The Blue Jackets lease the arena from Nationwide Insurance, which privately funded the construction of the approximately $106 million facility after voters stuck down a proposed countywide ‘sin tax’ in 1997. As a result of their unique lease with the insurance giant, the Blue Jackets have lost upwards of $80 million over the past seven plus seasons.

A couple months ago, I spoke with Ohio State Professor Emeritus Stephen Buser, who led a study on the financial viability of the Blue Jackets and Nationwide Arena. His report offered a number of possible solutions to help the ailing franchise, and one of steps has already come to fruition in a Nationwide Arena-Schottenstein Center joint management deal. That is by no means a solution, but it is a step in the right direction.

On Wednesday night, Priest revealed little in his words, but sounded very optimistic.

“This is probably the first time I get to say this: we’re making really good progress. We actually have taken a large step forward,” he said. “I’ve got great confidence that we’re going to get something done in a manner that is not going to be a burden on the community.”

The “burden on the community” he spoke of is likely a reference to any sort of sales tax increase that would allow Franklin County to purchase the arena. That comes as no surprise, given the state of the economy and the fact numerous economic experts including Buser and Ty Marsh, CEO of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, have reiterated that increasing taxes is not the route to go.

“I would say more in the near term than not. Within the next season we should be able to get a solution,” he said. “I’ve got to make it clear, we don’t have any commitments. We have no agreements in place, but the dialogue has been very productive. The ideas that are being submitted have real possibilities.”

Priest appears to have softened his stance a bit, after suggesting earlier this week that a deal could be struck “10 to 20 days.” The change of heart, or rather words, likely has more to do with the delicate negotiation process than backtracking.

He once again emphasized that despite speculation, the Blue Jackets will remain in Columbus for the foreseeable future.

“We’re here. We’re not going to go anywhere. We’re going to get this done.”

- Bart Logan

bartftc@gmail.com

Twitter: @bart_logan

Berry spent two years under Arniel in Manitoba from 2006-08 before leaving the team for family reasons.

Berry also spent time as a head coach as well as an assisant at the University of North Dakota where he played for three seasons. As a coach, Berry helped lead the Fighting Sioux to two WCHA Division titles, one WCHA playoff title in 2006 and three appearances in the Frozen Four.

Berry played for part of eight season in the NHL, collecting four goals and 28 assists. Berry and Arniel played as teammates as a part of the 1985-86 season with the Winnipeg Jets.

Arniel will name at least one other assistant coach in the coming days.

RO137807@ohio.edu – Twitter: @Rob_Ogden

The changes come one week after the Blue Jackets named Scott Arniel head coach. With the firings, Arniel is given the opportunity to bring in his own assistants.

It is likely that Arneil will have two assistants opposed to the three that former coach Ken Hitchcock had under him. One of those rumored to be on Arniel’s short list is Brad Berry, who coached as an assistant under Arniel in Manitoba before stepping down two years ago for family matters.

Berry played 241 NHL games with Winnipeg, Minnesota and Dallas and was a teammate of Arniel’s in Winnipeg.

Columbus has already hired Kevin Collins to replace Brennan as the strength and conditioning coach. Collins previously held the same position for the Portland Pirates of the AHL.

It is also rumored that Noel is candidate for the same Manitoba Moose head coaching job vacated by Arniel last week.

Stay tuned, more will be posted as it becomes clear who Arniel will choose for his staff.

Guy Boucher (Getty Images)

The Columbus Blue Jackets have offered their head coaching position to Guy Boucher, as broken by the Columbus Dispatch. Boucher will reportedly take the weekend to mull over the offer before making his decision early next week.

Boucher, 38, spent this past season coaching the Hamilton Bulldogs, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. He led the Bulldogs to a 52-17-3-8 record in 2009-2010, and came within one period of making the Calder Cup Finals in his first season with the team, his only coaching in the pros.

The consensus feeling is that Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Que. native was being “groomed” for the head coach spot at Montreal, which is currently occupied by Jacques Martin. That theory, along with his relative inexperience, has led to speculation that Boucher may not accept a National Hockey League coaching offer this year. Still, there is no debating that he is one of the rising stars in coaching, and he will find his way behind an NHL bench sooner rather than later.

Boucher has been influence by likes of Jacques Lemaire, Mike Babcock and Pat Quinn, but has gained notoriety for his own revolutionary system. Boucher’s teams play an “extremely aggressive” offensive style, focusing on moving the puck up the ice at all times and he is not shy about letting defenseman lead the rush.

“I’m very, very keen on developing offense,” Boucher said in an interview for hamiltonbulldogs.com. “For me, it’s about time and space — not giving it to the other team — and creating it for ourselves as fast as we can and as aggressively as we can.”

