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Columbus Blue Jackets


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With the additions of Carter, Prospal and Wiz added in this offseason so far... They are now a really competitive team in my books.

Nash has never had a real number one center. Now he has one.

Prospal is a solid number two center and Columbus has Brassard and Vermette at center as well, as we have seen center depth has been key lately too many of the winning team, Pittsburgh and wretched Boston being prime examples.

They have a under rated d lead by Russel and Tyutin the addition of Wiz adds some more firepower too the back end as well as a physical presence.

Some solid bottom sixer's in Boll and Pahlsson.

They lack top six wingers too play on their second line, though a top line of Umberger Carter Nash is very nice.

If Mason bounces back they will have solid Goaltending on top of that.

According too Cap Geek they have over 6 million in cap space so... there is room for more signings with only minor free agents left too sign they could make another signing on the wing... course that depends on ownership

Well... should be interesting anyways.

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According too Cap Geek they have over 6 million in cap space so... there is room for more signings with only minor free agents left too sign they could make another signing on the wing... course that depends on ownership

They also have Huselius on LTIR, should they so choose.

Without looking at prospects making the NHL jump, they appear to be short 1 forward and 1 defenseman for a full roster.

I also think they would do well to bring in a guy like Emery or Turco to play behind Mason, but is Columbus a cap team?

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I also think they would do well to bring in a guy like Emery or Turco to play behind Mason, but is Columbus a cap team?

True, true

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They also have Huselius on LTIR, should they so choose.

Without looking at prospects making the NHL jump, they appear to be short 1 forward and 1 defenseman for a full roster.

I also think they would do well to bring in a guy like Emery or Turco to play behind Mason, but is Columbus a cap team?

I too think they'd be wise to sign a veteran backup but apparently Dekanich was their top choice which would explain how a career minor leaguer got a 1-way deal. The Jackets will be better for sure but until they start getting better crowds at the game, I can't see them being a cap team. I suspect they're more or less done this summer.

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Columbus should put Carter and Nash on separate lines. They're both elite shooters, it'd be a heck of a match-up issue for opponents. I believe I read that Nash and Carter were 1 and 2 in the NHL for shots on goal per 60 minutes. I don't think they'd elevate each other that much by putting them together, except for those times when you need a goal badly. Like when Colorado would all of a sudden put Sakic and Forsberg on the same line, or Detroit puts Datsyuk and Zetterberg together.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I definitely don't think Nash and Carter will be playing together at even strength. Like you said, they're too similar to work that well together. Most people in Columbus were excited because they thought the team had found a center who would play well with Nash. The thing is, they thought the same thing when they got Umberger. Both of those guys are better suited for the wing and are not setup men.

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I definitely don't think Nash and Carter will be playing together at even strength. Like you said, they're too similar to work that well together. Most people in Columbus were excited because they thought the team had found a center who would play well with Nash. The thing is, they thought the same thing when they got Umberger. Both of those guys are better suited for the wing and are not setup men.

If nothing else, having them on different lines will make it a lot tougher for teams to load up on shadowing just Nash's line which should be really beneficial as well. If Brassard could finally take that next step, I still think he could be decent with Nash.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If nothing else, having them on different lines will make it a lot tougher for teams to load up on shadowing just Nash's line which should be really beneficial as well. If Brassard could finally take that next step, I still think he could be decent with Nash.

They are certianly better than a 12th place seed as projected by THN. As I have said in another thread, I believe their fortunes will correspond significantly with the progression of Johansen as well as the additions you have alluded to.

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They are certianly better than a 12th place seed as projected by THN.

Yeah.. I get the THN yearbook every year... but lets be honest their playoff spot predictions tend too be copy paste from last year without any real thought involved.

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Yeah.. I get the THN yearbook every year... but lets be honest their playoff spot predictions tend too be copy paste from last year without any real thought involved.

Good one! You might have got suspicious because they have had a Maple Leaf on the cover for numerous years in a row, so how much could they possibly know; then again they sold both of us a copy.

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Good one! You might have got suspicious because they have had a Maple Leaf on the cover for numerous years in a row, so how much could they possibly know; then again they sold both of us a copy.

They have numerous different covers based on location. Like you, I also get all Leafs as covers considering I'm in what they consider to be the Toronto area (which appears to be the majority of the province aside from Ottawa and a couple of areas around there).

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I always get the Leafs version, and the past few years' headlines have been along the lines "Finally the Leafs have hope" or "The Leafs will surprise" :lol:

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I think Iginla has been on the cover about seven times in the past ten years. Only Phaneuf and Kiprusoff have broken his run that I can remember.

They've been playing up the Oilers' youth for about five years now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

http://blogs.thescore.com/nhl/2011/09/13/unheralded-mark-dekanich-is-a-player-to-watch/

Jonathon Willis thinks Mark Dekanich is a player to watch in 2011-12. I agree... it's hard to argue with Nashville's reputation for developing goalies and Dekanich's minor league numbers have been very impressive.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I always thought Brassard was close to breaking out. I wonder if Columbus would give him up at a cheap price... he's a guy who might actually be worth a gamble on.

Actually I hear he's playing LW on the third line with Ryan Johanssen and RJ Umberger.

Thats actually a pretty talented third line.

If Mason can provide any goaltending, Columbus could be good.

Edited by Commandant
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  • 3 months later...

And the Jackets fire Scott Arniel, about two months too late. Now if only they would fire pretty much the entire front office and take the C away from Nash...

Who would you give the C to ? Carter ? Wiz ? R.J ?

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Who would you give the C to ? Carter ? Wiz ? R.J ?

Honestly, nobody strikes me as captain material. Nobody seems much like a heart and soul type player, which is what I expect out of a captain. Umberger makes the most sense, even though I despise him. Carter doesn't even want to be here, so he's not even an option.

I didn't think they'd be this bad, but I'm certainly not surprised in the least that the team is struggling. It was obvious as soon as the trade happened that Carter was not happy and it has shown. He's a shell of himself. Then their other big acquisition, Wiz, did fill a need, but not a big enough one. They've got no number one D-men on the team and have relied on him and Tyutin to be that guy. Wiz's defensive play, in particular, has been atrocious. Add in the fact they were counting on Mason to return to form, or at least have Dekanich emerge as a sleeper, and you've got a recipe for disaster.

By the way, they were talking on the radio today about just how bad upper management really is. When the team president was interviewing coaches before they hired Arniel, some of the questions included: "If you could be a tree, what kind and why?" and "If you were escorting 3 girl scouts at the mall and one came up missing, what would you do?" One prospective coach replied "Who the f*** cares, ask me questions about hockey!" How much you wanna bet that was Boucher, lol?

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