Late last night the Blue Jackets completed a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins, sending Trevor Letowski and Richard Jackman to Pittsburgh in exchange for Ossi Vaananen and Lasse Pirjeta. According to the media, GM Graeme Dickson has been interested in Vaananen for quite some time, however has never been able to strike a deal until now.
"Ossi is still maturing in the league, and we believe he's going to be a workhorse for the team for years to come," said Dickson of Vaananen's future in Columbus. "He's a big solid defensive defencemen, we needed that."
Vaananen was unable to be reached for comment.
Also picked up was Lasse Pirjeta who ended of the year strongly with Pittsburgh.
"Lasse is a guy that can contribute a bit on the offence, but we really picked him up to help our Penalty Kill," stated Dickson.