Blue Jackets Free Agency Primer

The Blue Jackets did not make this post easy on me. As we head into the beginning of free agency July 1, and look at the Jackets’ needs, we still have to consider the pending trade of Rick Nash which will almost certainly bring back at least one NHL roster player. Who will that player be? What position will he play? Will there be multiple NHL players? A couple of top six forwards coming back really changes the Blue Jackets goals heading into free agency. So for the purposes of this post, I will be considering the NHL roster as-is, minus Rick Nash.

As I currently see it, the team needs at least one top six forward, at least one bottom six forward, a depth defenseman, and an NHL goaltender. Preferably, they would add two top six forwards and one bottom six forward. On offense, this would push Vinny Prospal, Ryan Johansen, and/or Cam Atkinson into the bottom six, who could then form a third scoring line with Mark Letestu and either Derek Dorsett or a trade/free agent pick-up. The versatility of Ryan Johansen and Mark Letestu really helps with the flexibility, as does having Johansen, Atkinson and Ryan Russell on two-way contracts. Johansen and Letestu can shift to the wing, and Johansen, Atkinson and Russell could all be sent to Springfield if better options are added.

On defense, the selection of Ryan Murray solidifies the Blue Jackets top six for next season. Jack Johnson, James Wisniewski, Fedor Tyutin, Nikita Nikitin and Marc Methot should be locks for five of the spots. The last spot will come down to Ryan Murray, John Moore or possibly David Savard. I would expect to see Murray get a nine game regular season tryout before the winner of that spot is selected. Only one of those three should be on the NHL roster, while the other two play big minutes in the AHL/WHL. This would require a seventh defenseman for the NHL roster, one who would likely only play in emergency situations, or if the blueline is struck by multiple injuries. In net, a better option than Steve Mason is necessary. Whether or not that player will be better than Sergei Bobrovsky is up in the air, but someone needs to be brought in. For a better handle on their needs, let’s take a look at the Blue Jackets roster:

Blue Jackets Current Roster

FORWARDS
R.J. Umberger $4.6m – Derick Brassard $3.2m – ???

Vinny Prospal $2.5m – Ryan Johansen $1.945m – Cam Atkinson $0.875m

??? – Mark Letestu $0.625m - Derek Dorsett $1.633m

Ryan Russell $0.700m - Derek MacKenzie $1.0m – Jared Boll RFA

Colton Gillies $0.625m

DEFENSEMEN

Jack Johnson $4.357m – James Wisniewski $5.5m

Fedor Tyutin $4.5m – Nikita Nikitin $2.15

Marc Methot $3.0m - John Moore $0.965m

Ryan Murray Unsigned

GOALTENDERS

Sergei Bobrovsky $1.75m - Steve Mason $2.9m

CURRENT CAP SPACE: $25.833m

Now onto the lists of free agents. All four of the lists are sortable. CGP, etc stands for Career Games Played, etc. The $$$ and exp. $$$ refers to the players salary last season, and an expected salary for next season.

Top Six Forward Options

Player	Age	Prev. Team	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts/G	CGP	CG	CA	CPts/G	$$$	Exp. $$$
Alexander Semin	28	Washington	LW	77	21	33	0.70	469	197	211	0.87	6.70	7.00
Olli Jokinen	33	Calgary	C	82	23	38	0.74	1042	292	391	0.66	3.00	4.50
Jiri Hudler	28	Detroit	C	81	25	25	0.62	409	87	127	0.52	2.88	4.00
PA Parenteau	29	NY Islanders	LW	80	18	49	0.84	188	41	88	0.69	1.25	4.00
Andrei Kostitsyn	27	Nashville	LW	72	16	20	0.50	398	103	119	0.56	3.25	3.50
Dustin Penner	29	Los Angeles	RW	65	7	11	0.28	489	135	127	0.54	4.25	3.00
Brad Boyes	30	Buffalo	RW	65	8	15	0.35	558	158	214	0.67	4.00	2.50
Lee Stempniak	29	Phoenix	RW	61	14	14	0.46	517	129	146	0.53	1.90	2.50
Kyle Wellwood	29	Winnipeg	C	77	18	29	0.61	450	86	134	0.49	0.70	2.00
Alexei Ponikarovsky	32	New Jersey	LW	82	14	19	0.40	636	135	179	0.49	1.50	2.00
Kristian Huselius	33	Columbus	LW	2	0	0	0.00	662	190	264	0.68	4.75	2.00
Guillaume Latendresse	25	Minnesota	LW	16	5	4	0.56	314	81	56	0.44	2.50	1.50
Peter Mueller	24	Colorado	C	32	7	9	0.50	254	55	88	0.56	2.00	1.50
Wojtek Wolski	26	Florida	LW	31	4	8	0.39	424	95	163	0.61	3.80	1.50

