The Columbus Blue Jackets remain the only franchise in the NHL right now that hasn't had a post-season birth. But with a slew of off-season changes and upgrades, we've seen them become legitimate playoff contenders here in the West. Credit has to go to former Oilers assistant GM Scott Howson, who was able to transform himself from a capologist to a legitimate hockey mind during his tenure here.
Entering the 2007 off-season, Howson had a disaster on his hands. The Blue Jackets were not only basement-dwellers, they were stagnating as a team in terms of player development and overall outlook. Former GM Doug McLean had failed to fulfill any of the pre-expansion promise he had shown before the team had materialized, and after 7 years of failure, it was time for a change.
Although the Jackets didn't improve at all last year, Howson and Co. were able to make some changes that not only opened up tons of cap space for the team, but improved their outlook heading into this offseason. Here are a few of the moves:
2007-2008
1) Signed Jan Hejda to a 1-year deal, before extending him for 3 more
-Hejda is arguably one of the NHL's best defensive defenseman, and will be a rock for years to come on the CBJ blue-line
2) Signed Jiri Novotny to a 2-year deal, and Chimera to a 4-year extension
-Novotny emerged as a solid 4th-line player for the Jackets last season, and put up 22 pts. One of the league's most underrated 3rd liners, Chimera is a solid 2-way presence
3) Dealt both Adam Foote and Sergei Fedorov at the deadline for a 1st and 2nd pick, respectively
-Major salary unload, while opening up roster space for next year, and grabbing solid picks to build up the prospects.
With some key components re-signed, and plenty of cap room freed up, Howson made his moves in the 2008 offseason:
2008 offseason
4) Signed Mike Commodore to a 5-year contract
-Commodore struggled to find his niche with Philips and Volchenkov already occupying it with the Senators, but should be a dominant force along with Hejda over this contract term at shutting down the opposition
5) Signed Kristian Huselius to a 4-year contract
-This granted Rick Nash his set-up man, and really helps boost the lacklustre offensive attack the BJ's had.
6) Traded Nikolai Zherdev for Christian Backman and Fedor Tyutin
-With Huselius signed, Howson moved Zherdev for 2 above-average defenders. Backman will help boost the break-out, while Tyutin's solid 2-way play adds to the top-4 in Columbus. This more than makes up for the loss of Ron Hainsey, who signed an inflated contract with the Thrashers
7) Traded for the rights to R.J Umberger, and signed him to a 4-year contract.
-This move gives them depth down the middle, and Umberger, with his untapped offensive potential, should have legitimate chances to shine alongside Nash and/or Huselius
8) Signed Mike Peca and Mike York to cheap, cheap deals
-These two players, although their careers are taking dives, will provide great leadership, depth, and some solid bottom-6 play when the BJ's need it.
9) Traded Gilbert Brule to the Oilers for Raffi Torres.
-They got rid of essentially a dead-end prospect in Brule for a proven 20-goal scorer in Raffi Torres. Both of these guys needed a change of scenery. Torres will get plenty of chance to shine in the top-6, and should return to 20+ form.
10) Re-signed Pascal Leclaire to a 3-year contract
-The guy emerged as a legitimate starter with the BJ's last season. He's young, he's fresh, and Howson got the deal done before his value skyrocketed.
With these 10 moves, Howson has created a legit playoff team here. Not only are a lot of these guys underrated (Hejda for example), but they have great coach in Hitchcock to help them further improve.
Nash Umberger Huselius
Torres Malhotra Voracek
Chimera Peca Novotny
Brassard Murray Filatov
Svitov
York
Hejda Commodore
Klesla Tyutin
Backman Russell
Tollefsson
Leclaire
Norrena
How about that, that gives the Blue Jackets plenty of room to work with their young players, while they have solid guys like Huselius and Commodore around to lead them. This team is going to grow, and if not this year, will be serious contenders in the years to come with the prospects they're accumulating and with the great leadership of Scotty Howson.
2 comments:
CBJ fan here - great writeup, just wanted to mention two things.
1) You're also forgetting about keeping Freddy Modin - should he stay healthy this year after getting his back fixed up, that's another 30+ point scorer added back into the lineup.
2) Derrick Brassard is coming up. Don't be surprised to see him centering the 2nd line.
3)Svitov's really not on the org chart after he went to Omsk last year. I know the CBJ technically have him under contract for one more year, but nobody here is expecting him to return from the KHL.
4) I'm surprised you didn't talk more about drafting Nikita Filatov - it was a risky move, but getting him out of Russia seems to be going at full steam ahead, and he could easily be a breakout
talent in a year or two.
Forwards will probably look more like this:
Nash Umberger Huselius
Modin Brassard Torres
Chimera Peca Voracek
Murray Malhotra Boll
Novotny and Filatov are probably starting next year in the A, but we'll see....camp's had surprises before.
Yeah, they're a better team, but I think they're still a year away from a playoff spot. Teams like the Oilers and Blackhawks are going to snap up vacant playoff spots this year, and I think Columbus still needs to gain a bit more offensive depth. Also, other than their goaltending, what's a real area of strength? Their offense still looks a little shallow (though not impotent), and they don't seem to have a real go-to guy on the back end.
This is a team that is going to challenge for a spot, but I don't think they're quite good enough to take a spot... this year.
Howson has done an amazing job though. Just a series of smart, effective moves.
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