On the power play, Boucher applies an unusual 1-3-1 setup as opposed traditional overload or umbrella. One player sets up in front of the net, one in the high slot, and a pair along the sidewalls while a defenseman roves along the point. It creates havoc for penalty killers who can be easily exposed in a diamond or box arrangement.

Boucher also applies an unconventional 1-3-1 forecheck. The first skater in the zone pushes the puck toward the outside. The left defenseman sets up along the left wall, as opposed to center ice as is the case with most 1-3-1 systems. The other two forwards occupy the center ice and the right side, creating a wall in the neutral zone, and the right defenseman covers the back end, where he is free to adjust on the fly. Some have likened his forecheck to a full court press.

Boucher has also garnered plenty of praise for his ability to develop and motivate players, especially youngsters. The McGill University graduate has three degrees, including a master’s in sports psychology. Blue Jackets center Derrick Brassard played under Boucher in 2006-2007, when he was of the Drummondville Voltiguers, and he made no secret of his affinity for his former, and likely future, head coach.

“I’ve never played for a guy like him, a guy who is capable of getting the best out of every player,” Brassard said in an interview with The Dispatch. “He was always in your head, always keeping you energized and motivate.”

Despite all the positives, there are still plenty of questions surrounding the possible CBJ-Guy Boucher marriage. Although Boucher has seen success at every level of coaching so far, there is no guarantee that his system will succeed in the NHL, where so much time is spent breaking down video to expose any possible weakness. Teams will game plan and find holes.

There is also the issue of his experience. Boucher has spent only one season coaching professionals, and spent only three as a head coach in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League prior to that. Age could also be a factor as Boucher, who at 38-year-old, has only four years on the elder statesman of the Blue Jackets roster, Chris Clark. Although a player such as Clark would never admit it, some veterans do not mesh well with young, inexperienced coaches.

In addition, the current make-up of the Blue Jackets roster is not necessarily conducive to Boucher’s systems. With the exception of Kris Russell, and Anton Stralman on occasion, the Blue Jackets defense lacks the mobility and puck handling skills to push the play forward. There is also no question that there is a significant learning curve to adjust to Boucher’s system.

Still, there is no denying that, of the four final coaching candidates, Boucher is the most intriguing. That was clearly the case for Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson. While former Blue Jackets player and development coach Kevin Dineen was considered the early favorite for the position, Howson insisted on waiting to interview Boucher, whose playoff run with the Hamilton forced the coaching search to extend into June. Other candidates include Scott Arniel, head coach of the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, and Claude Noel, who took over after Ken Hitchcock was fired in February.

The Dispatch has reported that Howson met with Boucher twice. The first time was at the NHL Scouting Combine in Hamilton, Ont. last month.  The second conversation took place last week in Columbus, likely at John P. McConnell’s Double Eagle Golf Club.

It appears that the Blue Jackets have finally found their coach. Howson put in his time and due diligence, and it’s my belief that it will be reflected next season, regardless if Boucher is behind the bench or one of the other candidates. Then again, it could very well backfire if Boucher declines the position. Some have reported that there’s nothing left but hammering out the specifics of the contract, but with the Blue Jackets, you can never take anything for granted.

- Bart Logan

bartftc@gmail.com

Twitter: @bart_logan

Interim-coach Claude Noel will not have a second interview, however the report states that Noel is still in the running for the job.

It has also been confirmed that Detroit Red Wings assistant Paul MacLean is no longer in the running for the coaching position.

MacLean, who has been an assistant with Detroit since 2005, interviewed for the Columbus job last Tuesday and was told he would hear back from the club within a week.

The news of MacLean being ousted from the running comes as a surprise to some as many saw him as a strong candidate for the job.

Arniel was hired as Manitoba’s head coach in 2006, and won the AHL Coach of the Year award in only his third season at the helm, leading his team to the Calder Cup Finals.

According to the Winnipeg Sun, Arniel will also interview for the Atlanta Thrashers head coaching position.

Dineen, currently the coach of Portland Pirates of the AHL, played for the Blue Jackets from the team’s establishment in 2000 until he retired in 2002.

Dineen was named AHL Coach of the Year in 2006 after his first season with Portland.

Also still in the running for the job is Hamilton Bulldogs’ head man Guy Boucher.

In his only season with Hamilton, Boucher led the Bulldogs to a 52-17-11 record and like Dineen, won the AHL Coach of the Year award in only his first season.

Boucher’s team currently holds a 2-0 lead over the Texas Stars in the AHL Western Conference Finals. The Montreal Canadiens, Hamilton’s NHL affiliate, have said they will not stand in the way of Columbus speaking to Boucher.

Howson has indicated that the club is still a couple weeks away from making a hire, stating that it will most likely come in late May or early June.

