from Rory Boylen of Sportsnet,
The NHL Draft started with a flurry of trade action, some surprising picks, and a long second day that wasn't quite as busy on the player movement front.
Friday and Saturday set the stage for what should be a busy week ahead, especially with so many rumoured deals still hanging -- including the biggest in Jack Eichel -- and free agency looming on Wednesday.
Here are some of our winners and losers from a wild draft weekend.
WINNERS
Columbus Blue JacketsKnowing they had to trade another star -- this time Seth Jones, one year from free agency -- the the Columbus Blue Jackets were in a tough situation with a potentially gloomy outcome. A rebuild, retool, whatever you want to call it, was incoming, but how to start off on the right foot?
Columbus ended up trading Jones to Chicago for puck-moving 20-year-old blueliner Adam Boqvist, a 2021 second-rounder and a 2022 first-rounder. The two teams also swapped 2021 first-rounders, so the Blue Jackets moved up 20 slots to 12th overall. They took Cole Sillinger with the selection, a hard-nosed centre with goal scoring upside and NHL bloodlines.
From Columbus' perspective, it's a huge win for the rebuild. Boqvist has two NHL seasons under his belt and a lot of promise -- and how good will the Hawks be next season? The 2022 pick Chicago gave up is top-three protected, but Columbus could end up with another mid-round selection there potentially.
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