Against this backdrop, the Jackets 5 – 1 thumping of the Minnesota Wild in the Columbus home debut was just what the doctor ordered. Coach Ken Hitchcock put out the projected top line of Rick Nash, Derick Brassard and Kristian Huselius, and was rewarded with a combined seven points. Raffi Torres added a goal and an assist, Antoine Vermette tallied a short-handed breakaway, and defenseman Grant Clitsome put home a laser beam feed from Brassard. In all, the offense showed speed, chemistry and the ability to maintain possession in the offensive zone for extended periods of time. Alexandre Picard and Maxim Mayorov showed lots of energy and good speed. Andrew Murray, likely the front-runner for the fourth line center slot, showed early energy, but faded as the game went on. His chief rival, Michael Blunden, failed to impress. Agitator Jared Boll looked slow and out of shape in contrast to the others on the ice – he is definitely in a battle for a job.

In goal, Steve Mason went the distance, allowing only a late wrap-around goal after a defensive breakdown behind the net. He showed the energy and agility that brought him the Calder last season.

Defensively, the Jackets overcame a first period of scattered play in their own zone to turn in an overall solid performance. Kris Russell, Jan Heda ,Marc Methot and Rusty Klesla were quietly efficient, if unspectacular. They are still getting accustomed to some new pairings, and sometimes displayed the hesitation and imprecision you might anticipate as they adjust to each other.

One defender who did not appear plagued by uncertainty was rookie phenom John Moore. The Jackets’ first round pick this year, Moore displayed a sense of calm that belied his 18 years of age. He put in some significant minutes, worked on the power play, and showed speed, precision and the ability to make quick, accurate passes to trigger the transition game. He showed his substantial speed, and was unafraid to carry the play deep in the offensive zone. This is a skill that the Jackets have lacked, and their search for an offensive defenseman has been well documented. More on this in a bit. Grant Clitsome was given extended minutes tonight, and played credibly.
Eric Belanger, who delivered the controversial hit on Chimera back in Minnesota, was wisely held out of this contest. Nonetheless, there was a tacit hostility in the air all night, and it boiled over in the third period, with 42 minutes of fighting and roughing penalties handed out in that frame alone.

On special teams, the Jackets showed a very strong penalty kill, but once again struggled on the power play, cashing in on only one of seven chances. While that one was well-executed, they could not find the solution the balance of the time, and looked slow and uncertain in a squandered 1:19 of 5-on-3 time. Players away from the puck are spending too much time watching, and are not making those small movements necessary to create passing lanes and clear shooting alleys.

Just as it is unwarranted to become overly distraught for perceived pre-season shortcomings, so too is it unwise to get too excited about warmup victories. However, the speed and the skill were impressive, and the psychological boost was well timed. While Modin is out for as long as six weeks, Chimera has been characterized as day to day, and Sestito also appears to be better than first feared. Torres caused a brief wave of panic when he did not play in the third period. It turns out that he was experiencing back spasms, and the staff decided to have him ice his back, rather than play and risk injury.

With three games left before the season opener against the same Minnesota Wild, the Blue Jackets face a number of key decisions. In no particular order, they are:

• How Much Moore? The 18 year old has wowed everyone with his skill, speed and composure. When drafted, he was headed to Colorado College. After consulting with the team, those plans changed, with Kitchener becoming his designated destination in juniors. Now, it is clear that he will be around throughout camp, and speculation is rampant that he might start the season with the big club, much as Nikita Filatov did a year ago. As with Filatov, Moore might play eight games and then be shipped to AHL Syracuse, instead of Juniors. Complicating the equation is an institutional reticence to rush young players along, a kind of backlash against the prior Doug MacLean administration, who brought an untested Rostislav Klesla directly to the NHL, probably well before he was really ready. While a nice problem to have, it represents just another uncertainty that GM Scott Howson faces.

• Offensive Defense – Assuming that Moore does not stay with the big club, Howson still faces the lack of a strong shooting, puck moving defenseman that can engineer the power play. Kris Russell and Fedor Tyutin will get their opportunities, but nobody else (short of Moore) has distinguished themselves as a likely candidate for this role. Rumor has it that Toronto is willing to shop Mike Van Ryn cheaply. He has the requisite right hand shot, and good size, but injuries have limited him to 47 games over the past two seasons. Vancouver also has a glut of defensemen. With Chimera on the mend, Howson still has a glut of wingers, which he could leverage into something, if he is so inclined. Although professing he is ready to move into the season with the current hand, word on the street is that there is some active shopping underway.

