Columbus announced their final cuts yesterday, trimming eight players from the roster. F's Jack Skille, Michael Chaput and Ryan Craig, defensemen Cody Goloubef, Will Weber and Ilari Melart along with goaltenders Jeremy Smith and Mike McKenna were all sent to Springfield. Skille, Craig, Goloubef, Smith and McKenna all cleared waivers prior to their assignments.
No surprises among the cuts. I would presume Skille and Goloubef will be the first call ups in the event of injuries. With Smith and McKenna heading to the Falcons, it's clear that Curtis McElhinney is healthy and ready to roll as the club's backup netminder.
The cuts leave the Jackets with 13 forwards on the roster including rookie Boone Jenner, who head coach Todd Richards said would open up on the team's top line with Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik. "I'd be foolish not to," he said, "and that's just based on their play."
On the blue line the Jackets will carry eight with the defense pairs lining up like this: Fedor Tyutin - Jack Johnson, Ryan Murray - James Wisniewski and Nikita Nikitin - Dalton Prout. Tim Erixon and David Savard both begin the year with the club as reserves it would seem. Thanks to Rob Mixer of BlueJackets.com for the
tentative defense combos and for plenty of other updates on the team.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Murray in extended action. He has some elite skill and if he can learn the nuances of playing defense at this level quickly he will give the Jackets a little extra scoring punch. As he's currently slated to play with Wisniewski on the second pair, it looks as if he'll get plenty of even strength and power play ice time to show what he has.
Gaborik is another player I think is ready to step up. He was up and down after coming to the Jackets at the deadline but has elite skill. He alone can elevate the Jackets offense from one of the least potent in the game to at least middle-of-the-pack. He's looked good in preseason with his skating stride in mid-season form.
Obviously Sergei Bobrovsky is going to be relied upon heavily this year and will at least need to approach the numbers he posted last year in order to keep the Jackets playoff hopes realistic.
Of course Bob is going to see a lot of action; particularly with 15 back-to-back games and considering he is likely going to represent Russia at the 2014 Winter Olympics in his home country. That means McElhinney is going to have to play well as Bob's understudy. It's quite possible he will see at least 15 starts and the Jackets can't afford too many lackluster efforts in goal from their backup.
For better or worse this is your 2013 - 2014 Columbus Blue Jackets. On paper they should keep it interesting and I expect them to challenge for a playoff spot late into the campaign. If they can stay close to the eighth spot into December when Nathan Horton returns from shoulder surgery I like their chances. Horton is going to be as good or better than any player added in-season by anyone in the league.
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