How Howson Was Hooped From The Start

He had to do it. The franchise face wasn't happy and he needed to deal with his unhappiness accordingly. For that, it seems that Scott Howson's future is on the clock-- if it wasn't already. While he didn't get a bad deal for Rick Nash, you have to wonder if he could have gotten more from the Rangers or someone else. The return of Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon, and a first round pick is definitely an investment, can you actually draw people in with a team without one or two big stand-outs??

In any case, the big issue is what Howson needed to do-- because as I've said in the past; he was damned if he did, damned if he didn't. He probably didn't wanted to be known as the man who shipped away the franchise player in Columbus, but with Nash coming out before the trade deadline last February saying he wanted to be deal-- Howson really had no choice in the matter.

Yet, when you look at what he got back in returns and then remember when some GMs said that Howson was asking for the moon and more-- it makes you wonder if Howson really wanted this deal or if he settled. That will probably stream out in time, but as I alluded to earlier-- you have to think that Howson is on the clock with these moves. Not so much because it was a bad deal, but it's not the blockbuster that some were expecting from a name like Rick Nash, especially after the buzz that created from it all.

Then you have consider the deals that Howson made in his tenure and what they really brought to the grand scheme of the team, it seems like Howson has been way over his head from day one. In fact, this is the second captain that Howson has traded-- as he traded Adam Foote in 2008 back to the Avalanche. Overall, the trades that Howson has made have been spot deals that may help in depth and in the short term, but nothing that is ground breaking. In all honestly, the biggest deals the Blue Jackets have really made were maybe acquiring Sergei Fedorov and Darryl Sydor, both under Doug MacLean's tenure. You can make the case for Jeff Carter, but his tenure was unspectacular and he was moved less than a year into it; so it's up to Jack Johnson to make that trade solid.

Which makes me wonder if MacLean wasn't that bad of a GM, if it's the actual location of the team and the onus that the Blue Jackets have that makes them a bad destination for trade recipients and for free agents. This is a team that is very east for a Western Conference team, they are in one of the toughest divisions in the league, and they overall don't have a desirable reasoning for actually coming to one of the last expansion franchises that really hasn't show too much improvement, sans for their one playoff season.

With that as the possible reasoning, the fault really can't lie on the GMs, as their hands are really tied due to their small market appeal. Whether it be the money not being available to shell out to the free agents or just the area not being where players want to go to-- it's a damning thing for the franchise. Especially with trades, they are very underwhelming because the Jackets don't have the parts needed to bring in anyone who will contribute solidly, unless it's a salary cap dump for the other team-- see: Jeff Carter.

Scott Howson did what he could and even if it does improve the team the smallest amount, odds are he will be criticized and would have been regardless of what he got back in return or if he hadn't made the deal in the first place. It was a lose-lose situation and any GM in the position he was in wouldn't have been able to recover from it all. Not just because the franchise player has been dealt, but because the franchise itself couldn't attract the players to compliment the franchise player and entice him to want to play out the bulk of his career there.

On the Topic Of....Trade Talks

With the drama of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter now over and the free agency tank not on empty, but running on fumes-- it's now time to focus on who is going to be a tradeable asset. This summer seems to have quite the stock of assets that are just begging to be moved for one reason or another. However, the bigger names that could be traded could not be as desirable as the names who are just as comparable; but may have a little more overall upside than the names.

Case-in-point: Bobby Ryan and Rick Nash. These are two guys who many think will be moved this summer after turmoil with their current club, but which will be a better pick-up?? To be honest, when you look at the numbers-- both are comparable to each other and you'd probably get more out of them if they were surrounded with a better support team (though Ryan has it made with Perry and Getzlaf). But the bottom line coming down to it is whether or not a team has the assets and then want to depart with those assets in order to acquire one of the other. Of course, Ryan's asking price will probably be much lower than Nash and his salary hit will be much less and the contract is shorter. All of those will be a great selling feature with the two right wings pitted against each other.

Granted, Nash is the "sexy" name and will have fans bemoan the fact that they weren't able to get him. Nash, however, seems to be only the name. We haven't seen what he can do when playing with elite level players on the NHL stage, but one can assume that if Nash has a true #1 passing center, he'd reap the benefits. The San Jose Sharks name keep popping up from the attachment that Nash and Joe Thornton have-- but that was seven years ago and who knows if the the chemistry is still there.

