Post by Columbus Blue Jackets on Sept 27, 2015 15:51:37 GMT -5
At long last, the war is upon us. After a surprise play off berth on the very last game, you could sum up the Jackets' season as a whole a complete success. With a no-rush mentality across the board for our club, GM Jeff Roukema has made some calculated moves to improve the roster in the short term through short term contract commitments or young talent but acquiring better players overall.
In the Jackets' first move of the off-season, they sent veteran centerman Ryan Kesler to the New Jersey Devils for 2 highly touted prospects in Joshua Ho-Sang, Max Domi and a 2nd round pick. In what the Jackets' thought was a huge step forward, they find themselves building further on their rather young and very bright future while moving an asset that was on the downward slide. For the next months, the only thing the Jackets were looking towards was the NHL Draft. With the Jackets making the play offs by 1 point, they were selecting at a very good position of 15th overall. After an unintentional (though completely intentional) dick move by the Florida Panthers selecting Russian foward Evgeny Svechnikov, the Jackets still got an excellent center prospect in Kyle Connor. With the incredible depth of the Winnipeg Jets organization in the NHL and how Kevin Cheveldayoff manages their organizations prospects, we feel like Connor is in just as good of hands as the winger Svechnikov. With nobody in the Jackets' goaltending system taking big enough steps towards becoming a franchise NHL goaltender outside of the single-season development of Thunder Bay native Matt Murray, and frankly out of home-town pride, Jeff Roukema selected Mackenzie Blackwood with their second round selection and was ecstatic that he dropped to 45th. Being put into a system where Blackwood is immediately at the top of the organizations charts and with Corey Schneider playing excellent hockey, the rush on Blackwood should be non-existent and should be given all the opportunity in the world to become an NHL goaltender. With their 3rd round selection, the Jackets went against their rule drafting straight skill players by selecting "gritty" forward Keegan Kolesar hoping he develops into a younger Leo Komarov-type agitator.
When the Free Agent draft came around, the Jackets knew the direction they were headed. Considerably below the salary floor the Jackets selected some the best rated forwards in the draft that had acceptable term for the Jackets' long term goal, Jussi Jokinen and veteran bounce-back hopeful Ales Hemsky. Following a trend Jeff Roukema loves, he welcomed a slew of undrafted prospects that he hopes will continue to develop into a fraction of what their franchise center, Tyler Johnson, has become - Dean Kukan and Andrew Agozzino. In a special treat to the fans and in hopes that we will see a third return, they acquired the rights to world class winger, Alexander Radulov. Radulov, famous for exiling himself twice to the KHL has expressed interest in coming back to North America once again. Although initially expressed his interest to "be free, with no obligations to any club", Mr. Roukema managed to honey-dick Radulov in agreeing to join the Jackets if he ultimately decided to return to North America and contend for a Stanley Cup once and for all.
Next up, the start of pre-season. After a stale 1-4-0 start due to lackluster goal tending and displeasure with how St. Louis was handling Jake Allen, Columbus went out looking for a legitimate #1 starter while their young prospects goalie prospects prepare for NHL time in the coming years. Shortly thereafter, the Blue Jackets had their starting goaltender. In come Corey Crawford, out goes Allen, Chiasson and the 2nd round pick from the Ryan Kesler trade. Giving up nothing from his core organizational pieces, Mr. Roukema was thrilled with the value he has brought into the Jackets thus far. Content with their overall depth up front with the addition of Steve Bernier, Mr. Roukema felt he could sacrifice one current member of the line up and open up promotion opportunities within the team in the bottom 6 and improve the lethality of their top 6. When the Los Angeles Kings presented their most recent trade block, Mr. Roukema felt there was an person on their block that complimented damn near everything the Jackets were after. A scoring winger to play alongside Johnson, add more potency to an already lethal power play and ultimately, a leader. In comes Alex Tanguay - a Stanley Cup champion who still has a knack for scoring the key goals, like his Cup clinching goal in 2000-2001. Out goes once-touted Riley Nash and a 3rd round selection. In these 3 moves alone, Mr. Roukema brought the team from a 1-4 start to the pre-season to a 13-6 improvement in the next 19 after Bernier was signed. A hefty improvement, especially when 2 of those loses came off of the introduction of both Tanguay and Crawford into the line up. Let's summarize the moves:
Out: Ryan Kesler, Jake Allen, Alex Chiasson, Riley Nash, 3rd round pick
In then Out: NJD 2nd round pick
In: Corey Crawford, Alex Tanguay, Josh Ho-Sang, Max Domi
EDIT* Hours after this article was prepared, we got word that Columbus has released Devin Setoguchi from his PTO and have signed training camp stand out Oleg Yevenko, another undrafted player. A 6-foot-7, 238-pound defenseman, Yevenko stood out at the NHL prospects tournament in Traverse City, Mich., and is doing the same at the Blue Jackets’ (NHL) training camp. Being the only player left on the Jackets' roster without an NHL contract, it looks like Yevenko is on his way to a legitimate NHL shot after a very strong World Championship. At 24 years old, he mirrors the career path of long-time tall-men Hal Gill and Zdeno Chara, not hitting their NHL stride until their mid 20's. Head coach Todd Richards has said that a few players have impressed him in the first week of camp, but has not disclosed who those players are. Thursday, unprompted, he talked of the impressive play of Yevenko. He was sent down to Lake Erie earlier today, if he has a strong start or if Columbus encounter the injury bug again, you can be sure to see Yevenko in the near future.
