One of the main byproducts of the NHL Trade Deadline is when players change teams, they go into a completely different situation. In the cases of Luke Kunin and Christian Fischer, both went from their previous tough situations to one with the Blue Jackets that sees them enter the heat of the playoff race.
For Kunin, his time with the San Jose Sharks didn’t go as planned. The team is going through a clear rebuild. Although their future is bright, they still have a ways to go on their timeline before they’re back in the contender conversation. Kunin struggled mightily as you’d expect on a last-place team.
For Fischer, the Detroit Red Wings presented him with a new opportunity after spending his entire career to that point with the Arizona Coyotes. While he was a serviceable player, he fell into a fourth-line role that saw him out of the lineup a lot. He was placed on waivers in order to allow the Red Wings to explore other options for the roster.
But thanks to the Blue Jackets, both Kunin and Fischer get a new lease on life. Both are excited for the opportunity to make an impact while helping the team try to return to the playoffs this season.
Kunin and Fischer met with the media on Saturday before the Blue Jackets made their trip to New York for a showdown with the Rangers on Sunday night. It’s clear both still have plenty to offer. It’s also clear how much they’re looking forward to a fresh start.
Kunin Very Excited
Kunin knew a trade was coming when the Sharks held him out of a game this past week for roster management purposes. He admitted identifying the Blue Jackets as a potential option during the process of wondering where he could go to.
“It was definitely one that I had circled and I was hoping for,” Kunin said of the Blue Jackets. “For it to happen, I was very excited. I’m really just happy to join this group and helping any way that I can.”
GM Don Waddell spoke highly of Kunin’s character when he met with the media Friday after the Trade Deadline passed. Kunin just wants to be the best teammate he can at this point.
“Just try to come in everyday, do my job, work hard, be a good teammate,” Kunin said. “Where ever I’m playing in the lineup, just do my job and not try to do anything more. (I) play fast, hard, simple game, physical, get to the net, try to create energy and hopefully get some good looks as well. We’ll see how everything shakes out but this is very exciting for me. Whatever I’m asked to do, I’m willing to do it.”
Kunin also opened up about his time with the Sharks. When asked what his prevailing memory will be, he mentioned the lifelong friends he made while there.
“It was a tough few years obviously, but I just tried to be a good leader to the young guys and show them how to be a pro, do things the right way and just everyday come to work. Even when the results aren’t there, just sticking in the process and never taking a day for granted. Just my lot of lifelong friends I’ll have from that team. It was just part of the business and it’s behind me and I’m happy to be here.”
Fischer Excited Too
Fischer was in and out of Detroit’s lineup when he was placed on waivers. Right away, Fischer said he felt very welcomed by the Blue Jackets. His excitement to join the team started from there. He saw how the team rallied around the Gaudreau’s from a distance.
“How they’ve rallied and how well they played and just to get through that alone, that’s very impressive,” Fischer said. “I’m just completely honored to be a part of this group and you see and read and just you could feel it just how close these guys are. I think it’s you don’t want to disturb it. You just want to come in and play your part. I got a text from almost every guy on the team welcoming me. Boone Jenner reached out right away. We know Zach Werenski. We’re pretty familiar right away with the guys and it’s been a fun two days so far.
Fischer then opened up and admitted that the 2024-25 season has been frustrating.
“Probably the most frustrating year of my career I’d say up to this point,” Fischer said. “Just never really got with the coaching change that were over in Detroit in December. I just never really found my way after that. Pretty cool to come to a competitive team. Not too many times you get to jump up the standings when you get traded. I think that’s a really cool scenario. Playing against them, you know how these guys play and I think that is right up my alley.”
Fischer was a scorer going through the U.S. Program and then in his one season with OHL Windsor. He has had to transform his game to play a more defined role. Here’s what he said about what you can expect from him.
“I like playing both sides of the puck. I really try to defend well. I think that’s the biggest thing being more of a role player, bottom-six. You have to win your little battles. I think there’s a lot of little things in the game, board plays, getting pucks on the blue line. Nothing too flashy. Don’t expect too many highlight reel goals but I play the game the right way. I play the game hard and I really enjoy the penalty kill. That’s been part of my game for 8-9 years now.”
Evason’s Thoughts
Up until now, the Blue Jackets had to dip into Cleveland for help in the bottom-six given their injury situation. Most recently, it was Mikael Pyyhtia and Joseph LaBate playing in those roles.
With Kunin and Fischer on board, Pyyhtia and LaBate were returned to the Monsters to help with their playoff chase. Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets got an infusion of experience that coach dean Evason likes.
“We certainly have depth and we’ve been real pleased with our depth of the entire organization this year,” Evason said. “We’ve talked about it a few times. But to add guys like that (who) have played in the National Hockey League a long time. It’s not that the guys in Cleveland haven’t done a fantastic job when they’ve been called up in different situations. But now we do have players that have played in the NHL. So to have that experience is certainly a positive thing.”
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With the injuries to Sean Monahan, Cole Sillinger and others, the Blue Jackets have had to find some different lineups. Monahan is expected back sometime around the end of March. Sillinger is more likely in early April assuming no setbacks. With the injuries and the new players coming in, Evason admitted having to do some experimentation at the start.
“I think we’ve kept our lines pretty much the same,” Evason said. “But yeah, it’s definitely a situation and an opportunity for us to experiment a little bit. Hopefully, we make the right choice. But you’re always trying to fins some chemistry. We know the players that have been here who seem to fit well or does fit well together. So yeah, we’ll play around a little bit but hopefully we don’t have to do a lot of it. We can get some consistency in that area.”
Evason reunites with Kunin from their days with the Minnesota Wild. That familiarity level is something the coach is looking forward to.
“I know his game. I know what he brings. He brings an intensity level. He brings a leadership quality that is a fantastic factor to bring into your locker room. He will play the game hard every night. He’ll fit in wonderful with this group.”
Werenski Fired Up
Waddell sent a message to the Blue Jackets’ room when he added while not trading any pending UFA’s. This has Werenski fired up for the stretch drive of the playoff race.
“I think it’s awesome,” Werenski said. I think it’s a message from Don that he believes in us and we’re in a good spot here. I think we should be confident moving forward in the group we have in here. Obviously, we have a couple additions that I know very well from the past. They’re great locker room guys. I think they’re going to help a lot. But I think our room in here should be very confident moving forward. We can push for the playoffs and make the playoffs. And once we get in, we’ll hopefully do some damage. So I was fired up about it.”
Werenski believes these kind of moves are helping the Blue Jackets build a winning culture. While every situation is different, the message from the top is now finish the job. That’s exactly what Werenski wants to hear.
“In terms of guys coming here later on, I hope everyone wants to come here. I hope we make it a destination where guys want to come play. I think that comes with success on the ice though. The business side of it’s a part of it as well. The majority of guys want to go to winning teams and winning cultures. We want to build that here. I think we’re well on our way doing that.”