Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell

Lost in the shuffle of yesterday's trade that saw R.J. Umberger and a 4th round pick in 2015 head to the Flyers in exchange for Scott Hartnell
l is that the Blue Jackets re-signed one of their own.

Jarmo Kekalainen liked what he saw in backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney last season, and has elected to bring him back into the fold.

McElhinney put pen to paper on a one-year contract extension worth $650,000, which is $50K more than he made last season with Columbus.

His numbers weren't great, but he posted a respectable save percentage for a backup at a hair under .910, and he managed to keep the Blue Jackets afloat in the playoff race when Sergei Bobrovsky went down with an injury.

He went 10-11-1 in 28 starts, but figures to see a little less action this season if Bobrovsky stays healthy all year.

I thought there were a few better options in free agency this year, but the Blue Jackets know what they're getting and McElhinney is coming in at a cheap salary that's less than half of what many backups make, so it's hard to be upset with this contract.

**



Hartnell's production far exceeds that of Umberger in recent years, but some said it was unfair to compare the two because Hartnell spent a good portion of his time playing with Claude Giroux and Umberger, well, didn't.

The reality is that Giroux also benefited from playing with Hartnell (mutual benefit), as did the rest of his regular linemates in Philadelphia last year. On the other side, Umberger served as more of anchor to his teammates than anything else.

I was going to chart some data to help illustrate this but David Johnson at HockeyAnalysis was one step ahead of me (see below).



While Hartnell's contract may not look so great a few years down the road - it shouldn't hurt the team much with the cap expected to rise significantly - the Blue Jackets look to be getting the decisively better player here.

Jackets posts

Blue Jackets expected to be quiet in free agency

Talks between Blue Jackets, Johansen moving slowly

Columbus on Spezza's no trade list

Blue Jackets should listen to offers for Jack Johnson

Blue Jackets prospect data: Rychel, Bjorkstrand dominant in 13-14

Devils posts

Devils unlikely to use 2nd compliance buyout

Santini invited to U.S. World Junior evaluation camp

Targeting Ales Hemsky

Devils prospect data: Damon Severson stellar in 13-14

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Email: [email protected]