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Columbus Blue Jackets (Official Thread)

The draft really doesn't concern me as most guys in the draft are 3-4 years away from making an impact anyway.

July 1st is what I'm concerned about now. The same needs that existed this past season still exist despite the fact that the Jackets were to make a big splash and sign some top shelf guys this summer.

I've looked at the list of UFA and RFA on TSN and I don't see a name that jumps out at me. I'd love to land a Jeff Carter (C) from Philly or Jay Bouwmeester on D, but I don't think their teams let them go.
 
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The draft really doesn't concern me as most guys in the draft are 3-4 years away from making an impact anyway.

July 1st is what I'm concerned about now. The same needs that existed this past season still exist despite the fact that the Jackets were to make a big splash and sign some top shelf guys this summer.

I've looked at the list of UFA and RFA on TSN and I don't see a name that jumps out at me. I'd love to land a Jeff Carter (C) from Philly or Jay Bouwmeester on D, but I don't think their teams let them go.
lets clarify. what are your expectations? jeff carter is going to resign in philly for 5m per for 3 years.

ill even rephrase that, would you epxect the browns to go out in free agency and get asant samuel, alan faneca, julius jones, randy moss and others? do you really expect to turn over 25% of your roster with a the top 2-3 players from other teams?
 
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jimotis4heisman;1190037; said:
lets clarify. what are your expectations? jeff carter is going to resign in philly for 5m per for 3 years.

ill even rephrase that, would you epxect the browns to go out in free agency and get asant samuel, alan faneca, julius jones, randy moss and others? do you really expect to turn over 25% of your roster with a the top 2-3 players from other teams?

I have no idea. I only know that management has said to the fans that they would be significantly upgrading the C position along with some D. What I'm saying is, don't put the expectations out there if you know there is a chance that you may not be able to fulfill those expectations. If there isn't a big splash to make then say that. How did Philly make their big turn around last season? They were awful two years ago. I think that's what Columbus fans feel is going to happen when they hear all of these great things about the coming summer (draft, UFA and FA signings).
 
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first on rj.

last year you had mike peca at the end of the year as the #1 pivot. great guy but in 65 nhl games he had 34 pts, 8 goals. rj had 50 last year during the regular season. plus 10 goals in the playoffs. id expect rj to have 20 goal season. hes better than anything columbus had a few days ago. no questions in my mind. hes a step in the process of making a columbus team that is harder to play against. hes big and physical. hes the king of player who when he goes at the net is difficult to stop.

nash/umberger/modin
6-4 230lbs/6-2 225lbs/6-4 225lbs.

thats a big big line folks. how do you think pat kane feels about that line cycling on the wall?

i dont think rjs ohio state history had all that much to do with it. id bank more on the history with hitch. dont get me wrong rj isnt the legi #1 many wanted. he is a guy who is willing to pay the price. hes 26 and late in this year got an audtion on the top 6 and produced. i have him penciled as a 2 to 2.5 centre. look at what has been assembled down in syracuse? a big, hard group of badasses who pay the price to win, score and intimidate.

umberger is a rfa july 1. so he needs re upped. malone and umberger are both represented by mike liut, in case anyone was wondering? link there, maybe. malone would be another hitch type player that would fit well in the modin spot.
 
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the flyers traded forsberg, zhitnik, calder. they picked up upshall, parent, picks, kukkonen, biron. they then swapped some picks and got in on timonen and hartnell on an early signing deal. both of whom are inked for 5 more years. they then picked up james vanriernsdyk (you have to say it as one word as fast as possible). in the fa market they tagged briere for 52m, flipped pitkanen for sanderson for jason smith and lupul.

in all honesty the jackets dont have the bullets for these types of moves.

what the jackets do have is a very very nice young core. better than the flyers had. i expect as ive said before 6-9 roster changes. weve seen a few...

vyborny-gone
umberger-in
hainsey-gone but hes stated he will let columbus counter offer
peca-gone


will you see brassard? jake? methot?

brassard had 15/36/51 in 42 games and was +9, 4/9/13 in the payoffs
will lindstrom re up and decide he wants a shot at the big club? could he fit the role opposite zherdev? 25/35/60 -12? or will he go home to europe?
pineaul 25/24/49 -1 in 74 games?
does 6-4 220 lbs tom sesito step up and become a heavier jared boll?
picard will be 22 when the season starts? does he come back from his knee surgery?

plekhanov 9/16/25 in 40 games +18 the suprise in last years late crunch run was the russian dman with a laser from the point.

can jake make the big club after a 100+ pts jr season?
 
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itis. but im also saying that some of the change will come from within.

simply stated the definition of free agency means you have to overpay. im fine with that. but in a market were the cap is likely not realistic how many fas can you have? how much can you overpay? id expect one nice name. 1 decent name and 1-2 that will underwhelm you. if we can piece the right pieces together this is a team that was competitive with detroit than probably any in hockey. nothing is promised or guranteed in this league. two years ago ottawa destroyed the pens in the first round, last year the sens were well not all that good, the pens rolled into the finals. they lose malone, roberts, laraque, oprik. thats a team that is much different. the next two years are very good years for free agency. i know its the same old same old. but do you want to be where we were last year and jan hejda and peca coming off a broken leg on an incentive based contract excite you?
 
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I haven't the slightest idea what to think. I want Columbus to be an attractive place for high profile FAs to look at. If they keep losing then that doesn't happen. I also don't want Columbus hockey to become irrelevant to the casual fan that the club is going to need in order to keep going. People have stopped going to Nationwide and that scares me.