• Sorting out the Wings — While the top two lines are likely set (Nash, Huselius, Brassard, Umberger, Vermette, Voracek) there are numerous contenders for the remaining six slots. Pahlsson clearly has the third line center slot nailed down, and Raffi Torres appears to have one of the wings claimed. Murray and Blunden are the likely contenders for the fourth line center slot. This leaves Chimera, Filatov, Mayorov, Picard, Dorsett and Boll to contend for the final four slots, together with Modin, once he returns from injury. Most consider Filatov as a likely member of the big club come opening day, and a contender for a top six slot before long. While some depth can be maintained, due to two way contracts, it would not be surprising to see one or two of these players move in a deal before the end of camp.

With a plethora of young talent, combined with some key veteran leadership, Ken Hitchcock and Scott Howson have problems most coaches and GM’s in the league would love to have.

At first glance, this appears to be a very deep draft. Guys that would go in the top ten in a normal year may fall to the second half of the first round because of the plethora of talent. This bodes well for the Jackets since they will be picking outside the top ten for the first time ever.

Here are the Jackets previous first round picks
2000 – 4th, Rusty Klesla, D
2001 – 8th, Pascal Leclaire, G *
2002 – 1st, Rick Nash, W (traded up)
2003 – 4th, Nikolai Zherdev, W *
2004 – 8th, Alexandre Picard, W (traded down)
2005 – 6th, Gilbert Brule, C *
2006 – 6th, Derek Brassard, C
2007 – 7th, Jakub Voracek, W
2008 – 6th, Nkita Filatov, C/W

* No longer with the club.

Now looking ahead to this year, here is The Hockey News’ list of prospects 10-18:

10 – David Runblad (CAN), C
“He sees the ice well both offensively and defensively and he moves the puck well”

11 – Dmitri Kukikov (RUS), D
“Kukilov has proved to be a dynamic offensive defensemen. He scored more than a point per game during the season and was averaging two per game early on in the playoffs”. Also there is no worry about him wanting to return to Russia.

12 – Simon Despres (CAN), D
“On the positive side of the ledger, Despres is a good skater for a big man and plays a steady game. And while he leaves scouts wanting more, he may deliver on his promise.”

13 – O. Ekman-Larsson (SWE), D
“His skating and his offensive instincts are just out of this world.”

14 – Scott Glennie (CAN), C
“He has great hockey sense. He competes hard and has good offensive instincts.”

15 – Jacob Josefson (SWE), C
“He didn’t get a chance to show too much at the WJC, but he has made strides. He’s a smart offensive Swedish player and pretty good at both ends of the ice.”

16 – Zack Kassian (CAN), RW
“A lot of observers are throwing Milan Lucic’s name around when they speak of Zach Kassian, right down to the fact Kassian’s point and penalty minute totals this season are almost identical to Lucic’s in his draft year.”

17 – Ryan Ellis (CAN), D
“He looks like he’d be able to play the game sitting in a rocking chair. He’s so calm that he almost looks bored out there. He always has the puck and nobody is able to get it away from him.”

18 – John Moore (USA), D
“His skill level is off the charts in the USHL, but it’s his skating ability that will give him the best chance to play in the NHL.”

Three big areas the CBJ will need to address this offseason include the power play, the center position, and finding a scoring defenseman.

The Jackets power play ranked dead last in the league last year so that will obviously be an area of need going into next season. Expect the team to look for a proven forward who has the ability to create chances and throw the puck at the net on the pp. Some possible UFAs (unrestricted free agents) the Jackets could be interested in include Francois Beauchemin, Jaroslav Spacek, Jordan Leopold, Sergei Zubov, Johnny Oduya, or Mattias Ohlund.

Another concern heading into next season is the center position. With only Vermette and Brassard guaranteed back next year, the Jackets will most likely need to find a reliable centerman to run the 3rd or 4th line. The team will likely look to re-sign Malhotra but don’t be surprised to see them part ways with Peca and or Williams.

Also on the wish list is a scoring defenseman who can get pucks to the net and create opportunities from the point, especially on the pp.

Expect most of these areas to be addressed through UFAs but it is possible we could see some draft day trades again like we did last year in attempt to fill the holes.