2012 Trade Deadline: Jackets Make Moves, Prepare For Roster Shakeup

…and he also seems to think Nash’s destination is the Rangers.

I’ve read that Del Zotto and McDonagh are untouchable. What can the Jackets expect from the NYR if indeed they are the trade partner?

You guys will like Boyce. He is an unbelievably hard worker on the ice and a great guy off of it.

He has been one of my favorite players since his university days at UNB. I couldn’t believe it when the Leafs first signed him, it’s rare enough for a player from the CIS to get an NHL contract let alone my favorite player from my favorite local team getting signed by my favorite NHL team. It sucks that the Leafs never really gave him a fair shot this season, hopefully he gets a better chance in Columbus.

Is that why he was put on waivers? Because he was unable to crack (or stay) with the big club?

I don’t want to see Nash in another sweater but I do understand the business part of things. I think dealing him does send a bad message to other players coming here though, we’ll sign you to a long term deal but then trade you when things aren’t good. Who will be the face of this franchise with Nash gone? I think there will be a drop off in attendance next season if Nash is indeed traded. I actually thought about buying season tickets next year before all of this trade stuff started up. I think I’ll wait another few years until Howson is gone before I drop that kind of dough.

It’s hard to blame Nash. If the GM walks up to you, and asks you to put together a list of teams you’d waive your NMC for, would you want to stick around? He wanted to spend his career in Columbus, he signed a long term deal, said and done all the right things…and then management turns around and essentially says, “thanks, but no thanks.” I’d be clamoring to get out of town too and put that whole episode behind me.

That said, for all the Rangers fans talk of “untouchables” etc. etc., Unwillingness to give up McDonaugh and Del Zotto, unwilling to trade Kreider, I wouldn’t mind seeing Howson go after Anisimov-he’s got a lot more upside the Dubinsky. I think Michael Sauer would be a good fit in Columbus as well, after the Johnson acquisition, the Jackets have a lot of offensive-minded blueliners, they could use a guy like Sauer who’s at his best in the defensive zone.

That, and considering if a 1st rounder comes over in the deal, Columbus will have 5 of the first 50 picks in the draft, including the 1st overall(more than likely). Not a bad way to start a rebuild.

…it still looks like the Rangers are the most likely destination for Nash, but if Sather doesn’t offer enough, the Canucks put Keith Ballard on IR, freeing up cap-space. They’ve got about $4.6 mil to work with, so Howson may be able to get Schneider and a package by the deadline(which whould be ideal, IMHO). We’ll have to see what happens.

I’m really most concerned about Howson’s comment that the team isn’t actively looking for a goaltender at the moment. Yes, the offense has been on-and-off, and the defense abysmal, but their biggest weakness at the moment is goaltending.
I would hope that, as others have said, Howson has been burned enough by younger, unproven goaltenders that he no longer sees something like that as a viable #1 option. Names like Bishop, Greiss and even Reimer have been floated around, but they’re still far from being a lock.
The “backup with a solid chance of being a starter” market looks better, with Rask, Schneider and Bernier being the top names. All of these teams are looking at ways to go deep into the playoffs, though, and trading away a solid piece of a 1A/1B tandem wouldn’t be in the team’s best interest without at least getting a serviceable goalie in return and riding their 1A through most of the playoffs. With Carter and Vermette gone, the only other real bargaining chip that the Jackets have to try and pry one of them away is Nash. Even though Vancouver, Boston and LA are all on Nash’s trade list, I don’t see any of those teams partially blowing up their teams for another forward at this time of the year. I’ll admit that I don’t know too much about their respective organizational depths, but I doubt that any of them would be willing to disturb team chemistry that much.
Looking at free agency, there are currently some tempting names out there (Price, Schneider, Lindback etc), but they’re all set so become RFAs at the end of the season, giving Howson a double-whammy to deal with: after offering them enough to not only get them interested in Columbus (as the team has a history of having to overpay to land free agents) but get their respective parent team to walk away from matching the offer, Columbus is still on the hook for draft pick compensation – payment between $3.1M and $4.7M would cost the team a first- and third-round pick…not exactly the best strategy if your team is indeed beginning a full rebuild.
I’m concerned that the only option may be trading Nash in the off-season, when teams are more apt to experiment with shuffling pieces around. I’ll admit, I’m in the “keep Nash in Columbus” crowd, but I also don’t trust Howson to be able to pull off a big, organization-defining deal like that to land a solid #1 that will be here long enough for the Jackets to build up some sort of goaltending depth.