Ohio Jones
Game on...
The HFNHL Blue Jackets might need to expand their dressing room.
Coming out of the first round of free agency, Columbus is sitting at 20 active NHL forwards and 8 NHL defensemen - not counting arbitration-bound Nathan Beaulieu.
“We knew going into free agency that we had some gaps,” explains Jackets GM Doug Emerson. “We wanted to buy some time for our emerging young talents to develop, so we looked to add players who could be here through our transition to a younger squad. And we knew we were going to need to take on some salary to ensure we were comfortably over the floor. So we were trying to accomplish a few things here. We just may have... misjudged the shifting market a little.”
The advent of a 50-contract hard cap for signed players left many established teams giving traditional free agency a miss this summer, which left more players without a dance partner when the Jackets came calling.
“We had guys who we felt could contribute in meaningful ways”, says Emerson. “And we had price points at which we felt they represented fair value. We happened to hit on more than we anticipated. There are worse problems to have.”
As a result the Jackets are giving life to the old hawker’s line “Can’t tell the players without a program!”. Indeed, there are so many new faces, players attending training camp this fall may need to wear “Hello, my name is” stickers.
Since the Stanley Cup was raised last month, the Blue Jackets have added a whopping 26 new players under contract, including 13 established NHLers via free agency, six undrafted free agents (including three lottery wins), and seven prospects graduating to the pro ranks — led by former top prospect Sam Steel and recent trade acquisition Jonathan Dahlen.
Joining the team are veteran forwards Derrick Brassard, Patrick Marleau and journeymen Michael Raffl, Tyler Ennis, Oscar Lindberg and Reid Boucher, along with returning Jackets Blake Comeau and Brandon Dubinsky, the team’s former Captain.
The blueline saw Emerson bolster a shaky core with the addition of steady vets Michael Stone and Adam McQuaid and journeyman Jaycob Megna.
Goaltending sees a complete retool as Corey Crawford returns to man the pipes for the team that drafted him, backed up by Cam Ward.
The result should be a team that challenges to improve upon a disappointing 25th place finish in the 2018/19 season.
“Our goal this season is to compete,” says Emerson. “What we may lack in firepower and especially puck movement we hope to make up for in grit and depth, being able to roll four lines deep every game. We added a lot of character, leadership, speed and physical presence this summer, and of course he have a major upgrade in net with Corey and Cam. We expect to be tough to play against.”
Perhaps more exciting for the team’s long-term future is the prospecting that Columbus scouts were able to accomplish in free agency. Up front they added a former Titan Memorial Cup star and captain in power forward Jeffrey Truchon-Viel and skilled speedster and Yale grad Joe Snively.
On D they gained another skilled collegian in Providence’s Jacob Bryson (who some observers felt should have been shortlisted for Hobey Baker consideration) and fast, hard-hitting Russian blueliner Nikolai Knyzhov from St. Petersburg (VHL). In goal they added established AHL tender Philippe Desrosiers along with big Swede Erik Kallgren.
Of course, the biggest boost to the Jackets’ pipeline is the addition of superstar prospect Kappo Kakko, but he won’t join camp until he signs his three-year ELC next summer
For now, Emerson still has cap room to work with as the post-FA trade market heats up, but the Jackets find themselves up against the pro contract ceiling, so any moves will need to be at least contract-neutral for the time being.
The other option, of course, is waivers.
“Let’s face it”, says Emerson: “camp is going to be a battle. When the music stops, there are going to be some very good players left without a chair. But we will do our best to ensure that we respect the commitment of these players, and respect our fans desire to follow a winning club, so we’ll ultimately let the players decide based on what they show us in camp.
“It’s going to be an interesting season.”
Coming out of the first round of free agency, Columbus is sitting at 20 active NHL forwards and 8 NHL defensemen - not counting arbitration-bound Nathan Beaulieu.
“We knew going into free agency that we had some gaps,” explains Jackets GM Doug Emerson. “We wanted to buy some time for our emerging young talents to develop, so we looked to add players who could be here through our transition to a younger squad. And we knew we were going to need to take on some salary to ensure we were comfortably over the floor. So we were trying to accomplish a few things here. We just may have... misjudged the shifting market a little.”
The advent of a 50-contract hard cap for signed players left many established teams giving traditional free agency a miss this summer, which left more players without a dance partner when the Jackets came calling.
“We had guys who we felt could contribute in meaningful ways”, says Emerson. “And we had price points at which we felt they represented fair value. We happened to hit on more than we anticipated. There are worse problems to have.”
As a result the Jackets are giving life to the old hawker’s line “Can’t tell the players without a program!”. Indeed, there are so many new faces, players attending training camp this fall may need to wear “Hello, my name is” stickers.
Since the Stanley Cup was raised last month, the Blue Jackets have added a whopping 26 new players under contract, including 13 established NHLers via free agency, six undrafted free agents (including three lottery wins), and seven prospects graduating to the pro ranks — led by former top prospect Sam Steel and recent trade acquisition Jonathan Dahlen.
Joining the team are veteran forwards Derrick Brassard, Patrick Marleau and journeymen Michael Raffl, Tyler Ennis, Oscar Lindberg and Reid Boucher, along with returning Jackets Blake Comeau and Brandon Dubinsky, the team’s former Captain.
The blueline saw Emerson bolster a shaky core with the addition of steady vets Michael Stone and Adam McQuaid and journeyman Jaycob Megna.
Goaltending sees a complete retool as Corey Crawford returns to man the pipes for the team that drafted him, backed up by Cam Ward.
The result should be a team that challenges to improve upon a disappointing 25th place finish in the 2018/19 season.
“Our goal this season is to compete,” says Emerson. “What we may lack in firepower and especially puck movement we hope to make up for in grit and depth, being able to roll four lines deep every game. We added a lot of character, leadership, speed and physical presence this summer, and of course he have a major upgrade in net with Corey and Cam. We expect to be tough to play against.”
Perhaps more exciting for the team’s long-term future is the prospecting that Columbus scouts were able to accomplish in free agency. Up front they added a former Titan Memorial Cup star and captain in power forward Jeffrey Truchon-Viel and skilled speedster and Yale grad Joe Snively.
On D they gained another skilled collegian in Providence’s Jacob Bryson (who some observers felt should have been shortlisted for Hobey Baker consideration) and fast, hard-hitting Russian blueliner Nikolai Knyzhov from St. Petersburg (VHL). In goal they added established AHL tender Philippe Desrosiers along with big Swede Erik Kallgren.
Of course, the biggest boost to the Jackets’ pipeline is the addition of superstar prospect Kappo Kakko, but he won’t join camp until he signs his three-year ELC next summer
For now, Emerson still has cap room to work with as the post-FA trade market heats up, but the Jackets find themselves up against the pro contract ceiling, so any moves will need to be at least contract-neutral for the time being.
The other option, of course, is waivers.
“Let’s face it”, says Emerson: “camp is going to be a battle. When the music stops, there are going to be some very good players left without a chair. But we will do our best to ensure that we respect the commitment of these players, and respect our fans desire to follow a winning club, so we’ll ultimately let the players decide based on what they show us in camp.
“It’s going to be an interesting season.”
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