Ohio Jones
Game on...
When it comes to big finishes, it doesn't take long for Martin St. Louis' name to come up. The 32-year-old winger scored 43 goals and added 59 assists for 102 points in the NHL last season. And now he's bringing those finishing skills to Columbus. St. Louis is one of seven players the Jackets picked up in free agency this week to cap off the biggest summer in the team's history.
Following a disappointing season that saw the team trade away popular veterans Martin Brodeur, Brendan Shanahan and Vyacheslav Kozlov for picks and prospects, it looked as though the team that went to the 2006 Stanley Cup finals was going to have to start from scratch. Certainly the hosts of the 2007 HFNHL Entry Draft didn't disappoint, stocking the system with no less than four (NHL) first-rounders. But those picks came on the heels of another trade - what folks around here are calling THE trade - that saw Pitkanen and Pettinger moved for a quartet of players: Nik Zherdev, Lukas Krajicek, Scott Hannan and Olli Jokinen. It seemed any rebuilding plans might have to be put on hold after all.
"We don't see a franchise centre in the FA market, and even if we could sign one, there just wouldn't be the depth and skill to put around him", said Jackets GM Doug Emerson at the time. "This move changes things - we have a lot of talent here - talent we think we can hold onto for the next few years."
The Jackets, suddenly closer to a complete roster than they could have predicted last March, were forced to re-examine their rebuilding plans heading into free agency. Having already retained the services of potential UFAs Andrew Brunette, Keith Carney and Arron Asham, the Jackets found they had enough cap room to be a player in what proved to be a very competitive FA market.
"At the end of the day, in this competitive market, we feel we gave these players what they're worth", Emerson told reporters at the press conference announcing the signings. "Now it falls to them to show us we were right."
Martin St. Louis was one of only two players this summer to sign for the league max - 4 years, $32 million - the other being former Jacket netminder Brodeur. St. Louis gives the Jackets a top sniper to pair with Jokinen; the two should both be contenders for the league scoring title in 07-08.
Emerson replaced Pitkanen's lost offence from the blueline by signing Tom Poti for 4 years, $20.4 million. A hefty price tag, some would say, but as one of the top defencemen on the FA market this summer, there were plenty of bidders. Poti will line up somewhere in the Jackets' top three, paired with one of the Jackets' stable of veteran defensive defencemen.
It looks like Craig Conroy will end his career in a Columbus sweater after signing a 3-year, $11.28 million contract. The crafty two-way center combines with Jokinen and Henrik Sedin to give the Jackets enviable depth down the middle. Young third-line center Chris Kelly is expected to move to LW to make room for Conroy.
Columbus went prospecting in the college ranks with the remainder of their signings, winning a bidding war lottery for Jackets prospect Eric Gryba's team-mate at Boston University, standout G John Curry (who signed for the rookie max). They continued to add depth to the Syracuse roster with LW Trevor Smith (New Hampshire), RW Steve Pinizzotto (RIT) and RD Jon Landry (Holy Cross).
Leaving aside for the moment the question of whether Columbus - with its limited corporate market - can generate sufficient revenues to support the additions, Emerson will have to do some fancy footwork to manage against the cap. While they're somewhere north of $42 million for this season - meaning they could still add a veteran or two towards the trade deadline - almost half the team will be up for new contracts in 2008, among them Jokinen, Sedin, Roman Hamrlik and both Peter Budaj and Mike Smith, who will compete this year for starting duties.
That young tandem in net may be the Jackets' biggest weak spot heading into the 07-08 season, but Emerson is confident that they'll step up to the challenge. "Having talented young players like Peter and Mike in the system is what made it possible for us to trade Marty (Brodeur) last spring. We knew no matter what happened in free agency, we'd have a solid pair of goalies with tremendous upside. They'll have a terrific veteran defence in front of them, and a big and skilled group of forwards to give them goal support. We're looking forward to a very competitive season."
They'll have to, if they want to generate enough revenue to pay for their reconstituted veteran roster. Columbus' gates last year didn't exactly impress, and the team made virtually nothing in endorsement money. A return to the post-season will be a must if they hope to break even.
