It was made official by the Blue Jackets organization today as rumors had surfaced yesterday about the departure of highly skilled 1st round draft pick Nikita Filatov back to Russia.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have loaned forward Nikita Filatov to CSKA (pronounced CHESH-ka) of the Kontinental Hockey League for the remainder of the 2009-10 season, General Manager Scott Howson announced today.
It was no secret that all parties involved were not happy. Filatov wasn't happy about the lack of playing time, Head Coach Ken Hitchcock wasn't happy with Filatov's play when he was on the ice. General Manager Scott Howson was rumored to have not been happy with Hitchcock's handling of Filatov and no one would be happy with the veiled threats that Filatov made over the summer about if he doesn't play in the NHL he would talk with the KHL.
Howson said all the right things in both the official press release and also his quotes in the Puck Rakers blog but can something be read into them? Of course!
“Nikita is a top prospect in our organization and we believe it is in the best interest of his development to play more and in all situations in the KHL,” said Howson. “We have agreed to his request to be assigned to CSKA and this should afford him the opportunity to continue to work and develop his game in his hometown of Moscow.”
Translation, if we didn't make a deal with CSKA, Filatov was going to jet anyway.
“Everybody had high expectations for him. I still have high expectations for him. It’s just not happening as soon as we’d hoped, but that’s OK, too. He's 19 years old," stated Howson on Puck Rakers.
Translation, due to his threats we were forced to put him on the team out of camp (which he wouldn't have made without the threat) and we hoped like hell the light bulb would go off and he would gain 30 pounds. None of which happened.
Now here is the key quote from Howson, "I expect him back at training camp next fall. I will be surprised if he's not here at training camp. That's his stated goal."
Translation, I know there is a chance that he won't be back and now I need to find a team to give me more than a bag of pucks for this guy that we shouldn't have ever drafted. Give me Washington's, Atlanta's and Los Angeles' phone number.
Really what it comes down to is; which person is more important to the Blue Jackets, Ken Hitchcock of Nikita Filatov? Before you laugh at the concept of a player ever being more important than Hitchcock, what if you change the name to Rick Nash? It would be bye bye Hitch but Filatov is no where close to being on that level so off he goes back to the mother land.
The problem with Filatov is that he just isn't a good fit for a Hitchcock hockey team. Look at the players that he plays and plays important minutes. Nash (6'4" 230 lbs), Antoine Vermette (6'0" 200+ lbs), Jakub Voracek (6'2" 215 lbs), R.J. Umberger (6'2" 220 lbs), Sammy Pahlsson (6'0" 205 lbs). Do you see a trend? The only player that gets away from the flying behemoths mentality is Kristian Huselius (6'2" 184 lbs) who's relationship with Hitchcock has been rocky at best since coming here.
There was no secret that the Blue Jackets wanted Luke Schenn in the 2008 draft and not Filatov. When the Maple Leafs moved up to snatch the prized defenseman away from Howson it left the CBJ in a precarious position. Take Filatov who was the most talented player on the board but wasn't a good fit, take a less talented player in the slot or trade back.
The more solid selection without the ultra high end talent prospect was Colin Wilson which the Nashville Predators are in love with. Wilson was the very next selection and he filled a need that the Blue Jackets are still thin in and that is at the center position. Wilson will probably be a very solid 2nd line player for many years to come. Think of R.J. Umberger when you think of production and the type of player he could turn out to be.
Instead, Howson rolled the dice and selected the Ferrari instead of the Corvette. A Ferrari is great when it's on the road but they always seem to be in the shop. That was Filatov. A Ferrari of a player but may never get out of the shop long enough to ever get full use of him as a player. Wilson on the other hand is a Corvette. Plenty of performance and you know he is ready to go when you turn the key.
What Howson is very good as is eliminating bad fits or mistakes by the organization and getting maximum return for it. Does anyone remember the Adam Foote trade? Negotiating with only 1 team due to the demands of the "Athlete" Foote's demands and still got a 1st round selection out of it that he parlayed into getting R.J. Umberger. Another was Gilbert Brule who seemed to be a complete bust and parlayed that into Raffi Torres. Brule looks like he might have found new life but still doesn't look like he will ever reach the promise that he supposedly had coming out of the Vancouver Giants and Torres has been a perfect compliment to what Hitchcock needs on his hockey team.
Now what will Howson do to maximize return and get a player that better fits what Hitchcock wants on his team. Not a lot of teams are in love with Russian players but a few jump to mind. Washington, Atlanta, New York Rangers and the Los Angeles Kings. I will say that the CBJ has said that they are not interested in trading Filatov and no team has called. To be honest, not many teams are looking to trade right now and are waiting to see what they will be like closer to the trade deadline.
Possible teams to watch for that Filatov could be packaged to at the deadline are:
Minnesota Wild - with the organization wanting to go to a more open and offensive mindset, Filatov might be the type of player they would like to get their hands on. Expect Howson to at least ask for Brent Burns and then quickly be denied but he might go for a prospect like Tyler Cuma a defenseman that has had a severe knee injury and is on the way back or Cody Almond who is a gritty center with some scoring promise.
Washington Capitals - when you score a lot, what do you want to do? Score more of course. Defense with the Caps is of little concern as they are all out going at teams to score. They also seem to love Russian players. Filatov is both Russian and has a snipers touch when he isn't concerned with defense. Match made in heaven it seems on paper. The Caps might be willing to give up John Carlson who is a big defenseman with a big time scoring touch. Another prospect possibility is Marcus Johansson who is a fleet skating center with a scoring upside.
Atlanta Thrashers - the Thrash are always looking for offense and seem to want to mold themselves in the same fashion as the Capitals but just don't do as good a job at doing it. Filatov would fit the bill and also might generate interest in a less than desirable fan base of Atlanta. Ticket sales could be enough to have the Thrashers make a call plus it would be a way from them to sell to Ilya Kovalchuk that the team is trying to put other parts around him. A prospect that the Blue Jackets would be interested in is Spencer Machacek. Machacek is a right winger that had an impressive rookie year with the Chicago Wolves putting up 23 and 48 points in 77 games and is off to even a better start this year with 5 goals and 15 points in 16 games in the AHL.
And at the end of the day, Filatov might be back at camp next year still the 5'10" and 175 pound kid that is soft on the boards, avoids getting hit at all costs and turns over the puck in his own end with frequency.
One thing is for certain, that zebra won't change his stripes so Hitch and the Blue Jackets better live with his faults to get his offensive upside or trade him while they can get some value back for him.
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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