Columbus Blue Jackets Extend Jason Chimera's Contract Four Years

Puck-rakers just posted that Jason Chimera has been extended for four years. No money terms given yet, but I will guess that it will be four years at $8 million.

Chimera is a 28-year-old, 6'2", 206 pound winger who can skate like the wind. Here is what TSN.ca has to say about him:

Assets

Has blinding speed and good size. Excels at the fore-checking game, as well as penalty-killing situations. Can score goals in bunches.

Flaws

Lacks consistency on offense, so he must perfect his niche as a role player in order to enjoy a lengthy NHL career.

Career potential

Checking line winger.

TSN pretty much nails it as they usually do.

Columbus acquired "Chimmer" on Oct. 8, 2005 in a trade that sent Geoff Sanderson and Tim Jackman to the Phoenix Coyotes for Chimera, Cale Hulse, and Mike Rupp. Chimera is the only player left on either team from this deal.

In four full NHL seasons (two with the Oilers, two with the Blue Jackets), Chimera notched his best year last year scoring 15 goals with 21 assists for 36 points. He also finished a +2. This year he is on pace for 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points and a -9.

I know Hitch likes this guy because of some of his comments, and this signing shows that Howson does as well.

My reaction? Quite frankly I'm surprised by this deal. I really did not think Chimera was in the long term plans for this franchise.

I haven't been overly impressed with Chimera this season and although he's started to score of late. (He's got four goals in last 12 games, which isn't great by any means, but better than what we were getting.) I have not been impressed with his consistency, physical play, or scoring for that matter. I don't really like the length of the deal but he would have gotten that if he became a UFA after the season.

The question now: How much is the deal worth? And once we find that out could we have found a similar third line player on the open market this summer on cheaper terms?

The upside is that Chimera is only 28—he's just now reaching his prime. When the deal expires he'll be 32. He's a veteran now who appears to be a "Hitch guy" and this signing obviously signals the organization has been happy with his play. He also must like playing for Columbus to sign a long term deal with us—that counts for something in my book.

So next year this is how I see the offense shaping up:

Nash XXX Modin Zherdev Brassard XXX Chimera XXX Voracek Boll Novotny XXX

I'd be very surprised to see any more extensions on the offense handed out this season. Fedorov, Peca, and Vyborny are definite locks not to be back next season IMO. Malhotra and Fritsche will be unlikely. Brule is a big "?" for me. The XXX are either UFAs or guys from Syracuse who make the squad. I think Voracek makes the team out of camp.

Adam Foote is the one guy I think may be resigned before the deadline on defense and possibly Jan Hejda.

This is Scott Howson's first major signing. He now officially has both feet in the water. I've liked all his moves up to this point even though I'm not really high on this one yet. Chimera has some more upsides to make this deal look good down the road though.

UPDATE:

Puck-rakers has reported the deal to be worth $1.85 million over four years. That's $7.4 million over the span of the contract.

I suspect Chimera took a little less per year to get that extra year of term. Money is less than I thought it would be which softens the blow of that term a bit. Still though, the term is little suprising—but he would have gotten this on the market, if not more.

Now the Jackets have their third line left wing locked down for four more years. I don't see Howson/Hitch thinking Jason will be a staple in the top six. He'll be penciled in on the third line for the majority of this deal. He'll also be a leader in that room that Hitchcock can lean on during that tenure.
-LTL