Put your pitchforks away...for now

I'm sure many of you out there are a little bummed about today's haul. Quite frankly I was hoping to at least land an offensive defensemen but the Jackets have come up short for now.

Lets have some perspective though.

No free agent is going to step into this lineup and turn us into Cup contenders. Hitch has said many times that he doesn't need saviors - he just needs competent competitive NHLers - and Howson game him two of those today in Torres and Commodore. Two guys in their mid to late twenties who are proven competitive players.

Game changers? Naw.

Reliable, competitive and night in night out contributors? You betchya.

Despite what some think today wasn't like the days of old. Howson and Hitch aren't expecting Commodore to QB the PP. They aren't expecting Torres to instantly transform into a 30 goal scorer. These two players will play where they belong in our lineup.

Torres a two time 20 goal scorer will slide somewhere in the top 9. He's not going to drop the gloves very often (only 2 fights last year) but he's got sandpaper in his game and should contribute 15 to 20 goals and anywhere from 35 - 40 points. The biggest question mark with Torres is his ACL injury. He is a Hitch type player that can play either wing.

Commodore adds massive size to the backend and is an extremely competitive player. In addition to a willingness to initiate contact he also had 8 fights last season and 5 the year before. Boll won't have to do all the dirty work this year. He's adds a significant physical presence that makes the Jackets harder to play against and perhaps adds a little more room for the younger skilled guys to work their magic. Lets also not forget Commodore scored 29 points two seasons ago -- that's just 3 behind what our offensive defensemen Hainsey gave us this year. Although it isn't his biggest strength Commodore can contribute to the offensive side of the game.

No these two are not the flashy headline grabbers we'd all like but our team did get better today. Yes we overpaid for Commodore but when you have the worst average record in this NHL over your 7 year on-ice existence that is going to happen until you finally get over that playoff hump.

Would I have like Redden? Hell yes. I think this organization did everything within their power to get him. You can't force the guy to come here in the UFA game but I really think we made one helluva a pitch. We lost out to an original 6 franchise that has a lot of history and recent playoff performances behind it. It sucks but no time to pout about it -- time to move.

...and move on Howson will do.

Howson isn't done. Far from it. He knows the holes a whole lot better than we do. The guys he added today are pieces of the puzzle where as I mentioned earlier, will play where they should in our lineup. He himself has said he's got a couple of trades on the back burner -- that translates into I'll see what happens in free agency and then get back to you.

Here is how I see the lineup after today:

Nash XXX Modin

Zherdev Umberger Torres

Chimera Brassard Voracek

Boll Malhotra Murray

Extra: Novotny/Dorsett/Sestito

XXX Hejda

Klesla Commodore

Russell/Rome/Methot/Tollefsen/Sigalet

Leclaire

Norrena

I don't care what anyone says -- that lineup is already vastly upgraded from what we had last season and its not even close to complete yet. Remember that same lineup last year that Hitch had just 5 points out of a playoff spot at the deadline.

What will he be able to do with this plus a couple of more additions I full expect to come?

This lineup already has more scoring punch and competitiveness up front with Umberger and Torres. Commodore replaces an aging Foote and brings a much bigger physical presence and a badly needed right handed shot.

All new additions are 28 or younger so they should only get better.

Gone are Shelley, Vyborny, Foote, Fedorov, Westcott and Brule who - sans perhaps Shelley - all under performed given their age, roles, paychecks and expectations.

Its certainly far from perfect and needs more work but you can see how its starting to shape up and the style of team we are going to have next season.

Whats even more interesting is that with the additions of Torres and Campbell and the parting of ways with Brule Howson only added 5.3 million to his payroll.

Going forward I would expect Howson to absolutely address the vacant center position (Morrison, Straka, trade?) and to add at a minimum one offensive defensemen - its looking more and more like that add will have to come via a trade (Kubina, Boyle?). Heck he could even move a guy like Klesla for an offensive guy now that Commodore is in the fold to give us two offensive guys in the top 4 - lots of options.

Lets also not forget the offer sheet direction although I see that as a last resort.

So before jumping off bridges, lighting your torches and sharpening pitchforks lets see what else Howson can do here. He still has a good 10 to 12 million to address those vacancies in addition to the 8 million or so he'll have to get Leclaire and Umberger under contract.

-LTL