Columbus Blue Jackets (Official Thread)

[ScriptOhio]

Brian Boucher to the Jackets off waivers. I believe he was with the Blackhawks.

Ironic: Drafted 22nd overall by Philadelphia in 1995, Boucher went just 1-10-3 with a 3.26 goals-against average and .884 save percentage in 15 games with Chicago this season. His lone victory was a shutout over Columbus on November 12.

 

[ysubuck]

His lone victory was over the Blue Jackets??

Hardly a claim to fame!!

 

[jimotis4heisman]

sorry i was away all day guys. looks like you did a little homework on your own.

berard cleared waivers. i really expected him to be waived again and picked up by someone and see some bogus bs trade with that team didnt happen i guess as they most not have thought that he could make it all the way through the rankings to a playoff team without being claimed at half price.

jackets essentially save a couple bucks and pick up a fifth in the boucher deal.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

JO,
So this season is unofficially over. Very disappointing, to say the least.

What needs to happen in the off season to make this a play off team, in your opinion?

I'm pretty confident that the core of the team isn't going to change (Nash, Zherdev, Foote, LeClair, Modin, Fedorov). Is there an immediate contributor available this year in the draft a la Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin?

Can an off season and training camp under Hitchcock turn things around?

ill do a draft little write up sometime soon for you guys. currently im spending a little free time (that usually goes to general bp surfing and down time to do a little prospects thread).

hitch said we he took the job it was a 12 to 18 month process. he also seems to think its a few players (all though upper level players) that seperate us from a playoff team.

i wouldnt see the "young core" going anywhere soon.

in general the draft is seen as not many high impact players. the ratings on the guys are all over the place. right now a russian is probably considered the best player in the draft. the only problem is hes russian. you have to deal with some sort of transfer agreement which without an iihf contract in place right now can end up a giant headache (zherdev and even in the malkin case in which law suits occurred).


right now i would really expect two free agent signings this summer. ive already thrown together a list of the guys who are ufas. which guys and what the price will be will be a thing with flex that happens when free agency starts july 1.

as i project it now i would say a #1 centre and a #2 dman are likely to be signed. but who knows what happens or if well see another trade after someone hoists the cup.

again maybe if i have time in a couple of weeks ill throw together a group of names who fit the #1c and top line dman mold and what it might cost. but we have some cap room for next year. even with the six mil for feds and 4mil and change for footer on the books.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Two late goals by Nash are not enough
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

• Two late goals by Nash are not enough
• Jackets unload Conklin, claim Boucher off waivers
• Game wrap-up
• Next game
• Season status report

DENVER ? For 58 minutes, this was just another ugly Blue Jackets loss in a season full of them. Then it started to turn. The Blue Jackets, fueled by frustration and prodded by a fed-up coach Ken Hitchcock, made Colorado Avalanche fans streaming out of Pepsi Center hit the brakes and grab a seat.

Continued.....

 

[jimotis4heisman]

just a few interesting clips from that article

"It’s typical," Hitchcock said. "Your best players have to come through, especially on the road, and especially your skill players. There’s a larger issue here, though. We have too many passengers from a competitive standpoint, still. We still don’t have enough people who know how, or are willing to, compete at a level on the road that’s necessary to win.
"There’s a price to pay to win on the road. A heavy price. We just don’t have enough doing it yet."

"When Nash got his emotional level up, he was a bigger factor in the game," Hitchcock said.

"It was a frustrating night for me personally," Nash said. "And a frustrating night for the team. We didn’t get anything going until late. We needed to start it a little earlier. We needed to be better right from the start."

i didnt catch the whole game last night. i did catch nash breaking his stick on the boards after bering driven into the stanchion after paying the price to make a pass to see his effort go for nothing. youve seen a more emotional, physical nash lately. and last night after his first goal (the deflection) i saw his swagger back. something you havent seen all year.

