Trade Brings the Jackets Down to the Roster Maximum

(Columbus, Ohio)

     The Jackets were recently forced to make a decision to get under the cap of 28 players. They could either make a trade, or end up cutting someone. The GM decided that rather than let someone go for free, he may as well try to get a deal done with another AHL club. There was a deal completed with the very active Calgary team that brought Mikael Backlund into Columbus. Going the other way in the deal was Jay McClement, J.F. Jacques, and a third round pick. McClement, although a solid player, did not project to fit into the clubs long term plans and Jacques would have been riding the pine in Columbus as there are already 5 tough guys up front penciled into the Columbus lineup.
     Backlund was acquired as a project, as he was a highly rated prospect coming into the AHL but things just haven't panned out for him yet. The Jackets were willing to take the chance on him and he will step right into third line duty with the team behind team captain Mikko Koivu and Ryan O'Reilly.
     Stay tuned for more including the Jackets team preview and likely more moves as the trade rumours are still swirling.

Columbus Makes 5 More Entry Draft Picks

After drafting Taylor Hall first overall, the Jackets had a lot of work to do throughout the rest of the draft to add players for the rebuild. The David Backes trade payed off when the Jackets were able to select silky smooth Russian Alexander Burmistrov 13th overall. The Jackets GM was very happy that Burmistrov was available at 13th overall. Tabbed as "Datsyuk-Lite" by The Hockey News, Columbus is not in any rush to throw this guy into the lineup, but rather will likely give him spot duty and let him develop into the two-way player that he is projected to be. The Jackets are known for shying away from Russians, but character is not an issue with this kid, as his ultimate dream is to play in the AHL and not flee back to Russia to play in the KHL.

Columbus proceeded to add another very solid young player when they selected Luke Adam 20th overall. Adam was a key contributer to team Canada's World Junior Championship roster last year in Saskatoon. Adam, along with Burmistrov, are both centremen so like Burmistrov, Adam most likely won't see much ice time this year with the Jackets. This is another player the Jackets were targeting going into the entry draft, and were quite surprised that he fell to them at 20th. He is a big body who isn't afraid to go to the dirty areas, as he scored 49 goals in 56 games during his last year of junior hockey. Eventually the Jackets hope Adam can transition to the wing and become a top six forward to help out Taylor Hall and Mikko Koivu with scoring.
With their fourth pick in the first round of the entry draft, Columbus selected Jeff Petry, out of MSU 28th overall.  He is a big defenceman with a very strong stride who can skate like the wind, and isn't afraid to throw the body. We can assume that Petry was picked here because of the familiarity with the Jackets General Manager. This is yet another draft pick that most likely won't see much time in the AHL this year, as like most college defenceman, will  need some time to develop before he can step into a top six role.
With the fourth pick in the second round, the Jackets stayed true to form and took bruiser Matt Martin. This is the type of player GM Springinotic has been known to acquire and employ without question. He is looking for Martin to step straight into the lineup and play on the third line with Ryan O'Reilly and Derek Dorsett, so look to them to cause some havoc. Martin's goal this year is to, "lead the AHL in hits", and don't be surprised if he edges out Cal Clutterbuck in that category as he will be given plenty of ice time to bang some bodies around. Martin just adds to the toughness that is already in the CBJ lineup (Dorsett, Simmonds, Konopka, Shelley, Boll, and Mark Stuart).
With their last pick of the entry draft the Jackets opted to add another goaltender, and selected Kevin Poulin to backup Marc-Andre Fleury.

Jackets Pick Taylor Hall First Overall!

(Columbus, Ohio)

     Fans in Nationwide Arena erupted at the draft party when Columbus announced Taylor Hall as the first overall pick in the AHL entry draft. It was a no-brainer for Columbus to pick Hall, who is a back-to-back memorial cup champion, and back-to-back memorial cup MVP, how's that for some accolades? His combination of size, speed, and top end skill is exactly what the Jackets were hoping for. He instantly becomes the best winger on the team and Columbus is hoping he will develop into a franchise winger and dominate for a long time. His ability to blow by defenders and beat goalies with his lightning quick release was just something the Jackets couldn't pass up. It appears that being one of the worst teams in the league has its perks! Columbus is on the board again at #13 and looking to add to its solid core.

Blockbuster Trade!

(Columbus, Ohio)

     After tonnes of speculation, it has happened, David Backes was dealt out of town. Again, this had nothing to do with problems with Backes, but more with the fact that the Blue Jackets are building for the future. We know that since the trade deadline last year that the Columbus GM has been probing the market to see what kind of youth he could receive for Backes, coming close multiple times to dealing him. The full trade ended up sending Backes, along with Ruslan Fedotenko and Patrick Kaleta to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Ryan O'Reilly and the Leafs first round pick in the draft, which is 13th overall. It's very sad to see David move on, as he almost netted fifty goals for the Jackets two years ago, and is consistently among the league leaders in hits.
     Columbus was very ecstatic to receive Ryan O'Reilly in return, as he is a young defensive stalwart who plays centre and is already a whiz in the draws. The plan is for O'Reilly to become the franchise #2 centre behind captain Mikko Koivu. He is solid penalty killer and is starting to round out his offensive game. This is exactly the type of player they were looking for to help round out a solid core going forward. The 13th overall pick should also play dividends right away as Columbus should land another player who can step in and contribute right away. The Jackets have 5 picks in the first 34 including first overall, so the full on rebuild is underway!

