As the first day of free agency settles down for the night, we take a breath to review what happened today and what we might expect in the up coming days.
Before the free agency period opened up at noon, Mr Howson got busy and traded away Gilbert Brule to the Edmonton Oilers for Raffi Torres. This finally brings to an end a very disappointing player in Brule that before he was drafted, there was some argument if Brule was as good or better than Sidney Crosby. None of those arguments exist today and now he is off to his birthplace, Edmonton. Torres does come with some ifs and maybes, as he is coming off a knee injury that limited him to 32 games. If Torres comes back to his prior form, he is a 2 way player that can forecheck well and also can score 20+ goals a year. Torres is 2 weeks away from hitting the ice and so there was some risk with this trade. I believe the risk is worth it and he can be penciled into the 2nd line along side Zherdev. Torres fits one of the needs that Howson wanted to take care of and he gets his top 6 forward for a pretty good price both in salary and the trade.
Later in the day, Howson got another player to pull the trigger in one Mike Commodore. The 5 year, 18.75 million dollar contract obviously helped Mr. Commodore with his decision. Did the Jackets over pay for Commodore? Probably but this is expected as we currently only have cash and hope to help lure free agents. Commodore fills another need that the Jackets had identified in needing at least 2 blueliners. The 6'5", 230 pounder won't bring offense to the backend but he will bring his physical presence that fills the hole that was left with the departure of Adam Foote. At 28 years old, we should be getting the best 5 years of Commodores career but we will have to wait and see on that.
Well, Hitchcock has to be happy as he added 2 more physical players that make his heart go a flutter. Now does Howson have some more moves that will make the fan base's heart do the same? Players that were targets of the Jackets that haven't been signed yet are as follows:
Brendan Morrison - the obvious center that fans would like to come and center the line with Nash. Is he the 1st line center that we wanted going in, no, but he will be the best center that Nash has played with since his career started with the Jackets and should increase the goal production of the 1st line. It also pushed Umberger down to the 2nd line where I think everyone would feel more confortable having him play. The things Jacket's fans can do is pray like hell that Sundin takes that insane offer of 2 years $20 million dollars and that will make it a lot less likely that Morrison would go back.
Mark Streit - Update *** gone to the Islanders ***the top puck moving defenseman left on the board after the insane signings of Campbell and Redden. Coming off a 13 goal and 62 point season, Streit will be looking for big cash and he probably will get it. He might price himself out of the Jackets targets due to GM's that have lost their collective minds and also throw in some owners from Tampa that I think has forgot there is a salary cap.
Brooks Orpik - I don't know if Orpik is as high on the Jackets list now that they have signed Commodore but still should be looked at. Pairing him with Kris Russell could let the young defenseman create scoring opportunities and cover up some of the defensive short coming that Russell has at this point in his career. Another guy that is very physical and brings all kinds of nasty to the game.
Some other people that could be on the move is Dan Fritsche. It was reported today that the Maple Leafs have some interest. Who would we get in return??? Would think they are throwing out Kubina as the bait. Kubina was rumored at the draft to be in a trade offer to allow the Leafs to move up a spot. They did one better and moved up 2 spots. Not does Kubina get on the table again? Could be and with his 40 points and 18 of those coming on the powerplay, you would think that the CBJ would move Fritsche to get that. Whether it would be the Leafs or someone else, I just feel with the amount of chatter that has Fritsche's name tied to it and with the Jackets having a number of 3rd line wingers that could fill his spot, you have to think Howson is shopping him around.
What it all comes down to is Morrison. If we get Morrison and nothing else, I would be happy with the FA period. Not excited but happy. Filling that center position does all kinds of things for this team that would allow other players to flurish. The next few days should allow us to see what next season will turn into. Will it be a run to the playoffs or a run to select Tavarres? We will see.
Fire the Cannon!
Eric Smith
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Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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