Just before the trade deadline the Blue Jackets sent a fourth round pick to San Jose to acquire Luke Kunin on an expiring deal. Kunin had previously played under Evason when he was an assistant coach at Minnesota and was prized by Waddell at the time for his versatility when the main squad was rather banged up. Here’s Waddell’s quote on the acquisition:
“Luke is a versatile forward who can play down the middle or on the wing, kills penalties and has tremendous character and work ethic. He has been a very consistent player throughout his career and we think he’ll be a good addition to our club.”
2024-25 Stats
Full season stats are listed with CBJ specific stats in parentheses. Kunin played 12 games for the CBJ.
Goals: 11 (0)
Assists: 7 (0)
Points: 18 (0)
Plus/Minus: -28 (-4)
PIM: 55 (9)
5v5 Corsi %: 41.5 (51.1)%
5v5 Fenwick %: 39.9 (52)%
5v5 O-Zone Start %: 43.4 (33.3)%
Contract
Luke Kunin was largely acquired because of his expiring 2 year contract that paid an annual average of 2.75M. He is not under contract with Columbus and I would be surprised to see him retained.
High Point
Full transparency, I did not watch Luke Kunin in San Jose but since he didn’t score any points while here, I assume his high point was the two goals he scored for the Sharks in a close loss against Carolina on December 10th.
Low Point
Luke Kunin was scratched on April 5th and would not see the ice for the final 8 games of the season. A stretch where the CBJ went 6-2-0 and almost made the playoffs.
Report Card
D?
I cannot speak for his time in San Jose, and I understood the acquisition at the time due to the injuries, but it is hard to say that Kunin provided value and may have hurt this team’s playoff chances. In his 12 games for the CBJ, Columbus posted a 4-7-1 record (with two shootout wins) and scored an average of 3 goals per game. That last number even includes two games against bad opponents (NYR and NSH) where the team scored 7 and 8 goals but is held down by 3 shutouts. Kunin scored no points in his 12 games for the Jackets and that’s the problem.
Looking at his possession metrics, Kunin actually did a good job influencing play in the correct direction, the problem is that his inclusion in the lineup came at the expense of players like JVR who could provide offense at a time when the team needed it the most. Kunin is a fine bottom 6 player himself, but was perhaps the opposite of what the team needed at the time. The kind of acquisition a team makes to bolster out their playoff depth, not one made by a team that needs to make a push. It’s hard to grade the player in a vacuum when the impact of who he replaced may have been the biggest impact.