Ohio Jones
Game on...
CD - Nationwide Arena, Columbus
"It feels like coming home", said Philippe Boucher on being informed he had been re-acquired by the Columbus Blue Jackets from frequent trading partner the Phoenix Coyotes after two seasons away from the team. Going to Phoenix are wingers Andrew Brunette and Mark Bell. Columbus also moves up in the 2010 draft as part of the deal.
Boucher rose to prominence among HFNHL blueliners while helping drive Columbus to a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2006. That summer, however, he signed with Tampa as a UFA to a 4-year, $20-million deal, before being promptly traded to Colorado without having played a single game, an action that clearly still rankles Boucher.
"I'd just signed with them, I was in the process of getting my family moved, and they trade me across the country? That was ********. They deserve the mess they're in."
Boucher's contract has two years remaining. He joins Scott Hannan, Pavel Kubina and Captain Keith Carney in the Jackets' veteran-laden top-4.
"I came up with the Blue Jackets," says Boucher. "I was a late bloomer, and they gave me my first real opportunity to play big minutes. The success I've had in the last few years I owe to them, especially to Coach (Head Coach Mike Babcock). I'm thrilled to be back."
"Phil (Boucher) had earned a good salary", explains GM Doug Emerson, "but we just couldn't fit it under the cap with the players we had. Later that summer, we were able to move Mike Modano to Washington (for Chris Kelly and Peter Budaj), clearing $6.5 million off our payroll. If we'd been able to make that deal before July 1st, we would definitely have kept Phil on. Since then there's been a huge hole on our blueline that we haven't been able to fill. It's filled now... make that 'Philled'."
The Jackets tried to address their blueline woes via free agency last summer, signing Tom Poti to a long-term deal at $5.1M per season - even more than Boucher's $5 million. While Poti had a good season offensively, he didn't have Boucher's physical presence, heady two-way play and right-handed shot. After a disappointing finish out of the playoffs, Columbus paid a full year's salary to buy Poti out, making him a UFA.
At the time, Emerson pointed to the difficulty in making Poti's salary fit under the cap, and suggested the team's overall revenue struggles made it fiscally impossible to keep Poti on. To then turn around and trade assets for an even older player earning almost the same salary as Poti has baffled many observers, as it seems to fly in the face of the very issues Emerson described - the team is in just as bad a position now in terms of cap and total payroll, just with $5.1M less in the bank.
"I won't kid you, this wasn't an easy deal to make", says Emerson. "It's no secret we're hanging by a thread financially, and we know we have to win early and often to stay afloat. The difference from our eyes is that Phil is a more complete player who we know can help us reduce our goals against without compromising our scoring. We were among the top scoring teams in the league last year, but missed the playoffs because we couldn't prevent teams from scoring. With a full season from (goalie) Martin (Gerber), and the additions of Boucher and checkers Clarke MacArthur and Dan Fritsche, we feel we're in a much better position to compete. Hopefully the fans agree, and will come out to see us."
In Brunette, Columbus loses a veteran scorer who had been expected to step onto the top line with Olli Jokinen and Martin St. Louis, but the Jackets feel they have enough depth on the wings to make up for the loss. In the wake of the move, Nikolai Zherdev is expected to switch to LW on the top line, while Steve Bernier takes Zherdev's role to the right side of Viktor Kozlov.
"Bruno (Brunette)'s a tough guy to have to move," says Emerson. "We love the experience and heart he brought to the team. But with the young talent already here, and Nik Kulemin due next season, we had to move from a position of strength to address a real weakness on our roster. Same with (Mark) Bell: he's long been a favourite project of ours, but there just wasn't room for him, especially at the level we'd have had to qualify him."
In Brunette and Bell, Columbus frees itself of $4.6M, making the trade contractually almost a wash. It looks as though the Jackets will be able to make it just under the cap by September, but the real worry is next season, when many of their young core will be RFAs, including Zherdev, Bernier, Budaj, defencemen Scott Hannan and Lukas Krajicek and a number of young prospects. Plus there's still this summer's UFA class to consider, although at this point it seems clear the Jackets won't be major players for the kind of established talent that would impact their cap.
"We know we're going to have some tough decisions ahead - and that's even assuming we manage not to go bankrupt this season. But there's too much talent on this club to blow it up without trying our utmost to win, so that's what we're doing. We'll take it one season at a time... Heck, we'll have to take it a week at a time. But winning will cure a lot of ills."
