from Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch,

There are a lot of ways to break down that playoff series. Strength down the middle is among the critical areas. In this case, the Jackets had their spine snapped by the Capitals.

That is why general manager Jarmo Kekalainen should make bolstering the position a priority in the coming months. He should kick the tires, hard, if pending unrestricted free agent John Tavares decides to pass on re-upping with the Islanders.

We don’t know how the Blue Jackets are structuring their cap for the coming years, or if they can fit Tavares beneath it (or if he could come here), but he is the center they’ve never drafted. Elite.

Kekalainen should have a list of second-line targets that might be gettable via a trade (and he has assets among his deep core of defensemen to dangle as bait). At the least, the Jackets could use someone who looks like Beagle on the fourth line. Beagle killed them.

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