Blue Jackets acquire Luke Kunin from Sharks
The Columbus Blue Jackets have made their first buy at the trade deadline, acquiring center Luke Kunin from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round pick.
Obviously I meant Blue Jackets, typo! https://t.co/CdHRJjrVFU
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 7, 2025Kunin is currently on a one-year, $2.75 million contract, and is set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, so with the Sharks well out of the playoff race, they were looking to sell off any UFAs that teams were interested in. Kunin was ranked 23rd on Daily Faceoff insider Frank Seravalli’s Trade Targets list ahead of the deadline.
Kunin had been held out of the lineup for Thursday’s 7-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche as a precaution for any incoming trade.
With the Sharks having all of their salary retention spots occupied by Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl, no salary will be retained on Kunin’s contract unless a third-party broker is involved.
It’s not confirmed whether the fourth-round pick is the Blue Jackets pick or the St. Louis Blues pick that they acquired in the Alexandre Texier trade.
With this deal, the Blue Jackets get a solid middle-six depth forward with a bit of playoff experience to add to a young team on the rise and on the verge of making their first playoff appearance since 2020.
Kunin has had one of his more productive seasons with 11 goals and 7 assists for 18 points in 63 games this season with the Sharks. He’s only 4 goals away from his career high achieved in 2019-20, although he’s still on pace to fall short of the 31 points he had that season.
Kunin was originally the 15th-overall pick of the Minnesota Wild at the 2016 NHL Draft, making his debut with the team in 2017-18 and spending three seasons with the team before he was dealt to the Nashville Predators in 2020. He spent two seasons with the Preds before he was traded to the Sharks in 2022, where he spent parts of three seasons before this current deal.
Kunin will hope to make his Blue Jackets debut when they visit the New York Rangers on Sunday at 6 p.m. EST.