2013-2014 Columbus Blue Jackets

[Timeless Winter]

Need a top line winger.
Umby will be traded or bought out.
Other than that everyone will be back sans Aucoin.

 

[Sore Loser]

SL- Interesting breakdown with cap figures to back it up....

Question: In your opinion is Elias Lindholm NHL ready? How does he compare to Gabriel Landeskog? He might be a guy we can target if we trade up to say 7 or 8? If he's still there....

I know these aren't Canadian guys but I still would like your thoughts.

I just think it's important to get somebody than give us some punch sooner than later.

I fear we can't keep winning these low scoring games with regularity in an 82 game season.

Sometimes, you don't have to be competitive for all 82 games ... you just have to find a way into the playoffs, where it's proven year after year that, defense and systems wins championships.

To answer your other question directly, I think there is only (maybe) two or three guys that are capable of helping out immediately, and unfortunately, we won't find ourselves in a position to draft any of them. Unless the miraculous happens, and we win the lottery... Lindholm is a guy that can be a difference maker for us in 2-3 years. If we find someone willing to deal out of a spot to select him, and the price isn't too exorbitant, then I think we could definitely benefit from getting him. What would I give up? Maybe the 14th pick and a second rounder. No way do I trade two first rounders to move up 6-7 spots in this draft.

And as for the not Canadian thing - I'm not completely set on Canadians, it's just what I know and follow the most ... Actually, I love the way the Swedes and Finns play the game, as it's very close to the North American style.

I highly doubt that we spend our first pick on a kid old enough to play in Springfield

Agreed. The only exception would be drafting a European player whose rights aren't held by any CHL or collegiate teams ... and then convincing said player to give up guaranteed money in Europe to come over and play for less in the AHL.

 

[XLJ]

Trade for a young top 6 forward. Jarmo has to try to make a JVR or James Neal type of trade.

XXX-Anisimov-Gaborik
Calvert-Dubinsky-Atkinson
Prospal-Johansen-Letestu
Foligno-Mackenzie-Boll
Umberger

Or if the top 6 forward is a center you can move Dubi back to the wing.

Dubinsky-XXX-Gaborik
Calvert-Anisimov-Atkinson
Prospal-Johansen-Letestu
Foligno-Mackenzie-Boll

 

[CBJWerenski8]

With the cap going down, teams will be begging to get rid of high contract numbers. That is where we will strike. Trade a first for a top line winger (not our 14th overall) and then try to sign one of the better free agent forwards. Since alot of the big markets won't have the money to sign them, they will have no choice but to go to us.

 

[Sore Loser]

Trade for a young top 6 forward. Jarmo has to try to make a JVR or James Neal type of trade.

XXX-Anisimov-Gaborik
Calvert-Dubinsky-Atkinson
Prospal-Johansen-Letestu
Foligno-Mackenzie-Boll
Umberger

Or if the top 6 forward is a center you can move Dubi back to the wing.

Dubinsky-XXX-Gaborik
Calvert-Anisimov-Atkinson
Prospal-Johansen-Letestu
Foligno-Mackenzie-Boll

With the cap going down, teams will be begging to get rid of high contract numbers. That is where we will strike. Trade a first for a top line winger (not our 14th overall) and then try to sign one of the better free agent forwards. Since alot of the big markets won't have the money to sign them, they will have no choice but to go to us.

I ask you both:

1. Who do you see as available, that fits this bill and doesn't require us paying out the backside?
2. Where do we find the cap space to sign them? As I mentioned above, we're looking at roughly $5-7m to bring in a backup goalie and whatever other roster players we're looking at bringing in.

I would love to think that we can afford to take on some salary, but really it's hard to see how or why we would. The only realm of possibility I see this happening in is if we buy out one or more guys ... which is certainly possible, but also requires ownership stepping up and dumping even more money into a rebuilding team.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

I ask you both:

1. Who do you see as available, that fits this bill and doesn't require us paying out the backside?
2. Where do we find the cap space to sign them? As I mentioned above, we're looking at roughly $5-7m to bring in a backup goalie and whatever other roster players we're looking at bringing in.

