Rafter Talk: Columbus Blue Jackets Need to Add Players

If Scott Howson is reading this, please hear my pleas… SPEND!

Forget naysayers who will tell you that this or that player doesn’t deserve x million a year. Anyone with two detatched retinas and a blindfold can see that the current squad does not match line for line or player for player with many of the teams in the West (let alone the entire league).

If you have to overpay to get a couple of legitimate scorers (pick from the crop of names mentioned daily) you WILL be doing the right thing. You have what, a bazillion dollars left of cap room? Get in the game.

It just seems that there is gross complacency here, and a lot of people crossing their fingers. Perhaps everyone in the front office is expecting a "perfect storm" scenario whereby the Jackets will just miraclously have a magical year like Minnesota in 1991, or Florida in 1997.

Congratulations Scott, this is the deepest into the season the Jackets have been above .500. But that’s not good enough.

Let’s talk moves. Foote is expendable. He is in the last year of his contract and would be good trade bait for any team looking to shore up their defense (they’d be adding a player with two Stanley Cup rings to his credit).

It would be nice to see a competent, younger, and less expensive blueliner come back in return. Perhaps someone like Jean-Michael Liles from Colorado.

In fact, with Foote having spent time with the Avs, that move might seem all too obvious as Colorado is still looking like a team bound for the post season perhaps as a seventh or eighth seed.

Federov to a former team like Detroit is always a sexy proposition. That would certainly draw some attention to the recently slumping Red Wings as they try and gear up for another playoff run. He would likely fetch some draft picks or a prospect or two, but the bigger picture means there should be more cash to use in pursuing other players. I definitely don’t see Detroit having much interest in parting with any of their current roster.

Vaclav Prospal could be a great addition as well. He is a consistent point per game guy and comes cheap relative to other notables. Alex Tanguay may also prove to be a nice addition although one wonders if his days as a top tier player are perhaps gone. Signing a guy like Jokinen would effectively replace Federov. Olli is 10 years younger and comes at a slightly lower cost. And the name everyone has been hearing about for months now, Hossa, should also be on the watch list, and be chased with reckless abandon.

Moving a couple of big salaries would mean the Jackets would have more then enough room to aggressively pursue multiple players. The Blue Jackets are an average team, but they are not an average team without options. Howson should be vigorously working the phones trying to make some trades. If he can’t see the logic in investing in some of the big names available and be willing to outbid the competition, his tenure should be a short one. And if the problem really lies in tight purse strings, then perhaps my friends to the far west in Winnipeg will get another shot at a team because the Buckeye faithful will only take losing for so long.