(HFNHL) Jackets continue streak, make small deadline changes

[Ohio Jones]

With the Columbus Blue Jackets' consecutive point streak up to a league-record 27 games (23-0-2-2), management has been understandably reluctant to make big moves for fear of disrupting the obvious chemistry that has been working so well for the team since its last regulation loss versus Colorado back on GD 49.

Despite the frankly incredible streak, however, the Jackets have been unable to create any separation between them and the other top teams in the league. Those include the Sabres, who beat the Jackets in Columbus only appearance in the Cup Finals, and divisional rival Detroit, who is managing similarly dominant performance with half an AHL-level roster.meanwhile, other teams in contention have been busy adding star power the past two weeks, with names like St. Louis, Sedin, Gaborik and Vanek all changing hands.

So a little fine tuning would appear to be in order, both to position the team well for the playoffs, and to ensure the team has a full roster for next season. That being the case, here are Columbus' 2013 trade deadline moves to date:

#1
To Nashville: Prospects RW Devante Smith-Pelly and D Eric Gryba
To Columbus: C/W Jussi Jokinen

Pretty much instantly a failure as a hockey trade, with Jokinen's NHL equivalent passing through waivers unclaimed from Carolina while Gryba in particular plays 22 minutes a night for the NHL Sens, the trade has still borne fruit for the Jackets, with Jokinen posting 4 goals and 7 points in 11 games while playing third-line minutes, together with his dominance of the faceoff dot. The trade allowed Head Coach Mike Babcock to put Travis Zajac on the fourth line, where he's provided a huge injection of talent (not to mention salary), potting 2 goals and 5 assists in limited minutes over the same span. Jokinen also gives the Jackets the flexibility to walk away from Daniel Briere's projected $6.75M salary this summer.

#2
To Carolina: D Grant Clitsome, prospect C Chase Balisy, CBJ 1st 2014
To Columbus: D Matt Carle

Columbus had been looking for some time to upgrade their third pairing, and finally pulled the trigger on this deal after either failing to connect on others (notably Jason Garrison) or balking at the price in futures (Dan Hamhuis). Carle is far from a complete defenceman, but he does represent an immediate upgrade on Clitsome as the quarterback for the Jackets' second powerplay unit. His NHL salary next year is a bit gross, so thanks to a late September birthday he'll likely receive a qualifying offer and then test the market (along with a number of other Comumbus RFAs). Any offer sheet he signs will bring back about what Columbus paid for him, so the team can decide to match if the contract is favourable, or accept the compensation with Justin Schultz waiting in the wings.

With just a few days left that may be all we see the Jackets do. But when you're on this good of a roll, you don't want to tinker too much...

The lineup at this point:

Franzen - Staal - Briere
Purcell - Dubinsky - Burrows
Clarkson - Jokinen - Kulemin
Potulny - Zajac - Yip

Timonen - Smid
Giordano - Vokchenkov
Carle - Gunnarsson

Vokoun
Dubnyk

Click to read more...

 

[Wildman]

You have an awesome team can go long way if you can handle 5 other awesome teams in Vancouver, Colorado, Los Angles, St. Louis and Anaheim. Wait, I forgot Detroit AHL who is leading the division. Maybe, you need to save some wins for playoffs

 

[The old geezer]

27 consecutive freak'n games with at least a point makes the NHL Chicago squad's streak an afterthought. Would someone beat this bloated, ego laden, Columbus squad already?

 

[Ohio Jones]

27 consecutive freak'n games with at least a point makes the NHL Chicago squad's streak an afterthought. Would someone beat this bloated, ego laden, Columbus squad already?

No more games against Detroit this season. So, in answer to your question, apparently not.

 

[Wildman]

No more games against Detroit this season. So, in answer to your question, apparently not.

I think you meant 'no more regular season games against Detroit' this season.

 

[Ohio Jones]

I think you meant 'no more regular season games against Detroit' this season.

If I'm really lucky, somebody will take him down before I'd have to face him. But if not, I think I can hold my own in a series against him now, as the mawling I took from Detroit in our season series all took place before I had landed on the right approach for this squad. Since that time... Well, the results have been pretty okay.

 

[Dempsey]

That is a crazy streak, 27 games with a point. When do we play next?

 

[Ohio Jones]

That is a crazy streak, 27 games with a point. When do we play next?

Game day 154. So you've got lots of time to prepare.

 

[Ohio Jones]

With just over 24 hours to go until the deadline, interest is heating up in power forward David Clarkson, starting goalie Devan Dubnyk, backup goalie Ben Scrivens and other Jackets.