I would love to think that we can afford to take on some salary, but really it's hard to see how or why we would. The only realm of possibility I see this happening in is if we buy out one or more guys ... which is certainly possible, but also requires ownership stepping up and dumping even more money into a rebuilding team.

1. UFA wise, I see Derek Roy, Michael Ryder, Viktor Stalberg, Mason Raymond, Nathan Horton, and possibly Valturri Filpulla as options on teams with low cap space who won't be able to retain their players in all likelyhood. Maybe even take a flier on Danny Briere if he'd come cheap (since he is a likely buyout.) Setoguchi from Minnesota, Marleau from San Jose. Marleau won't come cheap, especially if SJ is an early exit, but we could get him if we wanted to.

2. Like you said we need to focus on retaining our guys first, let's assume Prospal and Aucoin come back and Prospal gets 3 million for a year and Aucoin gets his same deal at 2 million. Bob at 5 million, Comeau at 1 million. Savard, Goloubef, and the rest of the AHL guys will come cheaper. So that's at about 57 million on the cap, 7 million to spend that summer. I know you have to spend wisely as Gaborik (who Im not sure will even stay/be traded soon.), Johansen, and others. But we have alot of wiggle room.

 

[major major]

1. UFA wise, I see Derek Roy, Michael Ryder, Viktor Stalberg, Mason Raymond, Nathan Horton, and possibly Valturri Filpulla as options on teams with low cap space who won't be able to retain their players in all likelyhood. Maybe even take a flier on Danny Briere if he'd come cheap (since he is a likely buyout.) Setoguchi from Minnesota, Marleau from San Jose. Marleau won't come cheap, especially if SJ is an early exit, but we could get him if we wanted to.

2. Like you said we need to focus on retaining our guys first, let's assume Prospal and Aucoin come back and Prospal gets 3 million for a year and Aucoin gets his same deal at 2 million. Bob at 5 million, Comeau at 1 million. Savard, Goloubef, and the rest of the AHL guys will come cheaper. So that's at about 57 million on the cap, 7 million to spend that summer. I know you have to spend wisely as Gaborik (who Im not sure will even stay/be traded soon.), Johansen, and others. But we have alot of wiggle room.

I'm not sure how you came up with $7 million to spare. This is how I do the numbers on capgeek (ignore my lines if you don't like 'em):

Foligno-Anisimov($3.5M)- Gaborik
Calvert-Dubinsky-Atkinson
Comeau($1.25M)-Johansen-Letestu
Boll-Mackenzie-Prospal($1.5M)-RJ

Johnson-Tyutin
Wiz-Prout
Erixon-Murray
Nikitin

Bob ($5M)
? ($1M)

Total salary cap payroll over $62M, less than $2 million to spare. We can still put together $4M or so for a Horton or a Ryder for the top line wing, but we would have to either buyout RJ, or more plausibly move Nikitin and let Prospal go, or keep Murray in the AHL.

 

[ThisIsMyAlibi]

I doubt there will be many takers considering his contract

Buy his ass out.

 

[EDM]

Very interesting discussion guys. What strikes me is the impact that this new lower salary cap is going to have throughout the league. Wonder what Minny will do with those tow huge contracts for Suter and Parisee hanging on them.

 

[mt-svk]

The problem is that Lokomotiv Yaroslavl wants to give Artem Anisimov big money to leave in KHL. I hope that Artem will stay in our club but....I am not so sure.

