Crunch Time

Maybe it's too early for this, but do we know who is still under contract for next season?

http://www.nhlscap.com/salarynumbers/columbus.htm

Good site to figure all that stuff out. 

My wish list:

1) Konopka

2) Mirasty

3) Rycroft

And the long-shot one, I know: 4) A place for Goehring somewhere in the organization

Anyone else have one?

My wish list:

 1) Konopka (a no brainer)

2) Mirasty

3) Dan Smith

4) Sestito (He came on strong the 2nd half of the season, plus he is willing to stand in front of the net)

5) Yates...................just kidding!  

well my opinon it wasnt really ross yates. everyone got on him about how bad he is or the lack of emotion he didnt show, but he say what he has to say in the locker room. captain z was the one who was making alll and most of the moves and z did say before and heard from a source that if trent and ross go then z is going. it wasnt their fault.

Kramer did a run down of that today

http://blog.syracuse.com/crunch/2008/05/the_sounds_of_silence.html#more

would mirasty count as a vet? I know he'll get an nhl contract next year nomatter what, just depends if it's a 1 or 2 way deal...i say 2 way deal for a year, then he'll make the nhl! Well I do predict this:

Goaltending: Lacosta and Mason. no question.

Defense: I would say we get Plekhanov, Motherwell, Smith, Holden, and Clitsome back. Methot and Wilson would probably make columbus, sending kris russell down here. I expect another vet to be added to the D. Cullen and Westcott will be gone.

Forwards:  I expect Jarman, Starkov, Dorsett, Sestito, McGurik, Pineault, Frischmon, and hopefully konopka back if columbus doesn't wnat him that abd(although, I still do feel he should have a 1 way nhl deal) Lindstrom and Picard will be back, but would have to clear waivers, I'd expect both to make columbus. I expect 3 vets to be added up front, doesn't sound like columbus wants mackenzie back either, hopefully we get mirasty back. In the event we don't get mirasty back, SIGN STEVE BOSSE. Or maybe Brandon. I have heard rumors he has said he wanted to come back, it is something to think about. I've also heard maybe Jason Jaffray wanted to come play here(I read that in here) But I do expect a couyple of vets to be added up front. We will also have Legein back. Hopefully COLUMBUS WILL DO THE RIGHT THING, AND SEND VORACEK HERE. They don't need to ruin anymore careers, he needs to come here and prove himself first before he goes up to columbus. I already have little faith Brule will do much, and he got a lot better in the playoffs. He started to get to the point where he was really developing his game, and was that close to dominating here. He should have spent the whole year here, no excuses. I do think brassard will get good time, hopefully he can come back here next year, but who knows. I do think pineault will be promoted halfway through the year.

First off Voracek can not play for the Crunch next season. He is either in Cbus or back to Halifax because of some stupid draft rule about being drafted out of the CHL. If I had to make the desicion on who to resign it would be simple. Konopka, Smith, and MacKenzie. Wecott, Cullen, Rycroft,Goehring and Dicasmirro will be gone. Mirasty will be given a chance and Frischmon needs to be given a contract as well. Methot and Wilson will be in the NHL so our defense will be very young but should be ok. Motherwell, Plekhanov, Holden, Clitsome, Ben Wright, Kyle Wharton, and hopefully Smith. Fowards and Centers Picard, Pineault, Legein, Dorsett, Sestito, Starkov, Pohl, Konopka, Mirasty, Frischmon, Matt Marquardt, Jarman, McGuirk, Lindstrom, Brassard, and Hopefully MacKenzie. Goalies will be Mason and LaCosta unless Mason Make Columbus. It will be interesting over the next couple months to see what happens. I for one can not wait.

 I don't think that Mirasty will count against the veteran rule, because I don't think the LNAH is considered a professional league, semi pro at best.

 Jason Jaffray did say that he would "explore the idea of coming here when his contract with Vancouver/Manitoba is up", problem is he has one more year left on the contract.

   I wouldn't even explore the option of Bosse, if that is even a thought - just bring back Mirasty.

   As far as Voracek goes, doesn't he fall under the European exemption to be able to play in the AHL under the age of 20 ?????? I think that he does.

 Konopka - As much as we like his leadership and character that he brings to the team, I don't think he is full time NHL caliber. He is a great asset on the AHL level and provides a lot of leadership for the young guys, which is critical in player developement (worth its weight in gold) to have a player like him on the team. My question with him is, if he is signed to a 2 way deal, does that mean he would have to clear waivers if Columbus wanted to send him down out of training camp ????? I say sign him to a huge AHL contract to make up for a 1 way deal (1 way only) and IF the Jackets want to call him up during the season then they could sign him to a NHL contract at that point.

  For those that have DirecTv, with the NHL network on it, I believe it is Friday or Saturday night that they are showing Memorial Cup games and I know that Kitchener is one of the games that they are showing, a chance to check out Steve Mason in net for Kitchener.

  For those making pitches for Yates to be back, aside from the Konopka issue with that. If your philosophy is that he did a decent job, my question is why are we just settling for decent, when we could get a coach to do a great job and take this team to the next level, there are plenty of top notch coaches out there looking for jobs and I am sure that 1 or 2 will end up in the AHL before returning to the NHL and we can now add Ron Wilson to that group. Getting a guy that has NHL coaching experience is even better for player development because he knows what it takes to get a player to the NHL and stay there.

YATES MUST GO !!!!!!!

FreakZilla:

  For those that have DirecTv, with the NHL network on it, I believe it is Friday or Saturday night that they are showing Memorial Cup games and I know that Kitchener is one of the games that they are showing, a chance to check out Steve Mason in net for Kitchener.

 

Steve Mason is injured right now, had knee surgery about a month ago or so, so he''s not playing in the Cup anymore. Columbus' decision 

Billiam927:

had knee surgery about a month ago or so

  How bad ???

YATES MUST GO !!!!!!!!!!!

nothin' major..........here's a link to all the Columbus Dispatch blogs involving Mason:

http://blog.dispatch.com/mte/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=102&search=steve+mason 

FreakZilla:

As far as Voracek goes, doesn't he fall under the European exemption to be able to play in the AHL under the age of 20 ?????? I think that he does.

 I was just going by the Hockeyfutures website about Columbus prospects. That would be sweet if he could play for us.

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/10290/blue_jackets_top20_prospects_spring2008/  I hope they are wrong

warlockmb:

 I was just going by the Hockeyfutures website about Columbus prospects

  I understand that warlock and thanks for the link. I'm not 100 % positive but I think there is a European exemption which allows underage players to play in the AHL under the age of 20.

   Now I don't know if there is some stupid CHL stipulation that says he can't go to the AHL but that would be absolute nonsense. Nevermind the fact that they would be holding the guy up from earning a living.

YATES MUST GO !!!!!!!!!!