Other recent articles: |
Published March 2, 2010 It's Deadline TimeMy fellow Puckheads (and all you Puckbunnies, too), we are now in the final 24 hours before the NHL Trade Deadline. Plus, Columbus's return to the ice after the too-long NHL Olympic Break. There will be a couple gold medal winners in Nationwide Arena this evening, namely the CBJ's own captain, Rick Nash, and Team Canada's starting goaltender for the Olympic tournament, Roberto Luongo. The Canucks are sitting in third place in the Western Conference… not comfortably, though, because they're currently fighting with the Colorado Avalanche for first place in the Northwest Division. Each team has 76 points, but Vancouver has more wins, so Colorado sits in sixth place in the West. The Blue Jackets... well, the good news is they are technically closer to eighth in the West than they are to 15th. The bad news, of course, is that they are in 14th place. This fact, unfortunately, is why we are even paying attention to the Trade Deadline. Considering that the Blue Jackets can probably take no more than two regulation losses over these last 19 games to make the playoffs, it is safe to say that the good guys are sellers. I personally do not write the Jackets off until that little “e” (or whatever they wind up using to denote “eliminated”) appears next to the team's name. The problem with that come up again, is that the jackets need to win probably 17 out of 19 games. That means a significant win streak or two, and the kind of win streak they need is longer than this franchise has ever recorded. At the point when it becomes impossible for the Blue Jackets to get to at least 92 or 93 points in the standings, it's time to stick a fork in their Playoff hopes. Eighty-five points may get a team into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, but it just isn't good enough in the West. The Western Conference is better and tougher hockey from top to bottom... it's a simple fact. The bar is just higher. "The trade deadline sucks when your team is a seller... plain and simple." So, any general manager in his right mind has to think about moving his unrestricted free agents, or else could actually for them when they walk out the door at 12:01 a.m. on July 1. The trade deadline sucks when your team is a seller... plain and simple. The Blue Jackets being talked about as trade bait, obviously, are Raffi Torres, Fredrik Modin, and Milan Jurcina -- all of whom are pending unrestricted free agents this summer. The most likely move for the Jackets would be a Torres trade. It is widely felt that the Jackets would not be able to get Torres the kind of money he wants, so Columbus should be able to get a couple of bodies, or maybe a player plus a draft pick, possibly as high as a second-rounder. If I recall correctly, Modin has a no-trade clause, but hopefully he will waive that so the Jackets can at least get something for him and dump the salary. Optimistically, the Blue Jackets could get a couple middle-round draft picks for him. But hey, it's something. I know that personally, I would like to see Jurcina get more of a look in Columbus. However, maybe he just doesn't fit into whatever Scott Howson may be thinking of in terms of changes to the defensive corps. If Howson is in any kind of deep talks with teams about any of the above guys, we will probably be able to tell right before puck drop... when they announce tonight's scratches. Or worse, we may find ourselves with an unpleasant surprise at “scratch time.” USA Today's team report on Columbus this morning said the Jackets could move one of their top defensemen if they get the right offer. Again... the trade deadline sucks when your team is a seller. For now, all we can do is watch tonight's game. And wait until 3 p.m. tomorrow.
|
Add a Comment
Please be civil.