You know you got an even worse player back in the deal right?
- Jimmys7

haha good one. I agree Hartnell is the better player of the two. Umberger didn't impress much the last couple of years.

I'll settle this once and for all: both umberger and hartnell suck. They're both on the decline and past their primes. Both teams lost this trade.

Edit: hornqvist is just as bad

I'll settle this once and for all: both umberger and hartnell suck. They're both on the decline and past their primes. Both teams lost this trade.

Edit: hornqvist is just as bad
- rangerdanger94

So is every replacement player the rags got , and maybe Brassard if he doesn't break the 50 pts mark with the line mates that are given.

So is every replacement player the rags got , and maybe Brassard if he doesn't break the 50 pts mark with the line mates that are given.
- Alexzanki

The rest of our players are damn good tho

Penguins
Rangers
Blue Jackets
Devils
Flyers
Islanders
Caps
Canes

The Penguins: Still one of the best teams. Ehrhoffwill be a serviceable replacement for Niskanen. They also added depth in Spalling and Hornqvist. Team should win the division. Only question is will they collapse once again in the playoffs.

The Rangers: Still a solid team with a good nucleus. Tanner Glass won't help them at. Dan Boyle is a question mark at that age. Losing Richards will hurt the leadership. But when you have Lundqvist he a lock for 30 plus wins. 2nd seed, barley. Playoff team

The Jackets: Need one more scorer to get closer to the Penguins. But this is a deep team. 3 solid forward lines. Hartnell is going to bring a great edge. 8 solid defenseman and Bob. If the Penguins or Rangers falter,the Jackets will be right there. 3rd seed, playoff team.

The Devils: Havlat and Cammalleri will help, especially the shootouts. Getting rid of one traffic cone in Volchenkov will also help. Still think they lack a hole on the 2nd line at center. Will Battle for that final wild card spot.

The Flyers: Giroux, Simmonds, Voracek and Mason will carry this group. Timmonen and Coburn will have the dubious duty of trying to carry the load on D. Not enough depth on the blueline to be a playoff team.

The Islanders: Very similar to the Flyers. Grabovski and Kulemin give them a legimate 2nd line. Definitely have enough balance up front. When you have rely on two Carkner, Hickey, Donovan or Strait to fill out your defensive pairings, that 's a huge problem. Reinhart would help the likes of those 4. Not a playoff team.

The Caps: Actually respect the the group of Green, Carlson, Niskanen and Alzner. Team has veryt little depth up front. Also think they will have a tough time adjusting to Trotz. Holtby and Peters between the pipes is scary. Not a playoff team.

The Hurricanes: The bottom 6 is a mess. Jordan Staal has start living up to his contract. Gleason, Harrison and/or Bellemore playing is going to be a disaster. Cam Ward ever going to stay healthy? Not a playoff team.
- blacksheep1

Rangers are fine. Core is still together they changed up some depth guys but it shouldnt affect them that much. Richards is not a big loss. He is like VL, still a useful player but his best days are behind him.

Columbus will have issues scoring. They will heavily rely on Bob

Flyers had seven 20 goal scorers last season. Umberger had 18 compared to Hartnells 20. D is not as bad as people claim. They are a solid group but like all D on teams without a top dman they need support defensively from the forwards. It is how NJ stays competitive without a top dman. Flyers need to do that better. Other than that the have the ability to score a lot of goals. That will win them game s

Rangers are fine. Core is still together they changed up some depth guys but it shouldnt affect them that much. Richards is not a big loss. He is like VL, still a useful player but his best days are behind him.

Columbus will have issues scoring. They will heavily rely on Bob

Flyers had seven 20 goal scorers last season. Umberger had 18 compared to Hartnells 20. D is not as bad as people claim. They are a solid group but like all D on teams without a top dman they need support defensively from the forwards. It is how NJ stays competitive without a top dman. Flyers need to do that better. Other than that the have the ability to score a lot of goals. That will win them game s
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

Columbus finished 12th in total goals scored last season

Where is this wives tale that we can't score goals coming from...

Edit: And they finished 6th in PP goals.

You will change your tune on Hartnell when he scores 2 or 3 more goals than Umberger over the course of the season while taking 40 more minor penalties.

