Columbus Blue Jackets: Matt Calvert and 9 Key Players for Blue Jackets in 2011

With a little under two weeks before the new NHL season finally gets underway, fans are waiting in anticipation for the new and improved Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Jackets clearly had one of their most aggressive offseasons in franchise history by dealing their eighth overall pick in this year's draft for All-Star center Jeff Carter.

Columbus had to say goodbye to youngster Jakub Voracek, who was general manager Scott Howson's first ever draft pick as part of the Blue Jackets, but it was now or never for both Howson and the Jackets.

Howson was not done there, as in free agency, he got ahead of everyone else and acquired the negotiating rights for defenseman James Wisniewski before free agency began.

With only a couple hours left before free agency began, Howson was able to sign the Michigan native to a six-year, $33 million contract, solidifying the Jackets defense long-term.

The two additions of Carter and Wisniewski were a big improvement from last year's team as captain Rick Nash finally has a top-ranked center to play alongside and the Jackets' dreadful power play finally has a quarterback.

Because of how aggressive the Jackets were in the offseason, the pressure will be on Columbus to improve from last season and be a contender for the playoffs.

It will be up to not only Carter and Wisniewski, but several other players, including second-year player Matt Calvert, to step up and take the Jackets back to the playoffs for only the second time in franchise history.

So let's take a look at the 10 key players for the Jackets this upcoming season.

Matt Calvert

Second-year winger Matt Calvert had an impressive first season with the Blue Jackets last year.

It didn't take him long to make an impact as after an uneventful January, Calvert went on a tear during the Jackets' impressive month of February.

In only 12 games, the rookie scored eight goals and 11 points, including his first career hat trick against the Phoenix Coyotes.

However, after an impressive February, Calvert struggled to put pucks in the net, only scoring one goal and five assists in March and April as the Jackets as a team slipped to the bottom of the conference.

Now, in Calvert's first full season in the NHL, the 21-year-old will try to put together a more consistent season.

The youngster showed what he can do in just a few short months and the Jackets will look to him to contribute on the second or third line.

Calvert is not the biggest guy on the ice, but what he lacks in height he makes up for in speed and skating ability.

If he can get off to a hot start early on, he could have an impressive season.

Jeff Carter

There will be no one that has more pressure on them this season in Columbus than newly acquired center Jeff Carter.

Ever since the team drafted captain Rick Nash back in 2002, they have been looking for a talented center to play alongside of him.

Coming into the offseason, general manager Scott Howson was looking to deal the team's eighth overall pick for immediate help and would do anything else to bring someone in.

Howson parted ways with his first ever pick as a GM in Jakub Voracek, as well as the team's first-round pick, so the pressure is on Carter to come in and make an immediate impact.

In his time in Philadelphia, one of the most hostile environments for a player, Carter showed why he is one of the top centers in the league.

In the past three seasons, Carter has scored 30-plus goals, including a whopping 47 in 2008-2009.

At only 26 years old, Carter has yet to hit his prime, and will look to start the next chapter in his career on a high note.

The Ontario native is known more for his goal scoring than for his play making, but is no stranger to dishing the puck.

It will be interesting to see how Nash and Carter, two players that like to shoot, will play together on the same line and according to ESPN, it depend on Nash's adaptability:

"Carter does not have playmaking skills equal to his shooting and Nash has always shouldered the load as the man responsible for putting the puck in the net."

"If Nash can translate his on-ice vision to that of a playmaker in addition to pure scorer, Carter could even exceed expectations."

If these two can gel on the same line, goalies beware.

Rick Nash

Like mentioned in the previous slide, it will be up to Nash to adapt to being both a playmaker and a scorer.

In his time with the Blue Jackets, Nash has always had to shoulder the load to put points on the board.

If Nash struggled to score, then it was pretty much the same old song and dance for the rest of the team.

However, with Jeff Carter alongside him, this is the first time Nash has lined up with a 40-goal scorer and a lot of pressure will be taken off of him.

Nash, like Carter, has shown that he can be a setup man as he has tallied 30-plus assists in the past five seasons.

Both players like to take a lot of shots and it may be hard for them to work together, but Nash is still a good enough player that he will put together another 30-30 season.

The Blue Jackets have to show everyone that they were right in giving up so much for Jeff Carter and one of the keys to showing that is the play of Rick Nash.

If these two can gel together, Columbus could be a major factor in the Western Conference playoff race.

Both are great players individually, but together is a whole other story. We won't find out until the team takes the ice in two weeks.

James Wisniewski

The Jackets' power play last season was absolutely awful and ranked second to last in the league.

When Columbus went on the power play, opposing teams had nothing to worry about because the chances of the Jackets scoring was next to nothing.

A lot of times, you would see the Jackets' man advantage become timid and they would not want to shoot the puck, continually passing the puck away and killing precious time from the clock.

The Jackets looked to change that this offseason with the signing of James Wisniewski, who will now quarterback the team's power play.

Wisniewski is coming off a career year in which he had career highs in goals (10), points (51), power play goals (eight), and shots on goal (158).

Having Wisniewski on the blue line is an automatic upgrade for the Jackets on defense.

With Wisniewski's heavy slap shot, a lot of scoring opportunities could be created with Jeff Carter and Rick Nash around the net looking for rebounds.

There will be a lot of pressure on Wisniewski to become the missing piece in the Jackets puzzle and have another season of career highs.

With Wisniewski on the power play, Columbus will begin to see their man advantage ranking climb.

Steve Mason

To put it simply, goalie Steve Mason struggled last season in Columbus.

One of Mason's biggest issues was his inconsistency, looking spectacular one night and absolutely dreadful the next.

In his defense, however, the Blue Jackets were not doing well when it came to putting points on the board and Mason had to keep the team in the game night in and night out, which can be hard on any goaltender.