what does this mean, nothing? or maybe its a kid who is starting to come of age. time will tell. but i think the corner is turning with rick. i think realities may be setting in on what it takes at this level. atleast thats my optimisitc view.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

centers

ufa options
daniel briere(either)
chris drury(or)
scot gomez
paval datsyuk (likely will be resigned)
then
guys like yanic perreault


dman
tom pressing
kimmo timonen
sami salo
brian raflaski
lubomir visnosky



i have the cap at 50 mill with the jackets probably spending or being able to spend to 40ish

currently we have this on the books
http://www.hockeyanalysis.com/?page_id=357
or 28mill
plus modins 3.25 hit
so 31and change
plus what svitov is signed for(say a mil or so likely a little less) [rfa]
plus duvie if he is resigned[rfa]
plus okt [rfa]
etc etc


so i really dont know if thats in the pocket books or if a trade will occur or what. the finances are very interesting.

http://www.forecaster.ca/hockeynews/hockey/_7irw6govkze9/extras.cgi?sal-west#CBJ

edit: the formatting sucks but im going to leave it. you can still get the point. or you can clicke the link above

Columbus Blue Jackets

NHL
Age
'06-07
'07-08
'08-09
'09-10
'10-11
'11-12
'12-13

Sergei Fedorov, C
37 6,080
6,080

Adam Foote, D
35 4,600
4,600

Rick Nash, LW
23 4,500
5,500
6,500
7,000

Bryan Berard, D
30 2,500

Fredrik Modin, LW
32 2,204
3,250
3,250
3,250

David Vyborny, C
32 2,200
2,200

Nikolai Zherdev, LW
22 1,750
2,500
3,250

Rostislav Klesla, D
25 1,050
1,450
1,650
2,250

Manny Malhotra, C
27 900
1,200
1,500

Gilbert Brule, C
20 850
850
765

Alexander Svitov, C
24 800

Jason Chimera, LW
28 750
1,000

Fredrik Norrena, G
33 750
800
900

Pascal Leclaire, G
24 700
1,400

Curtis Glencross, LW
24 665

Jody Shelley, LW
31 600
650

Anders Eriksson, D
32 600

Ron Hainsey, D
26 575
900

Marc Methot, D
22 575
475

Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, D
23 526

Duvie Westcott, D
29 500
1,100
1,850
1,850

Brian Boucher, G
30 475

Dan Fritsche, C
21 475
750

Aaron Johnson, D
24 450

Geoff Platt, C
21 450
525

Minor League
Age
'06-07
'07-08
'08-09
'09-10
'10-11
'11-12
'12-13

Alexandre Picard, LW
21 984
984

Joakim Lindstrom, RW
23 700

Adam Pineault, RW
20 650
500
500

Zenon Konopka, C
26 500
500

Daniel LaCosta, G
20 500
525
525

Tomas Popperle, G
22 500
500

Ryan Caldwell, D
25 495

Andrew Murray, C
25 490

Filip Novak, D
24 475
500

Jamie Pushor, D
34 475

Janne Hauhtonen, C
27 475

Trevor Hendrikx, D
21 470
495
475

Petr Pohl, RW
20 465
490
475

Derrick Walser, D
28 450

Tim Konsorada, RW
22 450

Steven Goertzen, RW
22 450

Philippe Dupuis, C
21 450
475

2007 Summer​

Unrestricted Free Agent
Bryan Berard, D
Anders Eriksson, D
Ryan Caldwell, D (VI)
Brian Boucher, G
Jamie Pushor, D
Janne Hauhtonen, C
Derrick Walser, D
Restricted Free Agent
Alexander Svitov, C
Joakim Lindstrom, RW
Curtis Glencross, LW
Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, D
Andrew Murray, C
Tim Konsorada, RW
Aaron Johnson, D
Steven Goertzen, RW

2008 Summer​

Unrestricted Free Agent
Sergei Fedorov, C
Adam Foote, D
David Vyborny, C
Jason Chimera, LW
Ron Hainsey, D
Jody Shelley, LW
Zenon Konopka, C
Restricted Free Agent
Pascal Leclaire, G
Alexandre Picard, LW
Dan Fritsche, C
Geoff Platt, C
Tomas Popperle, G
Filip Novak, D
Marc Methot, D
Philippe Dupuis, C

2009 Summer​

Unrestricted Free Agent
Manny Malhotra, C
Fredrik Norrena, G
Restricted Free Agent
Nikolai Zherdev, LW
Gilbert Brule, C
Kyle Wharton, D
Kris Russell, D
Daniel LaCosta, G
Adam Pineault, RW
Petr Pohl, RW
Trevor Hendrikx, D

bk or 80 or anyone else on thoughts/costs/guys who i might have missed or forgotten?

