Nationwide Arena firesale complete

Blue Jackets fans -- say goodbye to Adam Foote and Sergei Fedorov. Say hello to... well we have to wait to see. Well Teddy Ruth is someone we will get to say hello to, but his welcome may not come until 2010 or 2011. He is currently a one-way defenseman from Notre Dame. He has a +13 ratio.

But I know some are wondering whether this was a good move for the team considering they may have blown a shot at the playoffs. Take this in perspective. As nice as it would have been to sneak into the playoffs, what would have we done once we got there? Probably not a whole lot. And would we get there because of Foote and Feds? Maybe we can still get there without the duo.

But let us come back to Earth. First off Fedorov and Foote were way overpriced for what they did. Foote was having a good season, but he is overall on a downward slide. Paying him $4 million a year is a mistake for any team. For GM Scott Howson that side of things was a smart move. For Fedorov, an even bigger case for someone who is higher priced. He has lacked his offensive prowl that he was once known for. The fact that Howson did not dump any others show that he is still in it for this season.

We could have kept Foote through the season and let him go through the season for the hope we would get a playoff spot, but now we get a first round draft pick, and possibly even another bonus draft pick if Foote signs with the Avs was a good move for the long haul. And Fedorov is just plain old overpriced and now we get out of his contract. Plus the future indicates we will need solid defensemen. With Rick Nash in full bloom, Jason Chimera tied down for a while, and Nikolai Zherdev heating up, this team has the offense for the future. The defense will be what we will need in the future.

As for this year, don't fret fans. Young guys = energy. Getting a younger core may mean this team might be better suited to make a run to end the regular season. There is still enough leadership left to get it done. But instead of having over the hill leaders, we have still in their prime leaders i.e. Michael Peca, David Vyborny, and Fredrik Modin. If the team does not make a run, it is likely not just because the team lost their two highest payed players.

Who knows? Losing two hot shot, big name players like Foote and Fedorov might allow this team to take an identity more to the liking of coach Ken Hitchcock: Stay within yourself and make ourselves a hard fighting, blue collar team.

What to look for: The second tier scorers need to step up and Pascal Leclaire just needs to keep doing what he is doing. If that happens, this team will not lose a step.