Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen isn't concerned with his team's depth down the middle.
Kekalainen dealt 23-year-old pivot Ryan Johansen last season to the Nashville Predators for Seth Jones, and disputes the notion the team still lacks a No. 1 center.
"People might say that we don't have a first-line center," Kekalainen said, according to Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. "But I think we have real solid, 200-foot centers."
Columbus is likely to roll out Boone Jenner, Brandon Dubinsky, and Alexander Wennberg down the middle, with Gregory Campbell and William Karlsson also available.
Kekalainen went so far as to challenge Karlsson's game to motivate him.
"I think William Karlsson is going to get a lot better," Kekalainen said. "I challenged him at the year-end meeting, just asked him: 'Do you want to be a fourth-line center for the rest of your life?'"