Now, with the upgrades of Carter and Wisniewski, the Jackets should have no problem scoring more goals, which will take the pressure off of Mason.

Mason has shown at times that he could succeed in the NHL by winning the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year, but he has not done much since.

This could be the last chance for the 23-year-old as he has now put two unimpressive years together and he may be shown the door if he cannot turn it around.

The goaltending was one of the main issues that held back the Blue Jackets in March as Mason only won two of his final 14 starts.

Columbus took the first step towards improving that with the hire of full-time goaltending coach Ian Clark. Clark has coached some of the best goaltenders in the league and will be there at all times, unlike Dave Rook, who was only hired part-time.

If Clark can help Mason improve his 3.03 goals against average, Columbus could see their win total greatly improve this season.

Mark Dekanich

One of the most underrated positions in hockey is that of the backup goaltender.

Backups are the only players that do not play the entire game and could be thrown in at any moment to try and bring the team back in the game.

They are looked upon to be the savior of the game after dismal play from the team's starter.

If Steve Mason struggles this year, it will be up to Mark Dekanich to save the team.

This puts up a lot of question marks as Dekanich only has about 50 minutes of playing time in the NHL and did not fare well in that time, allowing three goals on 25 shots.

He fared well with the Nashville Predators' AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, but could not break his way into the backup role behind Pekka Rinne.

It will be interesting to see how Dekanich plays in his first full season in the NHL as the Jackets do not have a lot of other options who they believe are NHL-ready.

In order to be strong at the goaltending position, a team has to have two strong goalies, not just one.

Dekanich is key to the Blue Jackets' success as much as Mason is because at any moment he could be called in to contribute.

Vinny Prospal

After the Blue Jackets made their acquisitions of Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski, it was thought that the team was done tweaking their roster and they were prepared for this season.

However, they were thrown a curveball when winger Kristian Huselius tore a pectoral muscle while training and required surgery that would put him on the shelf, possibly until January.

Columbus was forced to go back into the free agent market to try and find a replacement that could play alongside Carter and Rick Nash on the team's first line.

After a few days of considering their options, the team settled on 36-year-old Vinny Prospal.

Prospal has plenty of experience under his belt with 13 years in the NHL, but was only able to play 29 games in the most recent season because of a right knee injury that required surgery.

Now that Prospal is healthy again, he should continue to do what he has done best in his career, which is complement star players. In six of his last 10 seasons, the Slovak has recorded 35 or more assists, including 38 in his last full season with the New York Rangers.

It will be up to Prospal to make fans forget about losing a key player in Huselius and if he can stay healthy, he should have no problem doing so.

Radek Martinek

One of the Blue Jackets' goals this season was to re-sign defenseman Jan Hejda.

Hejda had expressed his interest to finish his career in Columbus and the Blue Jackets felt the same way, but they had to settle on a contract.

This would seem simple for two sides that want the same result, but the two could not come to an agreement and Hejda signed with the Colorado Avalanche.

To fill the space left by Hejda, the Blue Jackets signed shut-down defenseman Radek Martinek, who until now, had spent his entire 10-year career with the New York Islanders.

Martinek has shown in his career that he is not afraid of going down and putting his body in front of shots to block potential goals.

However, because of that, Martinek has had several different injuries, including broken bones, torn ligaments, and a concussion and spinal injury that occurred last April at the World Championships.

The Blue Jackets know of Martinek's medical history and are fine knowing that they may only get around 60 games out of him.

It will be interesting to see how Martinek returns from the recent injuries and whether he can stay healthy enough to make it through late February.

If he can, then he will no doubt stop many scoring opportunities from opposing teams.

But if he can't, then the Blue Jackets could be shopping for a replacement or calling up a young prospect earlier than expected.

Ryan Johansen

For Ryan Johansen, the options this season are clear: he either goes back to the WHL or he makes his NHL debut.

Johansen does not meet the AHL age requirements and cannot play for the Jackets' affiliate Springfield Falcons.

Although the 19-year-old has another year of junior eligibility left, he has achieved all that he can in Portland, as he scored 40 goals and 52 assists and led the team in scoring during the postseason.

So far in the preseason, Johansen has impressed and scored in the first game of the season, a split-squad game against the Winnipeg Jets.

There is a good chance that Johansen will earn a roster spot in Columbus this season, and will learn a lot from center Jeff Carter, who knows what it's like to handle pressure at a young age.

Columbus has an abundance of centers on their roster, so fans won't see Johansen on the first or second line.

This will be good as he will not be forced to go up against the top players in the league night in and night out, and it may be the only way that Columbus can develop him into a top center.

Johansen is one of the top-ranked prospects in the league and the pressure will be on him to show he was worth taking over several higher-ranked players during the draft.

Derick Brassard

Last season, Derick Brassard was the No. 1 center for the Blue Jackets alongside Rick Nash.

Brassard played well, scoring 17 goals and 30 assists, but the Jackets needed more from its top center.

The Jackets needed an upgrade at center, which is why they went after Jeff Carter.

Now with Carter at No. 1, Brassard slips to either the second or third line opposite center Antoine Vermette.

It will be up to Brassard to show the Jackets' front office he's still a talented player and can contribute to the team's less talented lines.

With the pressure of consistently having to set up Nash taken off of him, Brassard's play should improve.

At only 24, Brassard still has a lot of time left until he hits the prime of his career and like any player, he needs time to develop his skills.

Brassard, like Ryan Johansen, is another player that will appreciate the acquisition of Carter as the Quebec native will learn a lot from the All-Star center.

The fact that he is not on the first line anymore does not mean that Brassard is no longer a key to the Jackets' success.

It will be up to him to get other talented players like RJ Umberger and Matt Calvert involved in the stat sheet and take the pressure off of the top line.