Moving from the forwards, the name of Jay Bouwmeester is coming up, mostly because Jay Feaster gave Dennis Wideman an insane amount of money on an insane term; thus seemingly make Bouwmeester expendable. At two years left on his contract and a $6.68M cap hit, there's probably not going to be any teams burning up Feaster's phone lines. If anything, they'll make sure he stays hampered with that contract until the 2014 trade deadline. While Bouwmeester can be a great player when he applies himself, odds are teams wouldn't want to take on his streaky play, especially not in a contract year. Of course, should Feaster just give him away, that'd be attractive to some teams. Another option is for the Flames to bury him in the minors, as he only has a NTC, but very unlikely.

Yet, the biggest name, still, is Roberto Luongo. Since the Canucks playoff run ended, many were speculating on where his next destination would be because of his inability to get past Round One after being the Western Conference representative in the Stanley Cup Finals. Of course, that helped Cory Schneider break out and get a decent re-signing for his effort, but it also shows that the Canucks are willing to let go of Luongo, who has 10 years left on his contract and will have a cap hit of $5.33M for those seasons. Plus, considering he has a wacky NTC though it all-- it makes you wonder if any team would take the flier on him or not, especially when they know he can be great at times and horrible at times.

The biggest upside for Luongo is the lack of decent free agent goalies out there for a team that needs one. Rumor has it that Luongo only wants to go to the Panthers, but whether or not they are willing to give up on Jacob Markstrom just yet is another story. Of course, with the Panthers making the playoffs last year and coming within one goal of advancing to the second round-- Luongo could be the one thing that actually makes the Panthers true contenders in the Eastern Conference. That said-- both Jose Theodore and Scott Clemmensen are under contract next year-- Clemmensen for another year after next. It'd be a hard sell for the Panthers to get yet another goalie.

So, with the summer just starting/ending for free agency, you can bet that trade talks will be heating up sooner or later. Whether or not anyone gets moved is another story and whether it happens this month or closer to training camp is yet another story. At least we'll have something to talk about this summer....I think....other than that whole CBA crap.

Blue Jackets' Lost Season

Just under a month before the NHL playoffs begin, the first team has been eliminated. Last night, the Columbus Blue Jackets were mathematically eliminated from the post-season. The Jackets could win their last 13 games and still end up with 77 points, but the 8th place team now has 78 points. Sad trombone here.

The Jackets season ending in March is fun-- as the season for the team came in like a lion, with all their signings and trading for Jeff Carter; it ended like a lamb-- due to injuries, untimely play, and then trading Carter.

But how do you fix this team?? Is there a chance to even fix a constantly rebuilding squad??

Obviously, the biggest thing is what to do with Rick Nash. He's a guy said he wanted out at the trade deadline to "help" the franchise by getting prospects in return-- code for that he didn't want to go down with the ship. There's going to be a lot of convincing from the ownership to keep him stay. I don't think Scott Howson doesn't get the chance to convince Nash, because it goes beyond that. The ownership needs to be the guys to actually get to Nash and try and change his mind. They have the money and control to tell the GM to do this or do that in order to keep the superstar and franchise face happy.

Another point to that is to see what GMs are out there and see if firing Scott Howson is the biggest point. Let's be honest, he started off to a good start, but hasn't been able to build off the playoff performance they had a few seasons ago. While it looks good on paper for what he has done...the game isn't played on paper, that's just silly. The chemistry didn't seem to be there and the fact there wasn't much of a support system for the younger guys, especially Steve Mason-- who could have used a better veteran back-up to help him out and get him to move along.

There's a lot of problems, but the biggest victory for the Jackets has been their off-ice staff.

Whether it's a bizarre Twitter Q&A or the replacing your Jeff Carter nameplate with a Jack Johnson nameplate, the entire crew off the ice-- from PR to merchandising-- have done all they could to get people to the games, get attention to the team, and maybe garner new fans from everywhere. While the product on the ice hasn't been stellar, they have been doing their damnedest to actually make things work in Columbus.

Whatever needs to happen, the Jackets will have a lot of time to contemplate it all. They should have had a better fate with their off-season acquisitions, but all the glitters isn't gold. The franchise has always had so much promise only to be left in the dust. It doesn't help that they are in the toughest division in the NHL and maybe the move to the East would be great.....and after this season, the pitch for that writes itself.

Are Vultures Hovering for Howson??

This wasn't Scott Howson's deal to make. 

It's the long and short of why Rick Nash wasn't trade at the deadline and why Howson won't trade him at the Draft. Mostly because I believe that Howson won't be there for the Blue Jackets come Draft time. Fact of the matter is that Howson was in a lose-lose situation.

First off, he probably couldn't trade Nash because the price he was asking for return was much to high for teams to pay. Even though Nash is a talent, the odds are that his lack of playoff experience doesn't warrant trading away the chemistry you have on your team, as well as mortgaging the future, even if Nash will be around during his prime with the team. 