Earlier this week, the Blue Jackets were granted permission by the Vancouver Canucks to interview minor-league coach Scott Arniel. Arniel, 47, has been the head coach of Vancouver’s AHL club the Manitoba Moose for the past four seasons.

In his time with Manitoba, Arniel has compiled a 181-106-33 record, taking his team to the AHL playoffs all four seasons. In 2009, Arniel led his club to the league’s best regular-season record en route to winning the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as AHL coach of the year.

An interview with Arniel is likely to take place next week. After ousting the Los Angeles Kings, The Canucks play the Chicago Blackhawks in a second-round playoff series beginning later this week.

Other candidates Howson will likely be requesting to interview are former Blue Jacket Kevin Dineen and current associate coach of the Nashville Predators Brent Peterson.

Dineen is currently the head coach of the Portland Pirates, AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres, and because of his obvious ties to the Columbus organization has been mentioned as a possible replacement since Ken Hitchcock was let go.

Peterson’s Predators were bounced from the playoffs earlier this week by Chicago, and Howson is likely waiting for the team to finish their end-of-season duties before requesting permission to speak to Peterson.

Interim head coach Cluade Noel is also a candidate for the permanent job. In his time with the interim tag, Noel went 10-8-6 behind the Columbus bench.

Other possible candidates Howson may look to interview are Detroit assistant coach Paul MacLean and Hamilton Bulldogs coach Guy Boucher.

MacLean is generally considered off-limits while the Red Wings remain alive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Detroit defeated Phoenix last night in a game seven route to earn a spot in round two.

The Hamilton Bulldogs are the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens who face the top-seeded Washington Capitals tonight in a deciding game seven.

Howson has said he would like to wrap up the coaching search before the end of May.

Stay tuned.

RO137807@ohio.edu – Twitter: @Rob_Ogden

The top five remained unchanged and will draft in the reverse order that they finished in the final standings: Edmonton, Boston (from Toronto), Florida, Columbus and the New York Islanders.

The rest of the first round looks like this: Tampa Bay, Carolina, Atlanta, Minnesota, New York Rangers, Dallas, Anaheim, Phoenix (from Calgary), rounded out by St. Louis at 14. The remaining draft positions will be determined at the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

With the number one selection, Edmonton will be forced to make the decision between Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin, the two players widely regarded as the top NHL prospects.

With the fourth overall pick, The Blue Jackets will also have to pick between quality players. Some names to remember that could be taken at four overall are defensemen Cam Fowler, Erik Gudbranson and Brandon Gormley.

Fowler, the lone American on the list, is an assists machine. In 55 games this past season with OHL Windsor, Fowler tallied 55 points including 47 helpers.

If Columbus is looking to add someone other than a defenseman, Brett Connolly and Nino Niederreiter are two forwards that are expected to be early lottery picks.

This is the fourth time in five years that the team with the worst record has retained the first overall pick.

This is also the fourth time Columbus has owned the fourth overall pick. They drafted defenseman Rostislav Klesla in 2000, Nikolai Zherdev in ’03 and traded down in ’04.

Although the Columbus Blue Jackets have played their final game of the 2010 season, there are still some important games remaining for the club.

Currently the Jackets sit six places from the bottom of the NHL standings and in sixth place in terms of the NHL draft lottery to take place on Tuesday. However, wins from the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightning could move the CBJ as high (or low) as third place in the lottery standings.

Columbus finished the season with 79 points, the Islanders, Panthers, and Lightning have 78, 76 and 76 points respectively and have each played 80 of 82 games.

Depending on what these three teams do in their final two games, there are multiple scenarios that could play out.

The best scenario for the Jackets, the one that would move them into third, would require New York to earn one point in their final two games against New Jersey and Pittsburgh and for both Florida and Tampa Bay to earn three points.

Since Florida and Tampa play each other tonight and Sunday, the only way they could each earn three more points is if both tonight’s and Sunday’s game go into overtime with each team winning one game.

If New York picks up one more point and only one of Florida and Tampa Bay gain three more points, Columbus would finish fourth from last.

Worst case scenario, New York loses both of their final two games in regulation, the Panthers and Lightning split the series with both games ending in regulation and the Blue Jackets remain in sixth place.

The 14 teams that do not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs are all entered into the lottery with the winner becoming eligible to move up four places from where they finish in the final standings. Therefore, only teams one through five are eligible to receive the first overall pick.

The team with the worst record has a 25 percent chance of winning the lottery and retaining the first pick. Teams two through five’s chances are 18.8%, 14.2%, 10.7% and 8.1% respectively.

The percentage break down for the remaining nine teams looks like this: 6.2%, 4.7%, 3.6%, 2.7%, 2.1%, 1.5%, 1.1%, 0.8% and 0.5%.

