Blue Jackets Season Wrapup

Blue Jackets season ends with question marks

Last Sunday, the Columbus Blue Jackets season in disappointment with a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues at home.

The start of the season was not all that bad for Columbus. The Blue Jackets got off to an 8-3-3 start powered by five Pascal Leclaire shutouts. Columbus maintained a good record for much of the season thanks in large part to Leclaire’s play. The team went into the All-Star Game tied for eighth in the conference.

The Blue Jackets came out of the All-Star Game break cold only winning one of nine games in a stretch following the break. That essentially knocked the team out of playoff contention, and that was confirmed by management by them trading away star veterans Adam Foote and Sergei Fedorov. The Foote deal did notch an extra first round draft pick in June’s NHL Draft from the Colorado Avalanche.

“We didn’t make the playoffs, that says it all,” Columbus forward Michael Peca said on the past season.

“We wanted a better season even though people didn’t expect us to do what we did,” forward captain Rick Nash said.

Forwards David Vyborny and Peca, and defensemen Jan Hejda, Ron Hainsey, and Dick Tarnstrom are all unrestricted free-agents and could sign with anyone after the Stanley Cup Finals.

Vyborny: In the two previous seasons, Vyborny was a 60 point scorer, however this season that production was cut by more than half. Vyborny is simply not performing, and it appears the last remaining original Blue Jacket is leaving Columbus.

Peca: The veteran center provided the closest thing the Blue Jackets saw in the way of ‘secondary scoring’. Nash and Nikolai Zherdev both scored in the 60s, the next highest was Peca with 34 points. Also this team is lacking at center even with Peca. And with not a strong free agent market at center, Peca should be able to get what he wants from Columbus.
“I would like to be part of (next year’s team), I would like to be a piece of that” Peca said.

Hainsey: Considering he was fourth on the team with scoring while playing defense, which by itself may be enough for Hainsey to get a nice offer from Columbus. Hainsey will certainly demand much more than his 2007-08 salary of $900,000.

Hejda: Hejda was unquestionably the best defenseman of the year following the departure of Foote. His +20 was the best in team history. The stay-at-home defenseman should expect a salary much higher than his current $1 million salary.
Hejda was asked if he would give Columbus the “hometown team discount” and he responded: “My agent told me you can’t say that.” Hejda did say he hopes to work out a deal with the team and return next season.

Tarnstrom: Fans have been crying for a puck-moving defenseman for years and they got one. Tarnstrom is in the prime of his career and it is hard to expect he would accept an offer anything much lower than his current $2 million salary. It is also hard seeing the Blue Jackets offering that much to Tarnstrom, so expect Tarnstrom to not sign with Columbus.

Also the team is going to have to make tough decisions on young defensemen Aaron Rome and Clay Wilson, both of which are restricted free-agents giving the team a bit more leeway. Both players provided a lot of energy near the end of the season when the team was faced with injuries and dying playoff hopes. Players like Rome and Wilson could factor into next year’s season, especially if head coach Ken Hitchcock decides his veterans are not up to par going into training camp in the fall.

“Other than two or three players… I told the players this too that ‘you might have a contract and you might be a member of the organization but you don’t have a spot,’” Hitchcock said. “We have entered a new phase and the phase is win now.”

Another big question mark is ‘who can Columbus sign from other clubs in the off season’? Star NHL players Marian Hossa, Peter Forsburg, Wade Redden, Markus Naslund, along with Foote and Fedorov are the leading unrestricted free agents. Will these players actually want to come to Columbus to play for the Blue Jackets? Columbus may be able to land some of these big free agents; however the team will likely be more dependent on non-elite free agents.

“We are not going to bring a player for growth here. The player is going to help us win or he is going to be somewhere else,” Hitchcock said. “You build a team not based on the player’s potential but is he helping you win hockey games.”