Greene Dealt

(Columbus, Ohio)

     The first of two moves Columbus made prior to the entry draft. The Jackets sent rough defenceman Matt Greene to Ottawa, and in return received a late first round pick. It wasn't a priority to move Greene but there were a lot of d-men on the roster and the Jackets are looking to build a young core and hoping to see them grow together.

AHL 9 Has Arrived

(Columbus, Ohio)

     Much has happened in Columbus since we last left off. Coming into the season we knew Columbus's GM was looking to shake up the team and make some major moves.
     Things started out very well with the Jackets winning the AHL draft lottery and receiving the first overall pick in the entry draft.
     Before the entry draft would occur though, the dispersal draft took place. The Jackets GM was unable to attend but was filled in for by a fellow GM. Things went very well for the Jackets at the dispersal draft, ending up with two players that they were heavily targeting. In the first round they picked Ladislav Smid, a shot blocking extraordinaire who has developed into a defensive specialist that the Blue Jackets were coveting. In Smid they also add character and leadership, as he is not afraid to stick up for any teammate, and as we know, the Jackets always ice an exciting team in the fisticuff department.

     In the second round the Jackets picked up Luca Sbisa, a young Swiss defenceman, who also isn't afraid to drop the mitts. The 21 year old is already in his fourth NHL season, and is on the fast track to becoming a solid defender.True to form the Jackets continued to land solid young defenders in the dispersal draft, as it seems to be a tactic of theirs to pluck developing defenders during the dispersal and target skilled forwards in the entry draft.

     The third round pick was used on superpest Patrick Kaleta, but rumour has it he has already been shipped out of town...
     There were also three players that were lost in the dispersal draft. Zach Boychuk, who was taken in the entry draft last year was a big loss, as the Jackets were hoping that he could develop into a long term option on the wing. They also lost bruiser Theo Peckham to the division rival Blackhawks, and you know what they say, there are no friends on the ice. It was very sad to see Peckham go, as he was a solid teammate and player. Nikolai Khabibulin, who is having a solid year in the NHL was also lost, and although the Jackets regret losing him, the main focus in net is keeping Marc-Andre Fleury in a Columbus uniform for a looooonnnnggg time.
     That's it for now, details to follow on the entry draft and on the speculation that there has been multiple deals completed out of Columbus today.

Jackets Complete a Deal

(Columbus, Ohio)

     The day has finally arrived, Radim Vrbata has been shipped out of town. As the walls fall down in Columbus the organization continues to stock the cupboard with youth and picks. Columbus dealt Vrbata to the Dallas stars in exchange for Josh Bailey and a 2nd round pick. Bailey is still very young and the Jackets hope he will emerge to be the force that he was expected to be when he was drafted. It was sad for many players to say goodbye to Vrbata, who was nothing but a team player his entire tenure here, but inevitably had to go because he was not in the long term plans. Don't expect this to be the last of the wheeling and dealing in Columbus...

CBJ Team Report

    (Columbus, Ohio)

     Well, things have turned around a little since the last team report. The jackets won't be jockeying for a playoff position anytime soon but they have returned to respectability. They have jumped all the way up to 27th overall in the entire AHL. This is due to the recent hot streak the team has been on, having them compile a 6-3-1 record  over their last 10 games. They are still scoring a lowly 1.98 goals per game but believe it or not that is an improvement over their early season average. Columbus is most definitely proud to be leading the entire AHL in one category, and that category is Pims/Game...hey, if you can't win you may as well try to keep fan interest. As long as the current GM is able to retain his job as the head honcho of the team they will continue to employ multiple pugilists to keep fans happy and build team comraderie.

     On a personal level however, things have not gone as planned through the first half of the season on the offensive front. Team captain and leading scorer Mikko Koivu has registered only 31 points through 40 games so far. A respectable total, but a letdown nontheless. David Backes continues to struggle mightily, posting only 4, that's right, 4 goals through 40 games, all the while getting top line minutes! We could go up and down the roster and list the rest of the disappointing seasons players are having, but we'll end off there.
     Let's talk about something that the Jackets can be proud of. That is, the mountain of penalty minutes this team has piled up over the course of the season. The Jackets would likely have compiled even more penalty minutes if not for the rule change prior to the season that gave less reward to teams who were involved in more fights. This has had a widespread effect on many of the AHL rosters, forcing many teams to limit the games of their enforcers, or just plain plopping their enforcers in the press box. Nonetheless, there have been some impressive displays of pugilism so far this season.