Fortunately, finishing big seems to be the order of the day.
Milo Minderbinder
Columbus Discoverer
Following a disappointing season that saw the team trade away popular veterans Martin Brodeur, Brendan Shanahan and Vyacheslav Kozlov for picks and prospects, it looked as though the team that went to the 2006 Stanley Cup finals was going to have to start from scratch. Certainly the hosts of the 2007 HFNHL Entry Draft didn't disappoint, stocking the system with no less than four (NHL) first-rounders. But those picks came on the heels of another trade - what folks around here are calling THE trade - that saw Pitkanen and Pettinger moved for a quartet of players: Nik Zherdev, Lukas Krajicek, Scott Hannan and Olli Jokinen. It seemed any rebuilding plans might have to be put on hold after all.
"We don't see a franchise centre in the FA market, and even if we could sign one, there just wouldn't be the depth and skill to put around him", said Jackets GM Doug Emerson at the time. "This move changes things - we have a lot of talent here - talent we think we can hold onto for the next few years."
The Jackets, suddenly closer to a complete roster than they could have predicted last March, were forced to re-examine their rebuilding plans heading into free agency. Having already retained the services of potential UFAs Andrew Brunette, Keith Carney and Arron Asham, the Jackets found they had enough cap room to be a player in what proved to be a very competitive FA market.
"At the end of the day, in this competitive market, we feel we gave these players what they're worth", Emerson told reporters at the press conference announcing the signings. "Now it falls to them to show us we were right."
Martin St. Louis was one of only two players this summer to sign for the league max - 4 years, $32 million - the other being former Jacket netminder Brodeur. St. Louis gives the Jackets a top sniper to pair with Jokinen; the two should both be contenders for the league scoring title in 07-08.
Emerson replaced Pitkanen's lost offence from the blueline by signing Tom Poti for 4 years, $20.4 million. A hefty price tag, some would say, but as one of the top defencemen on the FA market this summer, there were plenty of bidders. Poti will line up somewhere in the Jackets' top three, paired with one of the Jackets' stable of veteran defensive defencemen.
It looks like Craig Conroy will end his career in a Columbus sweater after signing a 3-year, $11.28 million contract. The crafty two-way center combines with Jokinen and Henrik Sedin to give the Jackets enviable depth down the middle. Young third-line center Chris Kelly is expected to move to LW to make room for Conroy.
Columbus went prospecting in the college ranks with the remainder of their signings, winning a bidding war lottery for Jackets prospect Eric Gryba's team-mate at Boston University, standout G John Curry (who signed for the rookie max). They continued to add depth to the Syracuse roster with LW Trevor Smith (New Hampshire), RW Steve Pinizzotto (RIT) and RD Jon Landry (Holy Cross).
Leaving aside for the moment the question of whether Columbus - with its limited corporate market - can generate sufficient revenues to support the additions, Emerson will have to do some fancy footwork to manage against the cap. While they're somewhere north of $42 million for this season - meaning they could still add a veteran or two towards the trade deadline - almost half the team will be up for new contracts in 2008, among them Jokinen, Sedin, Roman Hamrlik and both Peter Budaj and Mike Smith, who will compete this year for starting duties.
That young tandem in net may be the Jackets' biggest weak spot heading into the 07-08 season, but Emerson is confident that they'll step up to the challenge. "Having talented young players like Peter and Mike in the system is what made it possible for us to trade Marty (Brodeur) last spring. We knew no matter what happened in free agency, we'd have a solid pair of goalies with tremendous upside. They'll have a terrific veteran defence in front of them, and a big and skilled group of forwards to give them goal support. We're looking forward to a very competitive season."
They'll have to, if they want to generate enough revenue to pay for their reconstituted veteran roster. Columbus' gates last year didn't exactly impress, and the team made virtually nothing in endorsement money. A return to the post-season will be a must if they hope to break even.
Fortunately, finishing big seems to be the order of the day.
Milo Minderbinder
Columbus Discoverer
