Columbus Blue Jackets Off-season Lineup
Rick Nash - ???? - David Vyborny
???? - Gilbert Brule - Nikolai Zherdev
Jason Chimera - Manny Malholtra - ????
Jody Shelly - Janne Hauhtonen - Dan Fritsche
Bryan Berard - Rostislav Klesla
Ron Hainsey - Duvie Westcott
???? - ????
Jose Theodore
Pascal Leclaire
After a season that started out fairly decent, the Columbus Blue Jackets ended up exactly where they were expected to be. Now comes a tough off-season and with the draft coming to a close soon the Blue Jackets are going to be leaving with a few fairly decent prospects to add to their already good prospect pool. While they still will end up lacking any elite talent, there is no question the depth is there, but unfortunately it looks as if it'll be another year or two before Columbus can really start to flip the page and head in the right direction.
With loads of cap space, GM GFY might end up not spending much into the free agent pool this off-season other than to fill some depth positions. While the Blue Jackets heavily lack a 1C and had to rely on Manny Malholtra to take on that role with the departure of Fedorov, GM GFY still might look to get someone who is a little more fitting for the role but is unlikely to go out of his way to spend too much to make it happen. There are also a few winger positions that need to be addressed but there is a good chance those will end up being cheaper signings, and the blueline might be filled by the likes of Kris Russel and or Marc Methot, but that is yet to be decided.
Derrick Brassard is another name to keep an eye on as he had a fairly good season in the QMJHL despite starting the year with an injury. However because of the injury CBJ might be better off giving Brassard another year of development before seeing any NHL action. David Jones is likely to see NHL action this year but that may also depend on how free agency goes. As for Mason it'll be a couple more years before he likely sees the NHL.
If everything plays out the way it's expected to play out, there's a good chance Columbus will find themselves in the bottom-third of the league again next season unfortunately.