Columbus Blue Jackets: Playoff Bound in 2008-09

. His 55 points in 81 games last year would be a welcome addition to a team starved for scoring talent.

Adding Huselius into the lineup means Hitchcock should have plenty of different line combinations to throw at the opposition, with one or more legitimate scoring threats on the ice each and every shift.

The biggest loss to the team came in the departure of Nickoli Zherdev. He, along with Dan Fritsche, was traded to the New York Rangers for defensemen Christian Backman and Fedor Tyutin.

The embattled center had recently suffered through a contract dispute. During this time, management indicated that they were not happy with his performance and felt he was not playing to his full potential. Whether this played a part in his ultimate relocation is not clear.

Prior to the beginning of last season, Ken Hitchcock met with Zherdev, and both agreed to put any past issues aside and focus on hockey. The result was a re-ignited player who went on to have an outstanding season. Unfortunately for the Jackets, something changed, and his services will now be rendered for the NY Rangers.

David Vyborny will also not be with the team this season. He was an original Jacket who patrolled the right-wing position. Last year, however, his game seemed to disappear, and he only put up 26 points in 66 games.

In all fairness, he was playing with injuries. Prior to that point in his career, his durability was relatively unparalleled—in fact, he has missed just 15 of 492 games during his career with the Blue Jackets.

Vyborny, 33 years old, has signed to play with HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga this upcoming season. The Jackets, as a result, grow a little younger.

Up the middle, the Jackets made at least one significant move. The splash heard throughout the Midwest involved the signing of RJ Umburger away from the Philadelphia Flyers.

For those who were paying attention, Umberger put together an amazing run in the playoffs, tallying 10 goals and five assists in 17 games. He and Biron stole the show for the Flyers, and he was a big reason they drove as deep into the postseason as they did.

In 74 regular-season games he also put up respectable numbers (13 goals, 37 assists) for a team that often reverted to physical, old-style play as opposed to finesse and skill.

A Pittsburgh native, RJ brings to the team skill, youth (he’s only 26), and a desire to compete. The "hometown boy" (having played his college puck for the Ohio State Buckeyes of the CCHA) will have every opportunity to succeed, as Hitchcock will no doubt be casting him in the role of first-line center.

Michael Peca is back, although given his age and frailty one might wonder if re-signing him was a good move or not. He’s no doubt a character player, but anyone who has watched his game over the last year or two can see he is a step slower, and seems to have lost the passion he once played with.

He also appears to be less willing to deliver that thundering hit, and he just isn’t getting those bounces that translate into goals and wins as he once did.

If Peca can find a way to re-invigorate himself, then he may end up being a key piece of the puzzle in terms of building a contender. If not, expect to see him riding the bench a lot more as games wear on into the third period.

Jiri Novotny is a player who may surprise many. He has logged time with the Capitals and Sabres, but is getting his real shot to perform in a full-time role with the Jackets.

At age 24, he is another young talent with nothing but opportunity waiting ahead for him. With a taskmaster like Hitchcock at the helm, Novotny may just bloom into that second-line winger who puts up 50 to 60 points a season.

There are a couple of young stars that have an opportunity to make the team “birth by fire” style. Jakuv Voracek, the Jackets' top pick in 2007, is a European winger who has adapted quite well to the North American style of hockey. 

Voracek can bang and crash in the corners and has the ability to play in traffic. He was named the top offensive rookie in the QMJHL in 2007 and his game is very uptempo.

The other possibility is Nikita Filatov, chosen in this year's draft. This Russian winger was scouted as being the top European player in the draft, and the Jackets were very lucky to have him as their selection. 

Filatov has size, skill—and above all else, speed. In 34 games for his Moscow team (equivalent to the OHL/QMJHL/WHL), he put up 32 goals and 24 assists, just shy of avergaing two points per game.

Of the two rookies, Voracek is the best bet to make the squad this year.

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