The trigger has been pulled. Say goodbye to Jason Chimera, and hello to the newest Blue Jackets: F Chris Clark, and D Milan Jurcina, now formally of the Washington Capitals. Jurcina will be a short-term fix to the blueline as he is an Unrestricted Free Agent after this season. Clark has another year on his current deal and will be a UFA after the 2010-2011 season. Jackets added 2.15M to this years cap in the deal (Jurcina: 1.375 + Clark 2.65 - Chimera 1.875).
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Where do the new guys fit? We get a big veteran forward -- I supposse third/fourth line unless he gets hot. Maybe he doesn't play much. With Modin back in the lineup and Picard called up, I've kind of given up on trying to figure out line assignments on the third and fourth lines. To further complicate matters, one would expect that Dorsett finds the ice when he returns from injury. As for the defenseman, Jurcina is a big cat. I think Tyutin could definitely use a couple games to sit and recover - mentally and physically. However, you need him on the powerplay. So it likely comes down to Roy/Methot. Methot is out with injury and not likely to see the ice anytime regardless. Roy has been playing really well in my opinion. Who sits?
ReplyDeleteOn another note, how will Chimmer fit in Washington? I liked him a lot -- good locker room guy and a great fit in the community. He did a lot for Ryan Salmons and his family. Also, as was noted in some Caps blogs today, he started the scrum that lead to Ovechkin's injury at the start of the season. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteI hate losing Chimmer as I like him as a player and a guy in the community. He has big time speed and plays with heart every night. He may disappear score sheet wise for long stretches or not have the best hands in the world, but overall I liked Chimmer a ton.
ReplyDeleteI understand the deal, though. It sounds like Clark was necessary for the from a locker room standpoint in that they needed another veteran voice. Losing Peca and Malhotra and replacing them with better guys on the ice, but less presence off it might have hurt the club...especially during the prolonged losing streak.
Clark probably plays on the right side of Modin and Pahlsson and we have a legit shutdown third line with three veterans. Not too shabby. When Dorsett comes back, he goes to the fourth line with Boll to create a mayhem line. Picard will be in and out of the lineup, drawing the scratch most nights, I'd think.
You're right about Jucina in that he's just going to eat some minutes and give guys some rest and time to recover from injuries. Hope the team has the same jump tonight that they did last night.