Reports yesterday from
Aaron Portzline of the Dispatch, the Blue Jackets have had discussions with free agent defenceman Christian Ehrhoff.
Ehrhoff is coming off an injury riddled season with the Penguins where he played in just 49 games. Ehrhoff never got his offensive game going in Pittsburgh, putting up just 14 points, his lowest total since his rookie season. Despite the blip in production last season, Ehrhoff was a solid possession player and over the last three seasons has been one of the better defencemen in the league.
Ehrhoff would immediately become the team’s best defenceman. He excels at generating shots which is something the defence struggled with last season. He also has shown over his career that he makes his teammates better. I think Ehrhoff would fit nicely with Ryan Murray. I would play the German defenceman on his off side as I think it would further open up his offensive game. This would be a pair that could handle themselves in any zone and against any competition level.
That would allow head coach Todd Richards to shelter the Jack Johnson – David Savard pair.
It’s obvious this pair was in over their head as a top unit. Bumping them down to the second pair would allow them to face middle six competition and I would make an effort to give them every offensive zone start possible.
The third pair would then be Fedor Tyutin and one of Cody Goloubef, Dalton Prout, or Kevin Connauton. Tyutin may be out of place on the third pair, as he has proven to be a very reliable top four player. But we must consider the fact that he is 32 and starting to slow down. If he shows he has not lost a step it would give the Jackets some flexibility as they could bump Tyutin into the top four if someone was ineffective or hurt. As for his partner I would take Goloubef. He showed some good signs in a small sample last season, and I think he has earned the chance to show what he can do over a full season.
Ehrhoff would be a great fit for the Blue Jackets however the big elephant in the room must be mentioned; money. Per
General Fanager the Blue Jackets have just $3.7 million cap space after signing Brandon Saad to his big extension. In order to bring in Ehrhoff, who made $4 million last season, some salary has to be shed.
The obvious player to move is Rene Bourque. Bourque carries a $3.3 million cap hit which is far too much for a player who might not even crack the line-up.
Ideally a team like an Arizona or Florida could use Bourque as they try and reach the cap floor. Remember these are the teams that recently acquired Chris Pronger and Marc Savard, players who will never play again; simply to get to the floor. Currently the only team below the floor is Nashville who still has a couple RFA’s to re-sign. New Jersey could also be a fit they are a little over $400,000 above floor.
If the Jackets can find the cap space Ehrhoff would be an excellent fit on this team and would go a long way to improving the d-core.
You can find me on Twitter @PaulBerthelot 
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