Second, Howson didn't want to hamstring his team he's working for being responsible for trading the face of the franchise, especially if it doesn't work out in the end. Should Howson's tenure end in Columbus and trading the biggest name on his team for what could be nothing won't look good on any resume you'd be showing to prospective employers. 

Third, and I think most important, Scott Howson is not long for the Columbus Blue Jackets organization and may not have been allowed to actually move Nash, regardless of the price. It's been a bad year for Howson and the decisions added to the lack of solid play could have hamstrung Howson for the long-run. Sure, injuries could be claimed in the case of summer pick-ups James Wisniewski and recently-traded Jeff Carter, but at the same time-- the goaltending wasn't solid, the rest of the team didn't pick up any slack, and the star player was merely a footnote with only 21 goals and 22 assists as the captain of the team. 

Granted, that stuff is out of Howson's control, but didn't make the team better in the long-run. It almost seems like a lame-duck move for him ask so much or be told to ask for so much by the ownership. Considering he didn't make many other moves of note either, shows that he is probably not in control and come April, he'll be in the unemployment line. 

Another clue to his demise could be how Howson broke down the fourth wall and threw the star player under the bus and making himself the victim. When you do something like that, you're already breaking down a more fragile situation and maybe it very awkward for players and upper management to believe in you and trust in your decision making. That, to me, put the final nail into the coffin for Howson's tenure.

Like always, I'm probably wrong and that the dreaded "Vote of Confidence" that may come is actually geniune and Howson will stay, but his decision making has been fairly suspect and hasn't yield much success for the franchise in the grand scheme of things. If he would have traded Nash, he would have been run out of  town by the fans, with him not trading Nash and then putting private matters out to the public, he could be run out by his own peers. 

Conundrums and Confusion in Columbus

There was so much promise heading into the year for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Coming off their first playoff appearance in franchise history, extending their franchise player to an eight-year contract in the summer, and finding a goalie that looked to be good enough to finally solve their inconsistency between the pipes.

Amazing what a couple of months can do.

After being routed by the Los Angeles Kings, in which they lost Rick Nash to the dreaded "lower body injury," it seems that the Jackets are back to their old ways. They've already been through one coach this year, with Ken Hitchcock being tossed to the wayside; but they seemed to claw back some, only to falter more. They are currently on a five game skid and have mostly been beaten due to the opponents coming back to get the win. There has been little turnover from the team last season, which could tell you that they were playing out of their heads last season or the lack of movement while other teams got better is the cause of their downfall.

Is there a reason why the Jackets haven't loosened the purse-strings and actually trying to attract some name players to the team in order to build it up to the year-in, year-out contender they want to become. There's a lot of draw for forwards, as they would probably be playing alongside of Rick Nash, while defensemen will probably be the top guys out there. The plight of the small-market team will probably continue, but you'd want to hope that a team like this could garner some bigger free-agent attention than what they've been getting. That isn't to say, however, you won't have some duds (see Foote, Adam); but there's enough money for the Jackets to try and lure some bigger profile player to their team.

Another problem that should be monitored is the play of Steve Mason. While you could chalk it up to a sophomore slump, the fact his GAA is up almost a goal per game from last year (3.16 from 2.29); it could show to be more than just a regular slump. You hope Mason isn't in the same realm of Blaine Lacher and/or Jim Carey, but unless he can show some improvement next season; it could be that way. His total of 61 games, 33 wins, and 10 shutouts last season show that it may have been a case of a new goalie not being able to be figured out, but if it's a small change in style; that needs to be addressed for next season.

Then you look at Rick Nash, and while he wants to be loyal to the team that gave him a fine career; you have to wonder if he's regretting his decision to an extension, especially considering the team hasn't done much to give him any kind of support. While the addition of Kristian Huselius does something to add secondary scoring-- but when you don't have much for primary scoring outside of Nash, there's not really a secondary scoring tag there-- is it??

Whatever happens next with the Blue Jackets, fans better hope this is just a hiccup and not something that will be a trend anymore. They had all the momentum, even with being swept by the eventual Western Champs, but seemed to lose it in the three month span between the end of the season and start of camp. They got rid of the coach and it still didn't get better. So where do you place the blame next-- the players or the GM?? My bets on the latter. It'd be wise for Scott Howson to actually start getting a winning group together or else he could be next. As for the team, they should realize they may not be getting help from their management and learn how to grind it out together and play a "us against the world" gimmick in order to get their mojo back they had in '08-'09.