After their playoff near-miss and with a new GM chomping at the bit to use the club's valuable draft capital (three first-round draft choices) to improve the club the summer was shaping up to be the most important in Columbus Blue Jackets franchise history. A day before the annual entry draft in Newark, New Jersey, what Columbus may or may not do is still unclear. Even GM Jarmo Kekalainen is unsure what might happen in the next 24 hours.
In an article for the Columbus Dispatch, Aaron Portzline spoke with Kekalainen about the upcoming draft and the
different options the first time GM has. Here are Kekalainen's thoughts on those options.
On parlaying the multiple firsts into a selection in the top five:
“It looks like getting up (into the top five) is going to be very expensive,” Kekalainen said. “But we’ll see what’s there. We’re not going to rule it out until the sixth pick is on the clock.”
It's a deep draft and all but the clubs in the top five probably aren't interested in dropping down as far as Columbus' first pick at 14 even if the Jackets throw in one or both of their other first rounders at 19 and 27.
The Jackets themselves could look to move down. After the top four or five guys the next block of players are similar in terms of potential. The Jackets might feel they can get a player later in the draft of comparable talent and moving down could bring yet more selections.
The problem with that is the Jackets are looking for immediate impact talent; not players that can help two or three years down the road. Moving down is not likely going to enable them to do that.
Kekalainen then went on to discuss a third option; cashing in one or more of their precious picks for immediate help at the NHL level.
“Yeah, we’ve had conversations with a few teams about that,” Kekalainen said. “That’s something we’re going to look at long and hard with our first-round picks.
“If it’s a player that makes sense, not only in the short term but the long term, that’s definitely something we’ll consider.”
With the salary cap decreasing from the $70MM plus it was this past season to around $64MM this next year, lots of teams suddenly facing a severe cap crunch might be compelled to shed some salary. This means some very good players could come available at discounted prices. Several clubs have already exercised one or both of their compliance buyouts to extricate themselves from cumbersome contracts to give themselves some flexibility this summer.
There are still several teams that will need to do some work to open up cap space. Among them are: Vancouver, Minnesota and San Jose, among others. Columbus could look to capitalize on another club's financial constraints using their draft pick capital as an enticement.
Other Notes:
Kekalainen and Co. have rewarded head coach Todd Richards for the job he did this past season by extending his contract for one year. It was certainly well deserved but it's still a huge vote of confidence given to Richards by the GM. Kekalainen could have allowed Richards to enter the final year of his deal to see how the Jackets fared next season before showing that commitment in the coach but he elected not to.
“We believe Todd is one of the top young coaches in our game and he has had a steadying influence on our team since taking over as head coach in January 2012,” said Kekalainen. “The hard work put in by Todd and our coaching staff has been a big reason for our team’s improved play and we are excited that he will continue to serve as our head coach.”
That's high praise indeed from one's boss.
Assistant coach Keith Acton has left the Jackets to take the associate coach position under Dallas Eakins in Edmonton. Acton knows Eakins from their time together in the Maple Leaf organization and the rookie NHL head coach will benefit from having an experienced associate at his side.
Presumably Dan Hinote will assume more responsibility with the club and take Acton's spot behind the Columbus bench.
As Eklund has reported, and since confirmed by Portzline, the Jackets are at least considering Tim Thomas in the event the club fails to reach an agreement on an extension with Sergei Bobrovsky. That's somewhat of a surprise as Thomas would represent only a short-term replacement for Bob but then again, the Jackets may be of the opinion that if Bob does go to the KHL it will only be for a year and the club may be able to bring him back after a brief hiatus.
I suppose the Jackets could do worse than Thomas; other reports have suggested the team could look to sign Mikka Kiprusoff if Bob leaves. Kipper was horrible last year in Calgary and I wouldn't count on him to give Columbus the quality of goaltending they will need next season.
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