What the Jackets will look like for this season is detailed in my signature and they look like they're going to be competitive enough to battle for the #3 spot in the Metropolitan and hopefully secure one of the wild card spots at the conclusion of the season.
Prepare for Battle, We are the Fifth Line.
In the Jackets' first move of the off-season, they sent veteran centerman Ryan Kesler to the New Jersey Devils for 2 highly touted prospects in Joshua Ho-Sang, Max Domi and a 2nd round pick. In what the Jackets' thought was a huge step forward, they find themselves building further on their rather young and very bright future while moving an asset that was on the downward slide. For the next months, the only thing the Jackets were looking towards was the NHL Draft. With the Jackets making the play offs by 1 point, they were selecting at a very good position of 15th overall. After an unintentional (though completely intentional) dick move by the Florida Panthers selecting Russian foward Evgeny Svechnikov, the Jackets still got an excellent center prospect in Kyle Connor. With the incredible depth of the Winnipeg Jets organization in the NHL and how Kevin Cheveldayoff manages their organizations prospects, we feel like Connor is in just as good of hands as the winger Svechnikov. With nobody in the Jackets' goaltending system taking big enough steps towards becoming a franchise NHL goaltender outside of the single-season development of Thunder Bay native Matt Murray, and frankly out of home-town pride, Jeff Roukema selected Mackenzie Blackwood with their second round selection and was ecstatic that he dropped to 45th. Being put into a system where Blackwood is immediately at the top of the organizations charts and with Corey Schneider playing excellent hockey, the rush on Blackwood should be non-existent and should be given all the opportunity in the world to become an NHL goaltender. With their 3rd round selection, the Jackets went against their rule drafting straight skill players by selecting "gritty" forward Keegan Kolesar hoping he develops into a younger Leo Komarov-type agitator.
When the Free Agent draft came around, the Jackets knew the direction they were headed. Considerably below the salary floor the Jackets selected some the best rated forwards in the draft that had acceptable term for the Jackets' long term goal, Jussi Jokinen and veteran bounce-back hopeful Ales Hemsky. Following a trend Jeff Roukema loves, he welcomed a slew of undrafted prospects that he hopes will continue to develop into a fraction of what their franchise center, Tyler Johnson, has become - Dean Kukan and Andrew Agozzino. In a special treat to the fans and in hopes that we will see a third return, they acquired the rights to world class winger, Alexander Radulov. Radulov, famous for exiling himself twice to the KHL has expressed interest in coming back to North America once again. Although initially expressed his interest to "be free, with no obligations to any club", Mr. Roukema managed to honey-dick Radulov in agreeing to join the Jackets if he ultimately decided to return to North America and contend for a Stanley Cup once and for all.
Next up, the start of pre-season. After a stale 1-4-0 start due to lackluster goal tending and displeasure with how St. Louis was handling Jake Allen, Columbus went out looking for a legitimate #1 starter while their young prospects goalie prospects prepare for NHL time in the coming years. Shortly thereafter, the Blue Jackets had their starting goaltender. In come Corey Crawford, out goes Allen, Chiasson and the 2nd round pick from the Ryan Kesler trade. Giving up nothing from his core organizational pieces, Mr. Roukema was thrilled with the value he has brought into the Jackets thus far. Content with their overall depth up front with the addition of Steve Bernier, Mr. Roukema felt he could sacrifice one current member of the line up and open up promotion opportunities within the team in the bottom 6 and improve the lethality of their top 6. When the Los Angeles Kings presented their most recent trade block, Mr. Roukema felt there was an person on their block that complimented damn near everything the Jackets were after. A scoring winger to play alongside Johnson, add more potency to an already lethal power play and ultimately, a leader. In comes Alex Tanguay - a Stanley Cup champion who still has a knack for scoring the key goals, like his Cup clinching goal in 2000-2001. Out goes once-touted Riley Nash and a 3rd round selection. In these 3 moves alone, Mr. Roukema brought the team from a 1-4 start to the pre-season to a 13-6 improvement in the next 19 after Bernier was signed. A hefty improvement, especially when 2 of those loses came off of the introduction of both Tanguay and Crawford into the line up. Let's summarize the moves:
Out: Ryan Kesler, Jake Allen, Alex Chiasson, Riley Nash, 3rd round pick
In then Out: NJD 2nd round pick
In: Corey Crawford, Alex Tanguay, Josh Ho-Sang, Max Domi
EDIT* Hours after this article was prepared, we got word that Columbus has released Devin Setoguchi from his PTO and have signed training camp stand out Oleg Yevenko, another undrafted player. A 6-foot-7, 238-pound defenseman, Yevenko stood out at the NHL prospects tournament in Traverse City, Mich., and is doing the same at the Blue Jackets’ (NHL) training camp. Being the only player left on the Jackets' roster without an NHL contract, it looks like Yevenko is on his way to a legitimate NHL shot after a very strong World Championship. At 24 years old, he mirrors the career path of long-time tall-men Hal Gill and Zdeno Chara, not hitting their NHL stride until their mid 20's. Head coach Todd Richards has said that a few players have impressed him in the first week of camp, but has not disclosed who those players are. Thursday, unprompted, he talked of the impressive play of Yevenko. He was sent down to Lake Erie earlier today, if he has a strong start or if Columbus encounter the injury bug again, you can be sure to see Yevenko in the near future.
What the Jackets will look like for this season is detailed in my signature and they look like they're going to be competitive enough to battle for the #3 spot in the Metropolitan and hopefully secure one of the wild card spots at the conclusion of the season.
Prepare for Battle, We are the Fifth Line.
