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The History of Howson, Part II: Free Agency

March 1, 2013, 1:20 PM ET [19 Comments]
Glen Miller
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
In The History of Howson, Part I we addressed some of the best and worst trades made by the Blue Jackets under the administration of former GM Scott Howson. For Part II we’re going to look at some of the free agent signings orchestrated by Howson and his staff.

As a small market club the Jackets are usually not a big player in the free agency game. Nonetheless they have made a few forays into the market and like most clubs, have generally experienced mixed results.

Before we get into the best and the worst of Howson in free agency, we must set the ground rules. Not all of the signings profiled here will be big dollar deals. You can make out quite well on occasion by signing an undrafted free agent or a career minor leaguer. Conversely, most of the bad moves will be of the big money, long-term contracts handed out. In that case it’s more likely the free agent signing will underperform his new contract.

The Good

The Signing: Jan Hejda (signed as a UFA from Edmonton to a one year deal in July of 2007)

The Backstory: The big blue liner skated one season as a member of the Oilers, scoring 9 points in 39 games before signing with Columbus as a free agent. Already 29 years old and with just the one season of NHL experience under his belt, the signing was viewed at the time as more of a depth move for Columbus.

The Verdict: Hejda was terrific in his first season with Columbus easily leading the club in +/- with a +20. The next closest mark was that of Rostislav Klesla, who was a +7.
After inking a three-year extension worth $6MM he would post a team-record +/- rating of +23, a mark which still stands today, and helped the Blue Jackets to the one and only playoff berth in franchise history.

Hejda also recorded 21 points in 2009-2009 and finished his four year Jackets career with 67 points and a +23 +/- rating in 302 contests for Columbus.

The Signing: Vinny Prospal (agreed to a one year deal worth $1.75MM in the summer of 2011)

The Backstory: Thinking the playoffs were in reach and after already pulling the trigger on deals for Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski, Howson dipped back into free agency to add the veteran scoring forward to help fill out the top-six. A knee injury the previous season had limited Prospal to just 29 appearances with the Rangers but he still managed to net 23 points proving there was still some life left in the 36 year-old.

The Verdict: The playoffs proved to be a pipe-dream for the 2011-2012 Blue Jackets but Prospal was solid tallying 55 points while suiting up for a full schedule of games. At the modest price of $1.75MM, Prospal turned out to be one of the better bargains for Howson that summer. Prospal was signed to a one year extension worth $2.5MM for the 2012 – 2013 season.

The Bad

The Signing: Mike Commodore inks a five year, $18.75MM deal with Columbus

The Backstory: Seeking a veteran defense-first blue liner, the Jackets identified Commodore early on as a person of interest and snagged him on the first day of free agency in 2008. Commodore had been a key contributor on the Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes squad just two years before and at 28 years old it seemed a safe bet that he still had several good seasons left.

The Verdict: Commodore was so bad that the Blue Jackets bought out his contract with two years remaining on it. Columbus is on the hook for a $1.51MM cap charge this season and $1.14MM in each of the two following years even though he is playing elsewhere. At last glance Commodore was in the Montreal system and trying to earn his way back into the NHL.

The Signing: The Jackets extend the contract of G Steve Mason for two years at a total cost of $5.8MM

The Backstory: Mason exploded on the scene as a rookie during the 2008 – 2009 season leading the Blue Jackets to the playoffs and winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie. Year two wasn’t so good for Mason as his GAA crept above three and his Save % regressed to 0.901. Still, the Jackets were confident enough that Mason would be their man between the pipes for the long term that they gave him an extension one year before his ELC expired.

The Verdict: In the two full seasons since, Masons GAA has been above three and the Save % has hovered around the 90% range. Not surprisingly the Jackets finished out of the postseason in each of those campaigns. Columbus tried to lock up a guy they had identified as a franchise netminder before he was set to get real expensive and as a small to mid-market club that’s a good business plan. However Mason has not proven to be the guy the Jackets thought they were getting.

The Signings: Columbus signs journeyman goalie Curtis Sanford and former Nashville minor league netminder Mark Dekanich.

The Backstory: Seeking to find a cheap but reliable backup goalie the Jackets took a gamble by signing Dekanich and Sanford to compete for the role behind Mason. Dekanich had posted solid numbers in the AHL for Nashville’s affiliate and the Predators have a reputation for developing good goaltenders. The hope was Dekanich would be the next in that line.

Sanford had 108 NHL games of experience with St. Louis and Vancouver before coming to Columbus. His career Save % was just over 90%.

The Verdict: Dekanich was injured much of the year and while Sanford was decent as the backup he isn’t a viable NHL starter. The Jackets would have been better off going after a guy like Mike Smith, Jose Theodore or Jean-Sebastian Giguere to push Mason for the #1 job. Mason had been mediocre in the two seasons following his Calder win and as we’ve seen this year with the presence of Sergei Bobrovsky, Mason has responded to the competition. Relying on Dekanich last year to do that was like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Granted, they didn’t invest a lot of money but the combined salaries committed to Dekanich and Sanford would have been better spent on the salary of Giguere ($1.25MM), Theodore ($1.5MM) or Smith ($2MM).

Jackets Upcoming

Columbus again has a chance to be the first team to down Chicago in regulation play as the host the Blackhawks tonight. The Hawks shutout St. Louis last night, 3 – 0, and have now run their streak to 20 straight in which they have not lost in regulation.

Much to my surprise, Artem Anisimov is expected to be back in the lineup tonight after recovering from a head injury suffered last week in the Detroit game. In practice yesterday he was centering Matt Calvert and Cam Atkinson.

Ryan Johansen was moved up and may be between R.J. Umberger and Nick Foligno. This is a good chance for the young center to get the offense rolling as Umberger looks to be finally heating up (two goals, three points in his last five) and Foligno has appeared to be on the cusp of scoring some goals for a couple of weeks now.

Mason gets the start in goal. He was sharp the last time Columbus and Chicago played so hopefully he can replicate that performance tonight.
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