Columbus Blue Jackets Trade Adam Cracknell to St. Louis Blues
By Dave Knoch
While the Interwebs were all aflutter in response to the Columbus Blue Jackets trading away sidelined winger Nathan Horton to the Toronto Maple Leafs for much-maligned forward David Clarkson on Thursday, little attention was given to an earlier trade by the Blue Jackets that sent minor-league winger Adam Cracknell to the St. Louis Blues for future considerations.
A ninth round pick of the Calgary Flames in the 2004 NHL Draft, Cracknell had been claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings on October 7th and made his debut with the Blue Jackets on October 23rd against the San Jose Sharks. In 17 games with Columbus, the Saskatchewan native tallied an assist and two penalty minutes.
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Placed on waivers on January 5th, Cracknell cleared the next day and was assigned to the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League where, over the course of 18 games, he scored 3 goals and 7 assists with 2 penalty minutes.
Cracknell does have a history with the Blues, spending the first four years of his career in that organization including 65 NHL games with the parent team. For now, the Blues have assigned Cracknell to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.
The value of this trade for the Jackets obviously remains to be seen, unlike the Horton-Clarkson trade which unquestionably favors Toronto, but it seems clear that trading away a minor-league journeyman was a good move in anticipation of reaping the draft benefits of a spoiled season. Cracknell sure appears to think so.