But riding their second 10-game winning streak o the spring, and an unheard-of stretch of 30 games without a regulation loss (and a whopping 56 out of 60 possible points in that span), the Jackets are under no pressure to deal.

"We'll consider any offer", said Columbus GM Doug 'The Kraken' Emerson. "But we very much like the team we've got, so were only going to consider moves that offer compelling motivation... deals that trim our cap hit, or offer high-end futures, or upgrade our lineup. But we're not going to sacrifice the quality of the product on the ice to do it.

"We've demonstrated over the past few seasons that we're strongly committed to building a winner here. And now we're seeing the fruits of that commitment. We're going to see this thing through."

 

[Ohio Jones]

...and with the deadline upon us, the Jackets have completed a final couple of trades.

#3
To Washington: CBJ 3rd 2013, WPG 6th 2013
To Columbus: W Drew Miller

Miller represents an upgrade over Brandon Yip on the Jackets' 4th line, and can step in on one of the PK units to further balance the ice time and contributions of our forwards. Earning a reasonable $1.25M next season, he'll also help keep the 2013/14 edition of the Jackets below the cap. Contrary to his current listing (LW), Miller can play both sides of centre, and so will line up on Zajac's right wing on the Jackets' 4th line opposite Potulny.

#4
To Anaheim: D Anton Volchenkov, BUF 5th 2013
To Columbus: D Barret Jackman

A longtime fan of Jackman's game, I acquired Volchenkov last summer when I couldn't pry Jackman from Anaheim. Enter a new Ducks administration itching to deal, and I was able to make what on the surface is a lateral move, but in truth represents a decent upgrade. Playing an average 5 minutes more per game than Volchenkov in the NHL this season, and as a consequence tallying more hits and blocked shots per game to go with a better +/-, Jackman should rate out more favourably as a physical shutdown presence for the Jackets next season. All while earning a few hundred thousand dollars less per season, and with one less year committed. Well worth a 5th round pick to make that change, I think.


Unfortunately, a couple of deals the jackets were seriously exploring over the last couple of weeks in an earnest effort to move out significant salary did not come to pass, so Columbus finds itself a shade under $2 million over the average cap, and will therefore sacrifice a 3rd round pick in the upcoming entry draft. The cost of moving salary out in trade was proving to be higher than the penalty, and I'm not prepared to waive a key contributor to our playoff drive just to achieve cap compliance. So in effect, the final trade I made on the season is the trade of a third round pick to keep my roster intact. And given how they're performing at present, it's a trade I'll make gladly.

On a happier note, Jussi Jokinen made a good impression in his first game with Pittsburgh (scoring the team's only goal, and the winning shoot-out tally as well). So hopefully that success will continue and I won't be left looking at that as the single worst trade of the year.

So with all moves taken into consideration, the squad that inherits the Jackets' improbable run and will be counted on to carry the team back to the promised land of the Cup finals looks like this:

Franzen - Staal - Briere
Purcell - Dubinsky - Burrows
Clarkson - Jokinen - Kulemin
Potulny - Zajac - Miller
Reserve: Yip

Timonen - Smid
Giordano - Jackman
Carle - Gunnarsson
Reserve: Krug

Vokoun
Dubnyk
Reserve: Scrivens

 

[Chuzwazza]

Rematch?

 

[Ohio Jones]

Rematch?

Bring it on, Josh! (There, we've just thoroughly jinxed ourselves...)

Interesting to see us both (as well as Drew) do some tinkering and fine-tuning around the edges while trying not to upset the apple-cart. Meanwhile, many of the teams chasing us did some major overhauls and brought in big-name talent.

Does talent win the day? Or is it balance and execution? Time will tell...

 

[Canuck09]

Another scary deep lineup. It's lacking some of the big names that the Canucks have, but still very good.

Interesting bit about the cap penalty. Where are those rules listed? Are there different tiers of penalties? I've given up on the rules on the site for the most part.

 

[Ohio Jones]

Another scary deep lineup. It's lacking some of the big names that the Canucks have, but still very good.

Interesting bit about the cap penalty. Where are those rules listed? Are there different tiers of penalties? I've given up on the rules on the site for the most part.

That's one aspect of the rules that hasn't been modified in the past 5 years, mostly because it doesn't come up often. In the absence of any rulings that supersede the rule book on a given issue, it remains the authoritative source. The rules are there, under "Salary Cap". The penalties are tiered by the amount your average cap is over the ceiling.