Cam Atkinson does not seem happy about his last couple of years in Columbus

For the first time since his NHL playing career began in 2011, Cam Atkinson will be wearing a jersey other than the Columbus Blue Jackets' next season. The 32-year-old, who was drafted by Columbus in the 6th round (157th overall) in 2011, was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Jakub Voracek on Saturday. After hearing of the trade, Atkinson gave a statement to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic and seemed somewhat bitter about his last couple of seasons in Ohio.

"I'm a loyal guy, but at some point it gets to a point where losing isn't fun for anyone. It's not fun to come to the rink and be part of that, no matter how old you are or what leadership role you're in," said Atkinson. "Who knows how the Blue Jackets are going to do his year? It's pretty obvious what they're doing right now. I've seen all my best buddies leave. That was tough to say the least."

Since being involved in a surprise sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning two seasons ago in the first round of the playoffs, Columbus has lost names like Sergei Bobrovsky, Artemi Panarin, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Seth Jones, Ryan Murray. Alexander Wennberg, David Savard, Nick Foligno, Matt Duchene, Josh Anderson and several others. It's clear the team is in rebuild mode right now, something Atkinson has gone through in Columbus before and doesn't seem all that keen on going through again.

"We can talk about the Flyers and how they're making a lot of changes as well, but it seems like they're making changes to bring in a veteran presence, leaders, older leaders who know how to play the right way," Atkinson said.

You can't help but wonder if coach John Tortorella was a factor in the apparent breakdown of the Columbus locker room. Tortorella won't be back next season after he and the Blue Jackets agreed to not sign an extension at the end of this season. But it's clear many players weren't interested in staying in Columbus over the last two seasons, with several choosing to leave in free agency and several others demanding a trade.

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