Columbus Blue Jackets: Month One Analysis

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The first month of the NHL 2008-09 season comes to a close and the Blue Jackets are sitting 5-6-2.  A sub-500 month is not something to be proud of, but there may be a glimmer of hope in the Buckeye State.

As the season began, it seemed pretty clear what the Blue Jackets needed in order to usher in their first playoff berth. 

1. Rick Nash needed some line mates that could help him produce. 
2. Pascal Leclaire needed to continue to provide the stellar goaltending
3. Secondary scoring HAD to improve.  The Jackets finished dead last in goals last season with 193.
4. The defense needed to do a better job transitioning the puck.

In order to fill these needs, the Jackets:

1. RJ Umberger and Kristian Huselius were added to give the top line some real offensive punch.  Umberger was a dynamo for Philly in the playoffs and Huselius perfected the pass while feeding Iggy in Calgary.  Seemed like a good fit.
2. Not much to do with Leclaire but keep him sharp.  Management fostered high hopes for OHL phenom Steve Mason and hoped to groom him in Syracuse.
3. Management secretly hoped that secondary scoring would be coming from super-prospects Derick Brassard and Jake Voracek.  Both worked extremely hard over the summer and built tremendous chemistry together.
4. In a shocking move, Scott Howson sent Nik Zherdev and Dan Fritsche to New York in return for Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman.  Both were expected to be the puck movers that the Jackets have lacked for 7 years. 

Even the best-laid plans don’t always work out, and things haven’t exactly played out the way management would have thought.  Nash’s chemistry with his new line mates have been spotty, and Umberger isn’t the number 1 center we had in mind.  Leclaire has played only 6 games while being plagued by a nagging ankle and it turns out that New York may have gotten the better half of the Zherdev deal.

Nash’s average production (9pts in 13 games) hasn’t been nearly as painful as the absence of Pascal Leclaire in net.  Seemingly, we haven’t seen him all year, as his performance has been spotty in the few games that he’s managed to play.  His absence has been the major difference between where we are this year vs. the same time last season (Leclaire was 6-2-0, 0.953 Sv % through October 2007).

All is not lost though.  The emergence of Brassard and Voracek has seemingly made our scoring trouble a thing of the past (the Jackets are in the top ten in goals for).  With a true second scoring line, Hitch has been able to move Peca and Modin to the checking line where they belong.  Along with Raffi Torres (who is finally healthy), the Jackets have one of the strongest checking lines in the league.  In addition, it seems that trial by fire was what it will take for the defense to start clicking as there has been a VAST improvement in the puck moving department on the back end since the first game.

Goaltending is still the question mark.  The goaltender previously known as Steady Freddie has been erratic at best, absolutely stunning at moments… and abysmal in others.  .  The one bright spot is the play of Steve Mason who’s been promoted to starter while Leclaire heals.  He played his first game Wednesday night against the Oilers and had a respectable showing.  Bottom line though, we need Pascal Leclaire back

Look for the Blue Jackets to really rebound in November and don’t be surprised to see them in their first post-season ever… but don’t be surprised if they miss it either.

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