On Saturday morning after the morning skate the CBJ held an open forum for season ticket holders with GM Scott Howson and he had some great insight and thoughts on the disappointing season and the current philosophies with his shaping of the team. Here are some of the various topics covered:
- Raffi Torres’ Contract - One of the first topics to come up today, it was obvious to me that fans have taken to Torres in just the year and a half he’s been a Blue Jacket. Howson admitted that he considers Torres one of his favorite players noting that “I’ve been with two organizations and we’ve traded for him both times”. Howson also mentioned that he will be meeting with Torres’ agent soon and will see what kind of money and term Torres was seeking and if that would fit the Blue Jackets budget for an energy/3rd-line “plus” winger.
- Dion Phaneuf trade – Howson put this very plain and simple, “I don’t care for Dion and the contract that he has”. Howson did not give specifics on Blue Jackets involvement, or lack thereof, but he didn’t want to be saddled with the contract that Phaneuf has when so many CBJ “young-guns” will need resigned in the coming off seasons
- 2010 Draft, upcoming youth – I had the chance to ask this question about the upcoming draft and what kind of immediate impact the soon-to-be-drafted and recently-drafted players may have on the Blue Jackets line-up. Howson was quick to point out the difficulty of drafting players pointing out the inexact science of drafting teenage boys. He said that he believe there is a very defined “instant-help” type of player found in Taylor Hall (Wing), Tyler Seguin (Center), and Cam Fowler (Defense) and then another group of players potentially through pick 14 that will be very good. Howson also brought up the 2006 draft as a good example when the top 5 players can all be very good, but if you were to re-draft, things would be probably be different (1. Erik Johnson, 2. Jordan Staal, 3. Jonathan Toews, 4. Nicklas Backstrom, 5. Phil Kessel).
- Upcoming youth (continued) – As for future help for the CBJ, Howson mentioned both Nikita Filatov (21 gp, 7-13-20) and John Moore (47 gp, 7-30-37). He mentioned that on defense we have a lot of great young guys, but many of them are 3-4 years off, and if necessary Moore will spend time in the AHL during part of or all the next two seasons. The most surprising mention was that of young Nikita. Howson fully expects Filatov to have an impact next year but that comes after he “mends some fences” with his teammates. It was refreshing to hear Howson also mentioning how this fanbase has heard “how great our young players are” for 10 years, and that he was not trying to downplay the urgency to experience success and to see the young guys we’ve heard about for so long finally do something.
- Playing in the “Dirty Areas” – It was mentioned how earlier in Nash’s career many times he could be seen paying the price in front of the net but now that he’s the Blue Jackets “official” Franchise player (making 7.8 mil per season no less) other players have come to fill that void. Howson qualifies Umberger and Torres as really good at getting the dirty/gritty goals in tight to the goaltender, but also says that has traditionally been a place of organizational weakness. I’d be curious to see what other player is pushed to play more in this role if Raffi is on the move at the deadline, and also to see what kind of player the Jackets might seek to fill this need either via trade or free agency.
- Missing Manny – Howson divulged that he offered Manny a very fair deal (3 years) at the end of the 2009 playoffs that was turned down in lieu of testing the free agent waters. Unfortunately for Manny and the Blue Jackets, he signed for far less than anticipated ($700,000 for 1 year), but landed with a cup contender in San Jose. Howson completely admitted that the team missed his flexibility in the line-up especially considering the struggles of center Derick Brassard, but also missed his voice in the locker room. I believe vocal veteran presence has been severely lacking as the club’s lack of mental toughness showed its ugly head through December and January.
There were a few other topics discussed, but these were the most interesting to me, and probably to the “casual” fan. As always, thoughts and comments are appreciated.