 

[Mike80]

I'm pretty sure Ryan Smyth will be a UFA here this summer (was just traded to the Isles)....

I think Datsyuk will be resigned before the playoffs start. I think Detroit's trade of Jason Williams will free up enough cap space that they will resign Datsyuk and Lang and then go after another scorer with some grit like a Bertuzzi if he shows well or a Smyth....

Don't be surprised if Columbus makes a run for defense this summer. That is Hitchcock's forte AND what the Blue Jackets need most.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

smyths a winger i dont see that as an option and likely hell fetch big time money.

off the top of my head the lines could look something like

nash/ufa/vyborny
modin/feds/zherdev
chimmer/manny/fritsche
picard/plarr/brule
shelley
or
nash/ufa/vyborny
modin/feds/brule
z/svitov/fritsche
chimmer/manny/pic
shelley


foote/klesla
hainsey/aj
okt/youngster
or
ufa/klesla
foote/hainsey
okt/aj or youngster


pascal/norrena

 

[Mike80]

Maybe....

But if someone like Smyth is wanting to come to your club, you make room for him.

He's going to make a ton of money, but he'd really liven up the lines....

 

[jimotis4heisman]

i agree, but i doubt hell "want" to be in columbus. wed have to overpay in a bidding war to get him.


also of note pascal has been shut down for the year.


also like i said before for a team like columbus its so hard to predict what is going to happen in the summer. trades, ufa values etc havent been set. columbus doesnt have the detriot/leafs etc power to drive those markets (atleast at this point) time will tell.

the one thing i really take away from this past week is footer wouldnt waive his ntc and modin wanted to be resigned. so either these two guys think theyve got it soft easy and cush in columbus or these two guys known for thier hard worker, being warriors, being winners see a team on the verge of something... which one is true time will tell.

 

[Mike80]

i agree, but i doubt hell "want" to be in columbus. wed have to overpay in a bidding war to get him.


also of note pascal has been shut down for the year.


also like i said before for a team like columbus its so hard to predict what is going to happen in the summer. trades, ufa values etc havent been set. columbus doesnt have the detriot/leafs etc power to drive those markets (atleast at this point) time will tell.

the one thing i really take away from this past week is footer wouldnt waive his ntc and modin wanted to be resigned. so either these two guys think theyve got it soft easy and cush in columbus or these two guys known for thier hard worker, being warriors, being winners see a team on the verge of something... which one is true time will tell.

I'd rather be in Columbus than, say, St. Louis, for example.

We'll see how things shake out.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

oh me too. that was aimed to show my optimism. i see a young core of top level guys already playing up here, with a bunch of grinders and role players in the works. time will tell, i was optimistic for the first time last year...

http://stats.theahl.com/hm/transactions.php
zenon konopka has been recalled from cuse.

 

[Mike80]

oh me too. that was aimed to show my optimism. i see a young core of top level guys already playing up here, with a bunch of grinders and role players in the works. time will tell, i was optimistic for the first time last year...

http://stats.theahl.com/hm/transactions.php
zenon konopka has been recalled from cuse.

Konopka could be good for the Blue Jackets.

I think Columbus needs someone either internally or through FA to shoulder the load a bit with Nash in terms of being the superstar....

 

[jimotis4heisman]

Konopka could be good for the Blue Jackets.

I think Columbus needs someone either internally or through FA to shoulder the load a bit with Nash in terms of being the superstar....

like either one of the briere/drury (which ever one doesnt resign with the sabres)

weve seen it here in columbus a lot, they bring in the second level center and it doesnt work. (sillingers,cassels, hrdina etc) i dont care what anyone says i have a hard time questioning rick nash's speed, size, skill, shot, passing ability etc. i just wish he could/would play with a top flight centre.

is that what you mean or something else? or just in general get some of the 'pressure' of the 22 year old?