The Blue Jackets should trade Ivan Provorov regardless of his wishes

With the NHL’s roster freeze in full effect over the holidays, this is the final period of silence between the start of the season and the league-wide trade deadline. Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov will be a highly sought after commodity, and despite his recently discussed desires; The most obvious thing is to swap him.

Provorov is exactly the type of player that rival teams are sniffing around for. And why not? Now in his 9th NHL season, Ivan is a capable, experienced puck-moving defenseman who has remained remarkably healthy. He is also still young and a team taking over could also consider him as a long-term option.

Although he didn’t live up to the expectations that come with being the No. 7 overall pick (in a very strong draft, no less); He’s become a true pro, the guy who can quarterback a power play and move up and down the lineup. And perhaps the most attractive aspect here is his contract. His current hit expires after this year and is a very manageable $4.725 million against the cap.

The Blue Jackets have plenty of cap space to keep half of that in the right deal, meaning the return here could be significant. The rumored price is for a first-round pick, but I expect that to be increased to include other benefits as teams line up to sign a very affordable second-rounder who still has plenty of good mileage left in him.

You may be asking yourself: If Ivan Provorov is so good and so affordable, why wouldn’t the Blue Jackets just keep him? Two words: Dante Fabbro.

It’s not so much about you, but about us…

It’s really pretty easy if you play the long game. As a departing UFA, Don Waddell has the big decision to make: sign him or trade him for assets. We talked last week about the pros and cons on both sides, but in reality I don’t think this decision is that difficult.

The Blue Jackets have two guys in Zach Werenski and Damon Severson who have been firmly established as a long-term top-two defensive pairing. For better or worse, these guys are part of the corps moving forward; from both a contract and delivery perspective. Further down the lineup, Erik Gudbranson remains on the grass as he recovers from an injury. He will come back at some point and his contract runs for another year. I could imagine the team would extend him beyond that as a cheap depth option.

Top prospect Denton Mateychuk will soon be pushing for ice time. In fact, he’s already done that – he was in the lineup ahead of Severson on Monday night. Even if you want to guard him, this is a guy who is going to demand power play ice when he’s up here. His game is built on that and I think he will be more than useful as a number 3/4 next season.

That leads us to Fabbro, whose presence opened up a whole other level of Zach Werenski’s game. Look no further than the last few weeks. In two and a half games without Fabbro as a partner, Werenski scored one goal and received a rating of -4. In Dante’s return on Monday, Zach had three assists. The chemistry between the two is good and Fabbro will be cheaper to sign than Provorov. And he wouldn’t return the same assets even if you wanted to trade him.

I don’t think I really need to say anything more about this argument. Mateychuk will be ready next season. Werenski, Severson, Gudbranson and a newly signed Fabbro give this team a pretty solid top five on the blue line. They could bring back Jake Christiansen for an affordable two-way option on the third pairing or find someone on the open market.

The cost of bringing in another defenseman for the #5/6 role will be far less than the return you get for Ivan Provorov. For this reason and Fabbro’s creation; I think the most logical thing is to trade him.