Should I stay or should I go? Part I: The Forwards

[Campbell's brand-new series, getting a jump-start on the looming offseason...I'm posting while he gets up to speed with the Blogger interface. - DBJ]

Over the next couple weeks I will be doing an in depth examination of the upcoming free agents of the Columbus Blue Jackets and whether they should return or not.

PART 1 – FORWARDS

Chris Clark

RW #71

Age: 35 Ht: 6'0” Wt: 196 lbs.

Acquired: Via trade with Washington Capitals

Current Salary: $2,633,333

Status After Season: Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA)

The former captain of the Washington Capitals was acquired in the 2009/10 season along with defenseman Milan Jurcina in exchange for perpetually off-side left wing Jason Chimera. Clark was mainly acquired to add leadership to the locker room, something the team was deemed to be missing after the retirement of Michael Peca following the 2008/09 season. While Clark started off the year extremely well, nagging injuries and age seem to have caught up with him and he seems unable to stay healthy enough to play a bottom six role. It is impossible to determine the effect Clark has had in a leadership role, however it seems that Rick Nash and R.J. Umberger are the leaders of this team.

I can't see Howson offering Clark a contract, and if he did it certainly would have to be one that included a substantial pay cut. His numbers and injuries just have not allowed Scott Arniel to find a solid role for him, and even when not hurt he has often been a healthy scratch. Springfield is teeming with gritty wingers that can pitch in points every now and then, so my guess would be Clark is allowed to walk.

Game 74/Phoenix: My Take

In their last 10PM start of the 2010-2011 season, the Columbus Blue Jackets lost, 3-0, to the Phoenix Coyotes in front of 215 people at Jobing.com Arena.

Word is that Rick Nash and R.J. Umberger held a closed-door, players-only meeting after the game.  The DBJ blog had a mole in the room, and thus we offer:

THE TOP 10 COMMENTS OVERHEARD AT THE BLUE JACKETS' PLAYERS-ONLY MEETING

1. Rivet, Moreau, Clark, Murray, Hejda, Stralman - Out.  You're not going to be here next year anyway.

2. Guys, the season isn't over yet.  It's really OK to keep scoring.

Observation from practice

For the first time in way too long, the Dark Blue Toddler and I ventured down this morning to Nationwide Arena to check in on the Columbus Blue Jackets' open practice in anticipation of tomorrow's tilt with the streaking (7-1-2 in their last 10 - Yow!) Los Angeles Kings.

When reached for comment about practice,
the Dark Blue Toddler stopped on the stairs to say,
"Up! Up! UP! Down! Down! DOWN! Hockey! Boom!"

The visit was punctuated by a pre-practice breakfast with DBT at the Arena District's Sunny Street Cafe on Nationwide Boulevard, where we redeemed a Groupon and he gnawed on perhaps the largest "dinosaur" pancake that I've ever seen.  (They apprently pour the batter into a 8-inch long dinosaur mold, kinda like a cookie cutter for pancakes.)  Of course, the DBT is the discriminating type, so he ate my home fries instead.  At least I got coffee.  And Sunny Street is a great way to kick off your CBJ practice morning.  Nice folks, fast service.

As for practice, I got pretty much what I've come to expect with the little man.  DBT runs the stairs and the rows nonstop (only stopping to tell me what row letter I've parked in to monitor him while he tears around sections 114 and 115), and I get about 15 minutes of actual observation during a one-hour practice.

Most notable from practice was who was NOT out there: Steve Mason.  We now know that Mase has bronchitis and a "minor" pulled groin (how such a muscle pull can be "minor" is beyond me).  With that, and no goalie callup from Springfield, we were treated to the CBJ equipment manager in net.  I think I got a taste of what the diminutive Darren Pang would have looked like between the pipes for the Blue Jackets.  Actually, the guy did OK considering they weren't pushing him too hard out there.