What big name FA do you see coming (possibly) that could help the club immediately? I know that Umberger makes the club better, but does he have a big impact? I mean, on that line (with Nash and Modin) do you see his (RJs) numbers increasing dramatically along with Freddy's (assuming he can play more than 20 games this coming season)?

EDIT Also, is Voracek ready to play a full season with the big club? That kid makes me excited!
 
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increase drastically from 50 pts? columbus' 3rd best point scorer had 34 pts, five players went over 30 points. this team needs offense. now a question is are they not prducing it due to no scorers or no back end help. to often this the forwards are skating back to get the puck. that needs to improve.

i think he can. where he fits i dont know...

ill say this a large list of guys need to step up. not huge steps but incremental steps.
brule, played what 10mins last year. after being sent down on his 21st bday was the message taken? will he be able to find his scoring touch? the balance with his size of playing physical and playing around people? i think in the short term brule could have a greater defensive role if he embraces it. he has the speed to be paired with a younger player and begin to cover for some of their errors. but canhe show the resonisibility in his game to do that? veteran of 146 games its getting closer to put up or shut up time...

klesla i have him penciled as an nhl #3 dman. plays a top pairing role on columbus. after given the a he stepped his game up. march was his best month. needs to continue to elevate his game and must play with a smart physical presence. food for thought. last year when the jackets won rusty was +26 when they lost -19... in my view needs to step up and play to a top pairing potential. also it should be noted i think more offense on the top line will help rusty, he had 130 shots last year. that number should have generated more than 12 assists...

hejda plays a steady broing game. id like to see him generate more shots on goal. like klesal his +/- directly correlates to a win or loss +33/-13

russll, little shakes the nick name. but folks this is the nhl... played 14 mins a game last year. towards the end of the year stopped puttin the puck no net. kris will hopefully see dividends from the summer in columbus with increased strength. needs to put pucks on net. not a heavy shot but a nice quick shot and accurate shot when he plays with confidence.

methot/rome one of these two needs to step up. flatly said methot should have last year. he needs to make his presence felt at the nhl level. his consistency led to some of the late season success in the american league last year. one of the reasons i don not feel he was called up.

vorachek-hes an 8/89 birth kid, thatll make him 19 this year. i think hell be on the big club. i have him not in the top six.

brassard. point per game last year in cuse. second line at this point. unless movement is made. the club feels that jake and armband will make a good combo. the two are living togerther and working out this summer in columbus with the sc program.

lindstrom, lets face it its probably either the big club or back to sweden. its up to joakim at this point if you ask me..

zherdev. will he tak another step? will he be the leader of his line? what type of game will he play? dedicated two way game? will he play solid defence, backcheck? forecheck? can he be trusted with one of the young guns? if he shows defensive responsibility hell be rewarded offensively with skill (brassard, jake maybe nikita?)

picard, after a season with vertigo, one with a blown out knee will he show? has hit abou the 30 pt mark in the ahl twice. can he elvate, will he force himself into a bottom six role in columbus? has more offensive upside than some of the bottom six in columbus but has not been able to stay healthy and provide consistency.

fritsche. parama is no longer the local boy. rj steals that. plays all 3 forward positions. danny needs to chip in more offensively. i see him on the speed line (fritsche/malhotra/chimmer)

pineault/dorsett/sestito? will we see one of these guys be this years boll and force themselves into a role?

boll, lets face it hes not a heavy weight. hes your agitator. he likes to stir the pot and doesnt hurt you offensively. does he have the ability to go from a 10 pt player to 30? like a sean avery?

nash, lets face it. its ricks club. the pressures on. he doesnt have his legit #1 pivot. will the jumbo line wear teams down? more importantly rick has taken the c. can he sell his club and his team to free agents? can he march his team forward as a leader? will his own game progress?
 
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I like the Friday night moves. I'm against the idea of making a splash just or the sake of making a splash. No need to make a one-sided trade just to say you made a trade. Don't over-spend for under-performers.

Tentative breakdown of the lines at this point:

Nash-Umberger-Modin
Zherdev-Brassard?/Brule?/Novotny?-Voracek?
Chimera-Malhotra-Fritsche
Picard?-Murray--Boll

Good size, strength, ability to finish on the top line.
2nd line - who the hell knows. Could be good offensively and mediocre on defense. Could be mediocre offensively and terribly defensively. This is the line, IMO, that needs the most work. There are plenty of decent 3rd and 4th line guys on the roster, and enough Top-6 talent to fill one scoring line, but not enough to fill 2. If one of Brassard or Brule could show something, that would be huge, but I'm not fond of the idea of going into the season with 2 unproven players on the 2nd line. Adding a 1/2 center in FA would be huge. Either to fill out this line or top be up top and let Umberger drop down.

3rd line - know what you're going to get from this lot. Energy, speed, good cycling, some scoring, and the occasional defensive lapse.

4th line - Murray and Boll both showed well last year. Finding another gritty guy, maybe with a touch for scoring. Picard? Brule? Drop Fristche or Malhotra a line?


Klesla-Hejda - pretty solid pairing. Ideally this would be 3/4 rather than 1/2 but.....
OKT-Methot-Rome-Russell-Wilson --- Are Methot/Rome/Wilson ready? Can Russell play well enough defensively?

A couple of stay-at home guys in Hejda and OKT. A pretty good 2-way in Klesla. Really need some more offense out of this entire lot. 47 total points out of all returning d-men? Ouch....

I'm surprised they aren't working to keep Hainsey......

I'm looking forward to see what Howson puts together here. I much prefer his style and demeanor to Dougie's. Seems like a more calm and analytical manner for handling things.
 
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