1 player Blue Jackets must trade before 2026 NHL Trade Deadline

The Columbus Blue Jackets are close to a playoff spot as the NHL prepares to return to action. Team USA won gold in Milan on Sunday morning, and the league’s trade freeze has now lifted. As a result, trade season is back on the menu. And the upcoming games for the Blue Jackets could determine their course of action on March 6th.

The Blue Jackets were one of the worst teams in the NHL for the longest time. However, they fired head coach Dean Evason and brought in retired veteran Rick Bowness to coach the rest of the season. Under Bowness’s leadership, Columbus has won 10 of its last 11 games and are now the best non-playoff team in the East on points.

Columbus is far from comfortable in its postseason contention. For starters, the Blue Jackets still trail by four points, lagging behind the Boston Bruins. Furthermore, there are a couple teams hot on their tail trying to gain ground in a very competitive Eastern Conference.

The Blue Jackets need to figure out if they are going to go for it or if they want to play this safe. No matter what they choose, though, there is one veteran player on this roster who should be traded. Moving him at peak value could be a very beneficial decision down the line.

Blue Jackets’ Charlie Coyle is a top trade candidate right now

The Columbus Blue Jackets traded for Charlie Coyle in a deal with the Colorado Avalanche this summer. The move made a ton of sense at the time. Colorado needed cap space to work with in the offseason. And Columbus needed depth down the middle.

Suffice it to say, the trade has worked out to this point. Coyle is one of the best offensive performers for Columbus this season. He has 15 goals and 42 points through 56 games. This works out to an 82-game pace of 22 goals and 62 points.

Should he continue on this pace, it would be one of the best offensive seasons of his career. Coyle is an extremely important player to this team, and has been especially strong at 5v5. In fact, Coyle has the highest Goals For Percentage of any Blue Jackets forward who has played at least 25 games, according to Evolving Hockey.

Coyle is also a very solid defender. He will allow his fair share of shot attempts when he’s on the ice. However, he is good at preventing goals. His 92.75% On-Ice Save Percentage is the third best among Columbus forwards at 5v5 this season.

Given all of this, why would the Blue Jackets trade him? Coyle sounds like the sort of player they should hang on to. Keep him, ride this thing out, and see what happens in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, there are some factors that would make a Coyle trade make sense.

Coyle is a great player, but he’s not a long-term option at 33 years old. Furthermore, the veteran pivot is a free agent this summer. He has not signed a contract yet, and his play this year is sure to see him do well financially in a bit of a thin NHL Free Agency pool.

The Blue Jackets are not a concrete postseason contender. If they drop some games coming out of the break, it would make sense to trade Coyle for the best return. This gives Columbus major value for a player they would have lost in the summer. And it would allow the team to reassess where they are and potentially use the return in a Coyle trade to make a splash to aid their efforts in 2026.

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