Time to step up: Fedor Tyutin

• Defenseman
• 27 years old, 7th year in National Hockey League
• $2,843,750 cap hit 
• 4.8% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of 2011-2012
• 2009-2010 numbers: 80 games played, 6 goals, 26 assists, 32 points, -7, 49 penalty minutes, 22:31 avg. time on ice

Less fatigue means more shutdown play from Fedor Tyutin

How can my 2009-2010 Columbus Blue Jackets Most Valuable Player step up in 2010-2011?

Simple.  Play less.

It seems counterintuitive to say that the way your best player can be better is to play less, but remember what I said:

He took the hard assignments on a near-permanent basis (perhaps most notably playing a significant role in shutting down Alexander Ovechkin in the closing days of the season) and logged minutes at a pace that surely put him past the point of fatigue. That fatigue led to his making the occasional painful mistake that would elicit howls from the CBJ faithful. But can you blame him when he's playing nearly a third of every game? At least he was healthy enough to be in a position to take blame!

So here's my logic: Fewer minutes = less fatigue = more effective.

And think it through, what else has to happen for Fedor Tyutin to play less?  (Barring an injury, which would have him playing a lot less, I mean.)  Well, that would mean that Rusty Klesla, Jan Hejda and Mike Commodore would be playing healthy, and in condition to contribute at a high level.  It would mean that younger players like Anton Stralman, Kris Russell, Marc Methot, Grant Clitsome and perhaps even John Moore are playing at a level where they demand more and more minutes of playing time.  Simply put, it means that the defense is back in form...and effective.

Can Fedor Tyutin juggle the additional offensive responsibilities
that Scott Arniel's supposed scheme will demand?

Rather than belabor the yeoman's effort that Tyutin brought to the team last season, I'll again refer you to my MVP post.  Scott Howson knew what he was doing in bringing in such a talented (and reasonably-priced!) defenseman in the 2008 trade with the New York Rangers.  I really hope to see him stick around for a while...he's still reasonably young at 27 and can help anchor the defense for years to come.

Let me leave you with a question, one that could make this season even more exciting for Fedor Tyutin: Considering that Scott Arniel is talking about a defense that jumps up to join the rush, is Tyutin ready and able to play like that?  Could be interesting...