 

[Xoggz22]

As others have said, I think it's too early to contemplate lines, etc. but I do think you can look at the current roster and based on historical play or even higher expectations for next year, the holes are pretty obvious. This is one of the lowest scoring teams in the NHL. I don't expect Bob to be all wordly for an 82 game season and while I think he's a #1 goalie, I don't know that it's realistic to expect his numbers to match this year. If that is how it plays out we'll nee more scoring. Many may not agree but when I assess the offensive talent (based on classic NHL "line" thinking) this is what I see on this team:

1st LW - 1st C - Gaborik
2nd LW (Foligno/Dubinsky?)- Anisimov/Dubinsky/Johansen - Atkinson
Calvert/Umberger - Letestu - Prospal
4th LW - MacKenzie - Boll

Clearly we have players (ie. 3 likely 2nd line centers) that can fill some spots that I've listed (my opinion only) as open. There is also the potential that a guy like Jenner could push MacKenzie to LW on the 4th line. I guess what I was getting at is that next year I don't see enough top 6 talent to really push other teams into matchup issues. I could even make the case that Dubinsky and Anisimov are more the level of 3rd line centers but Dubi's contributions on the score sheet at the end of the season and Arty's apparent skill made me think they are more likely 2nd line/top 6 guys than just a top 9 addition.

What I see is some redundancy and some holes. We may actually see one of those centers as part of a deal with a 1st to get higher end talent. Maybe a 1st can land a top 6 wing that can have an offensive impact. What I don't want is a team gutted that has started to build an identity. If that means we have guys playing higher up in the lineup while we draft 3 players this year for help in 2-3 years, so be it. I'm not sure we'll see the same magic next year but we certainly have started something. RJ seems the most likely to move but also the most difficult.

It will certainly be an interesting off season....

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Having a difficult time thinking in concrete terms about next season just yet. I haven't even been able to put together a decent thought to post in the "thanks for the great season" thread. But I am thinking two things in a macro sense.

First, that Jarmo has a difficult offseason ahead of him, balancing the needs of the team/organization against the developed sense of family that this current bunch has. Chances are good that a beloved member of the family will be gone, but I would caution us -- don't underestimate what someone's value might be "in the room." I felt our previous GM's biggest fault (his work was neither all good nor all bad and I don't want this to become another XGMSH referendum) was what I called a "tin ear" to team-building, versus roster-building.

Second, as I alluded to earlier, chances are someone(s) will be gone, perhaps someone we wouldn't expect. I would guess/hope that there is still a grand plan in place and that steps will be taken towards that, and some of them are going to be painful. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my take.

 

[Roadman]

1st LW - 1st C - Gaborik
2nd LW (Dubinsky?)- Anisimov/Dubinsky/Johansen - Atkinson
Calvert/Umberger - Letestu - Prospal
4th LW - MacKenzie - Boll

No Foligno?
I also think Comeau is retained

It will certainly be an interesting off season....

XXX - Johansen - Gaborik
Calvert - Dubinsky - Atkinson
Prospal - Anisimov - Letestu
Umberger - MacKensie - Foligno

Comeau - Boll

If Vinny retires, or there is a trade everyone moves up a slot &/or Jenner gets a shot, otherwise he percolates in SPR.

Also believe that it will be a heavy four line rotation; not the classic line 1,2,3,4 scoring scoring ,checking, energy. More like lines A,B,C,D. All forechecking, all scoring to varying degrees.

 

[SuperGenius]

I forget where I read it, but I recall reading quotes from Vinny after the deadline saying he wanted to be here and felt he had more left in the tank.

I'd be surprised if he doesn't play one more year here given how well he played at times this season.

 

[Dr. Fire]

Having a difficult time thinking in concrete terms about next season just yet. I haven't even been able to put together a decent thought to post in the "thanks for the great season" thread. But I am thinking two things in a macro sense.

First, that Jarmo has a difficult offseason ahead of him, balancing the needs of the team/organization against the developed sense of family that this current bunch has. Chances are good that a beloved member of the family will be gone, but I would caution us -- don't underestimate what someone's value might be "in the room." I felt our previous GM's biggest fault (his work was neither all good nor all bad and I don't want this to become another XGMSH referendum) was what I called a "tin ear" to team-building, versus roster-building.

