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Jackets Land Horton

July 6, 2013, 4:57 PM ET [14 Comments]
Glen Miller
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Jarmo Kekalainen and John Davidson broke out their big boy bait and tackle and landed one of the big fish of the summer free agent feeding frenzy agreeing to terms with Nathan Horton on a seven-year, $37.1MM ($5.3MM AAV) contract. The move addresses the Jackets glaring lack of goal scoring and signals that Columbus was not fooled by this past season's playoff surge.

The Jackets rode a stellar campaign from Sergei Bobrovsky and nearly got into the postseason but counting on a repeat performance from Bob and not upgrading the roster elsewhere would have been foolish. Bob masked a lot of Columbus' weaknesses this year yet the Jackets still failed to make it to the playoffs. Adding Horton improves the club in many ways.

Columbus faced 4.7 more shots on goal at 5v5 per 60 minutes this season. Their team PDO 5v5 (shooting percentage plus save percentage) was 1036 (0.927 save percentage, 0.911 shooting percentage). That number tends to fluctuate season-to-season and regress toward the mean of 1000 suggesting Columbus benefited from some puck luck this year.

Horton has finished with positive Relative Corsi ratings in each of the last five seasons, coming in at 9.3 in 2012-2013. He should help the Jackets in the puck possession department; an area they struggled in this season.

The Jackets also struggled to score goals this past season; likely a byproduct of their inability to possess the puck with regularity. For his career, Horton has scored 27.5 goals for every 82 games played and has reached the 20-goal plateau in six of his nine NHL campaigns. In each of the three seasons he has failed to reach that level his production was limited by injury and his scoring rate had him on a pace to hit 20 or more had he played the full schedule.

Horton also made it perfectly clear Columbus was the city he wanted to spend the next chapter of his hockey career while he and his wife raise their family. Obviously remaining in Boston would have seemed to be the obvious choice given their standing as one of the league's top teams and perennial Stanley Cup contenders but Horton had other ideas.

"I'm thankful for my opportunity in Boston. I met a lot of great people, I've had great teammates, I had a great time there," he said. "I just think that to be in this city, it's a great opportunity for me and my family to be in a house and for it to be a little bit more quiet. That's what I was looking for."

Hey, not everyone is cut out for big city life.

Horton is likely to miss the start of the 2013-2014 season as he is set to have surgery to repair an injured shoulder. Recovery is expected to take anywhere from four to six months. But when he does hit the ice for the first time as a member of the Blue Jackets Horton already knows what will be expected from him and he's excited to take on the challenge.

"I want to bring what I can to the team: scoring goals, battling, putting pucks on the net like a power forward does," he said. "But I'll do anything it takes, wherever I'm slotted and wherever the coach wants me to play. I want to be in the playoffs and everybody else does [here] and we've got the team to do it. That's why I'm so excited. There's a buzz going around here. I felt it since I got here."

For his part, Kekalainen is obviously pleased to have added Horton, and looks forward to seeing Horton's impact down the stretch of what the GM hopes is a playoff drive.

"Obviously, we'd like to have him right away, but it's a long-term commitment," Kekalainen said. "There's going to be lots of hockey left after he gets his shoulder fixed. We have realistic expectations based on our doctors' reports that he'll be back in December when there'll still be over 50 games to play."

Columbus isn't typically known as a premium destination for top free agents so locking up Horton is a bit of a coup for the Blue Jackets. Clearly Horton senses the "buzz" the Jackets have going ever since hiring Davidson as president of hockey operations. After closing out the campaign on a 19-5-5 run it appears the Jackets have earned some respect among their peers on the NHL landscape.

The Jackets now have two legitimate threats on the right side with Horton joining Marian Gaborik. I would imagine head coach Todd Richards is already envisioning utilizing both gifted snipers on a power play that ranked 28th in the NHL this year. With Horton tallying roughly one-quarter of his 198 career NHL regular season goals on the man-advantage it stands to reason the Jackets will boast a more formidable power play attack with his presence in the lineup.

The signing is not without risk of course. However that can be said about most unrestricted free agent deals. A lot of teams with needs end up competing for players from a shallow pool of quality contributors. That often leads to inflated salaries employers come to eventually regret.

In Horton's case concussions make this contract a bit risky. Horton has missed time due to two separate concussions. As we are learning, head injuries can be problematic, difficult to treat and career-threatening. Horton plays a bruising style that puts him at greater risk for that type of injury than many of his contemporaries.

It's hard not to like this move from a Columbus perspective. They've added a consistent 25-30 goal scorer without having to pay the kind of above-market price many non-traditional, small-market franchises have to in order to draw high-profile players. At just 28 years-old, Horton should be able to play up to or beyond his cap hit for a majority of his seven-year contract.
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