Bottom Six Forward Options

Player	Age	Prev. Team	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts/G	CGP	CG	CA	CPts/G	$$$	Exp. $$$
Brandon Prust	28	NY Rangers	LW	82	5	12	0.21	279	24	39	0.23	0.80	1.50
Travis Moen	30	Montreal	LW	48	9	7	0.33	570	52	55	0.19	1.50	1.50
Jay McClement	29	Colorado	C	80	10	7	0.21	553	63	114	0.32	1.45	1.50
Eric Fehr	26	Winnipeg	RW	35	2	1	0.09	265	48	48	0.36	2.20	1.50
Benoit Pouliot	25	Boston	LW	74	16	16	0.43	257	53	51	0.40	1.10	1.50
Jordin Tootoo	29	Nashville	RW	77	6	24	0.39	486	46	79	0.26	1.25	1.25
Dominic Moore	32	San Jose	C	79	4	21	0.32	530	67	118	0.35	1.10	1.25
Adam Burish	29	Dallas	RW	65	6	13	0.29	297	25	29	0.18	1.15	1.25
Taylor Pyatt	31	Phoenix	LW	73	9	10	0.26	755	130	134	0.35	1.00	1.25
Torrey Mitchell	27	San Jose	C	76	9	10	0.25	280	30	43	0.26	1.37	1.25
Daniel Winnik	27	San Jose	LW	84	8	15	0.27	366	37	64	0.28	0.95	1.25
Ryan Carter	28	New Jersey	C	65	4	4	0.12	254	18	25	0.17	0.75	1.00
David Moss	30	Calgary	LW	32	2	7	0.28	317	61	63	0.39	1.30	1.00
John Mitchell	27	NY Rangers	C	63	5	11	0.25	222	25	46	0.32	0.65	0.75
Tanner Glass	28	Winnipeg	LW	78	5	11	0.21	262	13	26	0.15	0.75	0.75
Zenon Konopka	31	Ottawa	C	55	3	2	0.09	250	11	16	0.11	0.70	0.75

Depth Defenseman Options

Player	Age	Prev. Team	GP	G	A	Pts	Pts/G	CGP	CG	CA	CPts	CPts/G	$$$	Exp. $$$
Aaron Rome	28	Vancouver	43	4	6	10	0.23	174	6	16	22	0.13	0.75	1.00
Kent Huskins	33	St. Louis	25	2	5	7	0.28	299	13	54	67	0.22	1.00	0.75
Steve Eminger	28	NY Rangers	42	2	3	5	0.12	453	19	77	96	0.21	0.80	0.75
Randy Jones	31	Winnipeg	39	1	1	2	0.05	365	20	85	105	0.29	1.15	0.75
Jim Vandemeer	32	San Jose	25	1	3	4	0.16	461	25	80	105	0.23	1.00	0.75
Mike Lundin	27	Minnesota	17	0	2	2	0.12	241	4	31	35	0.15	1.00	0.55
Aaron Johnson	29	Columbus	56	3	13	16	0.29	217	17	45	62	0.29	0.55	0.55
Peter Harrold	29	New Jersey	11	0	2	2	0.18	175	8	20	28	0.16	0.55	0.55