Tentative lineup, 2008-09:
Zherdev - Jokinen - St. Louis
Penner - Kozlov - Bernier
MacArthur - Belanger - Fristche
Asham - Potulny/Boyle - Thorburn
Hannan - Boucher
Carney - Kubina
Krajicek - Boyle/Rome
Gerber
Budaj
"It feels like coming home", said Philippe Boucher on being informed he had been re-acquired by the Columbus Blue Jackets from frequent trading partner the Phoenix Coyotes after two seasons away from the team. Going to Phoenix are wingers Andrew Brunette and Mark Bell. Columbus also moves up in the 2010 draft as part of the deal.
Boucher rose to prominence among HFNHL blueliners while helping drive Columbus to a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2006. That summer, however, he signed with Tampa as a UFA to a 4-year, $20-million deal, before being promptly traded to Colorado without having played a single game, an action that clearly still rankles Boucher.
"I'd just signed with them, I was in the process of getting my family moved, and they trade me across the country? That was ********. They deserve the mess they're in."
Boucher's contract has two years remaining. He joins Scott Hannan, Pavel Kubina and Captain Keith Carney in the Jackets' veteran-laden top-4.
"I came up with the Blue Jackets," says Boucher. "I was a late bloomer, and they gave me my first real opportunity to play big minutes. The success I've had in the last few years I owe to them, especially to Coach (Head Coach Mike Babcock). I'm thrilled to be back."
"Phil (Boucher) had earned a good salary", explains GM Doug Emerson, "but we just couldn't fit it under the cap with the players we had. Later that summer, we were able to move Mike Modano to Washington (for Chris Kelly and Peter Budaj), clearing $6.5 million off our payroll. If we'd been able to make that deal before July 1st, we would definitely have kept Phil on. Since then there's been a huge hole on our blueline that we haven't been able to fill. It's filled now... make that 'Philled'."
The Jackets tried to address their blueline woes via free agency last summer, signing Tom Poti to a long-term deal at $5.1M per season - even more than Boucher's $5 million. While Poti had a good season offensively, he didn't have Boucher's physical presence, heady two-way play and right-handed shot. After a disappointing finish out of the playoffs, Columbus paid a full year's salary to buy Poti out, making him a UFA.
At the time, Emerson pointed to the difficulty in making Poti's salary fit under the cap, and suggested the team's overall revenue struggles made it fiscally impossible to keep Poti on. To then turn around and trade assets for an even older player earning almost the same salary as Poti has baffled many observers, as it seems to fly in the face of the very issues Emerson described - the team is in just as bad a position now in terms of cap and total payroll, just with $5.1M less in the bank.
"I won't kid you, this wasn't an easy deal to make", says Emerson. "It's no secret we're hanging by a thread financially, and we know we have to win early and often to stay afloat. The difference from our eyes is that Phil is a more complete player who we know can help us reduce our goals against without compromising our scoring. We were among the top scoring teams in the league last year, but missed the playoffs because we couldn't prevent teams from scoring. With a full season from (goalie) Martin (Gerber), and the additions of Boucher and checkers Clarke MacArthur and Dan Fritsche, we feel we're in a much better position to compete. Hopefully the fans agree, and will come out to see us."
In Brunette, Columbus loses a veteran scorer who had been expected to step onto the top line with Olli Jokinen and Martin St. Louis, but the Jackets feel they have enough depth on the wings to make up for the loss. In the wake of the move, Nikolai Zherdev is expected to switch to LW on the top line, while Steve Bernier takes Zherdev's role to the right side of Viktor Kozlov.
"Bruno (Brunette)'s a tough guy to have to move," says Emerson. "We love the experience and heart he brought to the team. But with the young talent already here, and Nik Kulemin due next season, we had to move from a position of strength to address a real weakness on our roster. Same with (Mark) Bell: he's long been a favourite project of ours, but there just wasn't room for him, especially at the level we'd have had to qualify him."
In Brunette and Bell, Columbus frees itself of $4.6M, making the trade contractually almost a wash. It looks as though the Jackets will be able to make it just under the cap by September, but the real worry is next season, when many of their young core will be RFAs, including Zherdev, Bernier, Budaj, defencemen Scott Hannan and Lukas Krajicek and a number of young prospects. Plus there's still this summer's UFA class to consider, although at this point it seems clear the Jackets won't be major players for the kind of established talent that would impact their cap.
"We know we're going to have some tough decisions ahead - and that's even assuming we manage not to go bankrupt this season. But there's too much talent on this club to blow it up without trying our utmost to win, so that's what we're doing. We'll take it one season at a time... Heck, we'll have to take it a week at a time. But winning will cure a lot of ills."
Tentative lineup, 2008-09:
Zherdev - Jokinen - St. Louis
Penner - Kozlov - Bernier
MacArthur - Belanger - Fristche
Asham - Potulny/Boyle - Thorburn
Hannan - Boucher
Carney - Kubina
Krajicek - Boyle/Rome
Gerber
Budaj