Hartnell brings much to the table in terms of grit. But his undisciplined play will drive you bananas every time he takes an offensive zone penalty while on a power play. He will drive you bananas every time he falls down for no apparent reason in the corner and loses a puck battle. He will drive you nuts while he wears out your penalty killers because they have to kill 30 or 40 more penalties over the course of a season.

Is he a better player than Umberger? Yes, he is. But their point production isn't that disparate, especially when you consider that Hartnell played on the top line with Giroux, or Briere most of the time while Umberger played mostly checking line duties.

I'm just sayin', maybe it wasn't as lopsided a trade as you hope it will be. And that is not because I am over rating Umberger, I know exactly what he is. I just think some are OVER rating Hartnell.

All of this has the potential to be true, that's why they play the games. I feel like with Cammalleri it all comes down to health. If he's healthy I think he'll be a really nice addition.

Last season the Zubrus-Zajac-Jagr line created tons of chances but there just wasn't enough finish. I think the initial plan is to put Cammalleri in Zubrus' spot there. Camm is a finisher, I like the potential of that line to generate a lot of goals because of the combination of Zajac+Jagr's possession game and Cammalleri's finishing ability.

Kovalchuk's production was "hindered" because in Atlanta he literally didn't play defense at all. Scored 50 goals every year but was like -400 or something. I still maintain that in the end Kovy was a much better all around player on NJ than he was in Atlanta. Still put up great offensive numbers but also became a good penalty killer, etc.
- MannySilvers

BTW NJ lead the league in OT losses last season, it is unlikely they get 18 points from losses again

Columbus finished 12th in total goals scored last season

Where is this wives tale that we can't score goals coming from...

Edit: And they finished 6th in PP goals.
- Alexzanki

Well you hear things and 7 15 goals scores doesn't sound that impressive when you say it out loud. Doesn't matter anyways these arguments are purely speculation. No team in the east made huge changes with exception of Tampa. I still see the east staying the way it was last season.

Well you hear things and 7 15 goals scores doesn't sound that impressive when you say it out loud. Doesn't matter anyways these arguments are purely speculation. No team in the east made huge changes with exception of Tampa. I still see the east staying the way it was last season.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

I think you just miss read , at least 7 players score 15 or more goals (with Johanson being the ceiling at 33).

You will change your tune on Hartnell when he scores 2 or 3 more goals than Umberger over the course of the season while taking 40 more minor penalties.

Hartnell brings much to the table in terms of grit. But his undisciplined play will drive you bananas every time he takes an offensive zone penalty while on a power play. He will drive you bananas every time he falls down for no apparent reason in the corner and loses a puck battle. He will drive you nuts while he wears out your penalty killers because they have to kill 30 or 40 more penalties over the course of a season.

Is he a better player than Umberger? Yes, he is. But their point production isn't that disparate, especially when you consider that Hartnell played on the top line with Giroux, or Briere most of the time while Umberger played mostly checking line duties.

I'm just sayin', maybe it wasn't as lopsided a trade as you hope it will be. And that is not because I am over rating Umberger, I know exactly what he is. I just think some are OVER rating Hartnell.
- MBFlyerfan

I covered this in an earlier post, but this is simply not true. RJU played at least half the year on Johansen's line, and he was awful. They tried to get him going by playing him with our best player and it was a total failure. After taking him off the top line and putting him on the checking line it was obvious that RJU sucked in that role too, hence the scratches at the end of the year and the playoffs that made RJU request the trade. I have yet to see a CBJ fan say they think Hartnell is some savior, we know he's not. But Umberger is a guy who is getting regular scratches, a level of suckage that Hartnell hasn't approached. I can't wait to see Flyer fan's reaction a month into the season when they are scratching a guy who makes over $4.5 mil a season.

At least try and have your descriptions fit.
- Blackstrom2

They do fit, specifically about the caps. The caps were carried by two guys last year. They are thin up front after Backstrom, Ovie, Kuznetsov(who still needs to prove himself), Johansson and Brouwer. That team couldn't play for an offesnive minded coach in AO. BT will but heads with Ovie every chance he gets. Andding Orpik doesn't help you either.

Todd Cordell: Where Will the Blue Jackets Finish in the Metro Division?
- Todd-Cordell

2.