Since only teams one through five can receive the top pick, the last place team has a 48.2 percent chance of picking first.

So although there will be no more rooting for the Jackets until next October, you can do your duty as a fan by rooting for the Islanders, Panthers and Lightning this weekend.

RO137807@ohio.edu – Twitter: @Rob_Ogden

Whether Nikita Filatov will return to Columbus for the 2010-2011 season is still unknown. However, General Manager Scott Howson said he expects Filatov to attend training camp prior to the start of the season.

In his time with CSKA Moscow, Filatov scored nine goals and added 12 assists in 26 games of play.

In the meantime, the Blue Jackets 2009 first round draft pick John Moore has been a machine when it comes to setting up goals for his teammates. In 61 games with the OHL Kitchener Rangers, the Defenseman tallied 37 assists and 10 goals.

Columbus made two trades in order to draft Moore at 21 overall last June. Expect him to compete for a spot on the big club come next season.

A couple guys whose names could become much more familiar in the next couple years include defenseman Grant Clitsome, and winger Maksim Mayorov.

As a ninth round pick in the 2004 entry draft, few expected Clitsome to succeed. However, the defender has been making a name for himself with AHL Syracuse and has appeared in three games for the Blue Jackets this season, in which he recorded two assists.

In 64 games with Syracuse, Clitsome has totaled five goals and 15 assists.

Like Moore, he is also expected to compete for a spot among a depleted defensive core on the big league roster next fall.

Maksim Mayorov has appeared in seven NHL games in his career without tallying a point. However, that could all change next season if he makes the jump to Columbus for good.

Selected in the fourth round of the 2007 entry draft, Mayorov made his professional debut last year, and has been a consistent playmaker for the Crunch ever since.

In his two seasons with Syracuse, Mayorov has 54 points on 28 goals and 26 assists.

In addition, Mayorov was also impressive in preseason play prior to this season. In an opening game loss to Pittsburgh, the Russian forward tallied two goals.

If the Blue Jackets expect to return playoff contention in 2011, they are going to need help from some of these up-and-coming players.

Raffi Torres was dealt to the Buffalo Sabers for defenseman Nathan Paetsch and a 2nd round pick. Paetsch is 26-year-old defenseman who’s a pending free agent this summer.

Washington has also reacquired defenseman Milan Jurcina. Awaiting details. The Dispatch’s Tom Reed reports the Blue Jackets will receive a 6th round pick for Jurcina.

Fredrik Modin has reportedly been dealt to the LA Kings for a conditional 7th round pick. Some questions surrounding whether the trade was submitted on time.

Mathieu Roy was dealt to the Florida Panthers for University of Michigan center Matt Rust.

Alexander Picard dealt to Phoenix for prospect Chad Kolarik.

Possible Targets:

Tom Gilbert of Edmonton might be the target of a Jurcina-Torres package deal. The Oilers are trying to clear cap space for some big summer moves.Gilbert still has four seasons at $4million left on a six-year extension he signed in 2008. His numbers are way off from a career high 45 points last season. Gilbert’s a big, mobile defenseman with a hard right-handed shot.

Ryan Parent of Philadelphia is the name that’s come up most often in Flyers discussion. Parent is still rehabbing from injury but he’s a young tough defenseman. Philadelphia does not have a 1st or 2nd round pick.

Trade Assets:

Raffi Torres: It’s almost a foregone conclusion that the gritty winger will have a new home by 3pm this afternoon. He’s been linked all over the league and according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, Scott Howson has set a 1^st round pick as the asking price. Don’t be surprised if he is moved for a young roster player or packaged with Milan Jurcina. Teams that have been linked to the winger are numerous but include Edmonton, LA, Boston and Phoenix with long shots including Philadelphia and the New York Rangers.

Milan Jurcina: Despite Pierre McGuire’s burn on the lanky Slovak, make no mistake Jurcina’s stock is on the rise. He was left out of last night’s lineup. Although management assured that is was an injury precaution. Jurcina’s response: “Whatever they said they said.” Boston may be a potential suitor especially after the Bruins trade of Derek Morris. Add Vancouver to that list and the Capitals may even be interested in reacquiring Jurcina’s services. My feeling is that Jurcina and Torres will be packaged.

Fredrik Modin: A lot less suitors for the Big Swede who looked solid in a few games with Team Sweden, but his injury history and high salary make him difficult to move. Edmonton and Tampa Bay are couple teams that have been linked with Modin. I’ve heard from a couple sources that Modin would allow a trade.

We’ll be updating throughout the day with any rumors or deals that can be confirmed.

-Bart Logan

bartftc@gmail.com

Twitter: BartFTC