can add a player who will benefit us and make Ruslan our seventh guy, we will. But, he's the least of our concerns. You guys are just always searching for a story."

About the only Blue Jacket who has repeatedly struggled is Jochen Hecht. A team-worst minus-6, Hecht's ice time may dwindle as the season progresses. An injury to Jeff Halpern forced the team to use Hecht in more situations and he has not responded well to the increased role.

"At the end of the day, if our biggest problems are in our bottom six forwards and with our sixth defenseman, we're doing just fine," Burke said before hanging up with the media to answer his ringing cell phone.

Sources close to the Blue Jackets expect a trade to be announced tomorrow, the first day of February pro-ration for salaries. That would imply that the Blue Jackets are trading with a team somewhat close to the cap and moving one of their higher salary guys.