     Columbus has managed to engage in 73 fighting majors so far in the teams 40 games.

The team leader in fighting majors is Jody Shelley (who is also the league leader) with 18 scraps so far on the season. He has also registered 178 penalty minutes, which puts him on pace for 365 on the year, which would be yet another strong season in a Blue Jacket uniform for him. Second on the team in fighting majors is Zenon Konopka, who has compiled 15 fighting majors. Either of these two could likely have more if it weren't for each other "stealing" fights from the other. Konopka is also leading the league in penalty minutes with an astonishing 215 through 40 games, which puts him on pace for 441 on the season.
     The Jackets also roster 5 other players with at least five fighting majors, those players are Jared Boll, Derek Dorsett (on pace for 277 pims), Mark Stuart, J.F. Jacques, and David Backes.
     Lastly, we'd like to give plugs to the 'tenders Marc-Andre Fleury and Nikolai Khabibulin for stellar seasons with this team.

CBJ Preliminary AHL Prospect Rankings

1. Taylor Hall - Hasn't lost any ground since being selected first overall in the NHL entry draft. All-world skill plus heart equates to a superstar.
2. Jeff Skinner - Leapfrogged Seguin due to stellar play in NHL up to this date. Smooth skater with nifty touch around the cage.
3. Tyler Seguin - Places third because of lack of playing time to show skills.
4. Cam Fowler - Absolutely stellar defender much more deserving of this ranking than 12th overall (In NHL entry)
5. Jordan Eberle - Captain clutch has magic hands and should be a consistent AHL producer.
6. Derek Stepan - Captain of gold medal winning U.S. junior team having a solid rookie season in NHL.
7. Magnus Paajarvi - (Can you tell there is an Oiler bias??) MPS has yet to break out in the NHL but has all of the raw skills to become a force on LW in the AHL.
8. Alexander Burmistrov - Not your typical Russian, totally committed to playing in NA, having stellar rookie season after proving he could make the adjustment in Barrie.
9. Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Has been up and down between the minors, pedigree is there.
10. P.K. Subban - Brash young defender has legitimate NHL skill, can he put it all together?

Team Report

(Columbus, Ohio)

     Well, things sure haven't changed much for the Blue Jackets lately, as they still sit in last place in the AHL with a 3-19-1 record overall. This puts them one point away from the team ahead of them in 29th. Two of their last three wins have come in the last ten games though, so that may be something to look forward to.
     One of the main reasons for the horrible record of Columbus is the fact that they are last in the league in scoring, averaging only 1.57 goals per game, ouch! Believe it or not, the Jackets also rank dead last in goals allowed per game, sitting at 3.65. They rank third last in the league with a measley 8.6% powerplay conversion rate. They fare a little better on the penalty kill, ranking 20th with a 83.1% kill rate. The Blue Jackets also rank (proudly) dead last in penalty minutes per game, averaging 28:13.
     Individually, there are few Blue Jackets players that are impressing anyone this year. Captain Mikko Koivu has been a surprisingly large disappointment, even though he's centreing the same line that he did last year. Koivu  has registered only 15 points in 23 games and is a minus 10, while expectations at the start of the year were certainly higher with Koivu coming off of an impressive 91 point season. Maybe even a larger disappointment so far has been the play of David Backes, who has registered one goal all year! Larger things will most definitely be expected of Backes next year assuming he stays a Jacket. We can only speculate but the buzz around Columbus is that Backes may be held on to until the draft to try to acquire another top 10 draft pick.
     One of the bright spots so far has been newcomer Jason Demers, who since being traded to Columbus has put up 5 points in 15 games and has the only positive plus/minus rating on the team. Obviously there are a few other players Columbus is happy with, but for different reasons. Dorsett, Boll, Konopka, Shelley, Stuart, and J.F. Jacques have combined for 28 fighting majors so far this season, and Columbus has 36 fighting majors in total. If you're not going to be good, you may as well be exciting!
     An A+ also goes out to Marc-Andre Fleury so far on the season.

Rumour Mill

(Columbus, Ohio)

     A source close to the Blue Jackets General Manager Brett S. says that for the past couple of days the team has been discussing trades with multiple GM's league wide. The discussions have been centred around Columbus forwards David Backes and Radim Vrbata, with other unmentioned names being involved. The source was also fairly confident in stating that Columbus is trying hard not to budge on trading away either of these two in a package deal without receiving a first round pick.
     One of the strongest rumours out there is that there may be a possible deal going on with GM Nick Houda of Boston, including Backes and/or Vrbata. This deal may have hit a snag when one of the GM's supposedly asked for an untouchable from the other team. It sounds like this rumour is gaining some ground, so don't be surprised to see a deal hammered out between these teams in the next few days. We can only speculate as to some of the players Columbus might be interested in from Boston, most likely youngsters Logan Couture, John Carlson, and Jakub Voracek.