Goaltending Options

Player	Age	Prev. Team	GP	W	SV%	GAA	CGP	CW	CSV%	CGAA	$$$	Exp. $$$
Scott Clemmensen	35	Florida	30	14	0.913	2.57	152	64	0.91	2.64	1.20	2.50
Dan Ellis	32	Anaheim	10	1	0.911	2.72	165	72	0.908	2.68	1.50	1.50
Jonas Gustavsson	27	Toronto	42	17	0.902	2.92	107	39	0.9	2.98	1.35	1.25
Alex Auld	31	Ottawa	14	2	0.884	3.35	237	91	0.904	2.8	1.00	1.00
Martin Biron	35	NY Rangers	21	12	0.904	2.46	500	228	0.911	2.61	0.88	1.00
Cristobel Huet	36	HC Fribourg-Gotteron	41	17	0.915	2.86	272	129	0.913	2.46	5.63	1.00
Justin Peters	26	Carolina	7	2	0.931	2.48	28	11	0.9	3.23	0.53	0.75
Chris Mason	36	Winnipeg	20	8	0.898	2.59	306	136	0.91	2.63	1.85	0.75
Al Montoya	27	NY Islanders	31	9	0.893	3.1	56	21	0.906	2.76	0.60	0.75
Antero Niittymaki	32	San Jose (2010-11)	34	12	0.896	2.72	234	95	0.902	2.95	2.00	0.55
Michael Leighton	31	Adirondack (AHL)	56	28	0.918	2.58	104	35	0.902	2.95	1.55	0.55
Andrew Raycroft	32	Dallas	10	2	0.898	3.52	280	113	0.9	2.89	0.65	0.55
Brad Thiessen	26	Pittsburgh	5	3	0.858	3.72	5	3	0.858	3.72	0.53	0.55
Mark Dekanich	26	Milwaukee (AHL 2010-11)	43	23	0.931	2.02	122	65	0.922	2.16	0.58	0.55

While not a comprehensive list, those are the names that I think could be either good fits in Columbus, or players they may target on Sunday. I hope to see one name from each of those lists added to the Blue Jackets by early next week. Sort through the options and lets us know in the comments which players you want to see in Union Blue!

DerDrache says:

June 29, 2012 at 10:27 am

As far as forwards go, PA Parenteau is intriguing. Obviously I love his scoring but in the past two seasons he’s played 80 games or more. While past results never guarantee future performance, there’s something to be said for getting a player that will be there night-in, night-out.

I know that many share this view but I see making an offer to Dekanich as a no brainer. $600k, 2-way, 1 year deal. Extremely low risk with the possibility of discovering a gem. If he’s a dud or gets hit with the injury bug, we let him go. I understand GMSH and others hesitancy to sign him considering last year’s results but I see very little downside in giving him another shot.

Dutchman1350 says:

June 29, 2012 at 1:18 pm

Got to imagine the “right player” will be looked at, rather than the “best player”. A theme I think we can all agree on.

Prust would be my favorite, and then add a top 6 guy from the Nash trade.

Fro says:

June 29, 2012 at 4:24 pm

PAP, Whitney, Prust, Clemmenson…that’s my want list…If we sign those, than we can worry about the Nash trade less and focus on one or two players and not the argued 4 pieces that was rumored by Porty…

ducktrance says:

June 30, 2012 at 3:55 am

Good post. I like Parenteau, Mueller, Moen and Tootoo (don’t hate me for that, he’s actually a pretty decent player). Mueller still has upside but a lot of injury concerns, could be worth a shot. He couldn’t be less successful than Huselius here.

And in goal, Clemmensen would be good. Gustavsson would be a gamble that you would need inside info on. Even more of a question mark than Bobrovsky in terms of what you could get. His range is like Martin Gerber… you could get an amazing performance but you’re just as likely to get a guy letting in dump ins from the red line.

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