Time to step up: End of training camp

After the Columbus Blue Jackets' 4-3 win over the (hapless) Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night, the team boarded a 757-200 at Port Columbus airport and made the flight to Stockholm, Sweden to open the 2010-2011 National Hockey League regular season against the San Jose Sharks.  And with that, training camp and the pre-season functionally ended.

Sure, the CBJ will play an exhibition game on Tuesday at 1PM EST against the Malmo Redhawks, but it's hard to consider that game as an NHL-caliber pre-season game and thus won't be counted in my statistical analysis.  The game could have merit related to individual performances, player injuries (getting hurt, coming back from injury) or chemistry developments, not to mention the rumored yellow and red jerseys.  But let's keep it in perspective - it's not NHL competition, and it's not an NHL game.

I did a mid-preseason review after the first four games, and let's continue it with the last 4.  It's a mixed bag, to be sure, but I think I can offer some spots for optimism.

OFFENSE

Team	Total Shots	Total Goals	Conversion %	Shots/Game	Goals/Game
10-11 CBJ - Full Preseason	247	25	10.12%	30.88	3.13
10-11 CBJ - Preseason games 5-8	112	13	11.61%	28.00	3.25
10-11 CBJ - Preseason games 1-4	135	12	8.89%	33.75	3.00
09-10 CBJ	2,338	214	9.15%	28.51	2.61
08-09 CBJ	2,490	217	8.71%	30.37	2.65
09-10 Washington Capitals	2,693	313	11.62%	32.84	3.82
09-10 Pittsburgh Penguins	2,688	249	9.26%	32.78	3.04
09-10 Phoenix Coyotes	2,502	211	8.43%	30.51	2.57

The obvious area for excitement is the conversion percentage - the percentage of shots that become goals. The Columbus Blue Jackets started the preseason with a conversion rate that, while not horrible, wasn't going to set the hockey world's hair on fire.  In the back half of the preseason, however, the conversion percentage hopped up a few points and rivaled the percentage of the most prolific scoring team in the NHL last season, the Washington Capitals.

Time to step up: Andrew Murray

• Center
• 28 years old, 4th year in National Hockey League
• $625,000 cap hit 
• 1.1% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of this season
• 2009-2010 numbers: 46 games played, 5 goals, 2 assists, 7 points, -6, 6 penalty minutes, 10:21 avg. time on ice

I was going to write about how this is a pivotal year for Andrew Murray on a host of fronts: 

1. He's a 4th line center on a team with a number of rising young players
2. He's a late-blooming 28-year-old in the last year of his contract
3. If you believe The Hockey News Yearbook, he's already been passed by Tomas Kana on the depth chart and thus actually projects to start the season in Springfield as a result.
4. He plays with a lot of energy and enthusiasm that just isn't projecting onto the stat sheet.

Now, as I write (and I'm writing in advance of posting to ensure that I can squeeze all of the player previews in by the start of training camp), the Blue Jackets have signed forward Ben Guite to the roster.  With that, it sure seems like the competition for the 4th line just got a lot tougher.  

Preview of Game 66: Los Angeles Kings

Yesterday, Tom Reed (@tomba19 on Twitter) tweeted that IHC Noel was "mulling [over] lineup changes" and that Juice (no ambiguity with that now that Jurcina is gone) would be questionable for tonight's game against the Kings, who are 1-2 since the end of the Olympic break, including a 4-2 loss on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens. Honestly, I get a little bit excited when there is the possibility of Huselius being scratched. I feel like it is good for him. But this time? This time, I was worried. The Blue Jackets already have Paetsch playing as a forward. Murray was on the second line the other night. Now Noel is going to have to do something about Huselius potentially being out of the line up? At least Brassard is back, hot off the grill, you might say...

Here's a visual projected line-up for tonight (Blue Jackets only, sorry Kings!):

Wait, what? Is that Andrew Murray on the top line? Yes, yes it is. Ugh.

I love this line. I'd prefer to see Brassard centering the top line, although with this being his first game back, I understand this choice. And with Andrew Murray on top line, it is probably a wise decision to have someone like Vermette there, who perhaps makes egregious mistakes less often more consistently than Brassard.