Second, as I alluded to earlier, chances are someone(s) will be gone, perhaps someone we wouldn't expect. I would guess/hope that there is still a grand plan in place and that steps will be taken towards that, and some of them are going to be painful. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my take.

This.

This is exactly what I have been agonizing over. This team became so selfless, so dedicated to each other, so bonded, who in the hell do you replace without destroying that?

We do need at least one additional top line scorer. Word is that the Oil have realized that one of their young guns will probably need to go, their needs are so many. With our 3 1st rounders, is there a deal to be struck there considering we have a lot of pieces that other teams will now find extremely desirable. Teams need players with the attitude and work ethic that our entire team developed. If we were to take a shot at a trade with them, who goes? Just using this as an example.

My other question would be about Murray. Wasn't this kid considered one of the most NHL ready last season? Why are so many so ready to send him to Springy? Let's see what the kid brings to camp.

It has been documented that our goalie coach saw some flaws in Bobs game. Once corrected Bobs game took off. Is there any chance that Clark has been able to improve Leighton's game? Look what Mac has done in Springy. When we got him everyone pretty much wrote him off. Clark may be the unsung hero of this organization.

 

[Roadman]

I forget where I read it, but I recall reading quotes from Vinny after the deadline saying he wanted to be here and felt he had more left in the tank.

I'd be surprised if he doesn't play one more year here given how well he played at times this season.

No problems with whichever way he decides to go.

My only question is while the spirit is indeed willing, will the body be able, especially considering it will be an 82 game grind?

 

[pete goegan]

The problem is that Lokomotiv Yaroslavl wants to give Artem Anisimov big money to leave in KHL. I hope that Artem will stay in our club but....I am not so sure.

I certainly understand the lure of home and money, but this would be a very great disappointment to almost all of us.

 

[KJ Dangler]

The problem is that Lokomotiv Yaroslavl wants to give Artem Anisimov big money to leave in KHL. I hope that Artem will stay in our club but....I am not so sure.

Pretty sure in the last chat, I asked Porty about this possibility, he said no chance as he wanted to prove himself in the best league in the world.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Pretty sure in the last chat, I asked Porty about this possibility, he said no chance as he wanted to prove himself in the best league in the world.

that was about Bob

 

[CBJWerenski8]

not worried at all about anisimov or bob.

 

[MFRONE]

I doubt Bob is going to get $5 million/season right now. Yes he had an amazing season, but it was only his first as a full time starter. I can see $4 million, but not $5. Price and Quick are the closest comparable goalies (similar age) but they have 200 and 100, respectively, more games played with proven playoff experience.

We've seen JD/Jarmo be very careful with terms on the new deals they've handed out so I don't think there would be any exception with Bob.

 

[ConoR187]

if we lose prospal thats a lot of production that needs to be replaced

 

[Stretch Factor]

In my opinion our most pressing need is a power forward who can score.

Our pick- Best Player Available OR package all three and move way up to get one of the NHL ready studs.

If we don't move up-
Trade NYR and LA picks plus a prospect not named Jenner or Murray for Thomas Vanek, Bobby Ryan, or a similar LW.

In my opinion, RJ and Dubi are redundant players who both make too much money for what they provide. Dubi is more valuable in my opinion, but one of them needs to go. I'd prefer to keep Dubi.

Trade RJ and some mutually agreeable $ figure to Pittsburgh for a pick. I'm thinking we'd probably need to pick up half his salary to make this work.

Resign- Bob, Vinny, Arty, and any of the prospects who are RFAs

As far as Aucoin, Comeau, Gillies are concerned, I could take or leave any of the three.

 

[Stretch Factor]

I'd like to see us sign-
Bob- 2 years at $4m per.
Vinny- 1 year $2.5m
Arty- 2 years at $3.5m per.

 

[Stretch Factor]

What's the word on Iginla? Anyone heard where he might end up next season?