Jordan Laird at The Columbus Dispatch:

Some LGBTQ+ fans and community members say they are disappointed in the Columbus Blue Jackets for acquiring defenseman Ivan Provorov, who refused to wear a Pride Night jersey in January when he was with the Philadelphia Flyers. 

Mack Stryker, a 24-year-old Blue Jackets fan who lives in Columbus, was one of many who turned to Twitter on Tuesday to express their displeasure. Stryker, who identifies as nonbinary and as a lesbian, told The Dispatch they’re gauging how much to support the team after this. 

“What Provorov did wasn’t a crime,” Stryker said. “But when it goes against a league-wide effort to create a more inclusive environment, it’s a bit disappointing, especially for LGBTQ community members like me. And it doesn’t help I didn’t like the terms of the deal anyways.”

Could be a rough go for Provy’s dog, Drake the Pup Star. Will he receive more death threats on Instagram?

We should all be glad this isn’t the Flyers’ problem any longer. What a shit show the pride jersey thing was. Half of the NHL community wanted to ship him back to Russia and the other half went out and bought his jersey. Talk about a mess.

But it’s not just the LGBTQ thing, when you go down the list of responses to the Columbus trade announcement, another portion of fans just think it was a bad move. There was a lot of “fleeced” and similar responses, and they’re probably right because I’m not sure Provy was worth a first and a second. Maybe the Jackets’ are banking on the idea of Provy washing off the Flyer stank and finding the next level in a new environment. Could be something to that, the “change of scenery” angle, though the initial response seems to suggest that the Flyers came out on top in this deal.

Danny Briere really killed two birds with one stone here. He moved a top-pair defenseman in a three-team deal and got three players and three draft picks back. He also shipped the controversy to Ohio, so it’s their issue now. Great start to the rebuild. We are Flyered up.