Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - To this point, the Minnesota Wild are clearly leading the race between the four clubs that make up the National Hockey League's latest wave of expansion.
The Columbus Blue Jackets would like to close the gap.
After seeing their 2000 expansion brother reel off an improbable run to the Western Conference finals this past spring, the Jackets have taken steps this summer to continue their transformation from doormat to prospective contender. Columbus, under the guidance of general manager/head coach Doug MacLean, has not gone out and broken the bank for marquee free agents like Sergei Fedorov or Paul Kariya. Instead the team has added complementary veterans that will contribute to any success it may have, while at the same time allowing high level draft choices like Rotislav Klesla and Rick Nash ample chance to develop.
The crown jewel of the club's summer, which began with the selection of Russian star Nikolai Zherdev at the draft, was this week's acquisition of two- time All-Star defenseman Darryl Sydor, who will inject several tangible and intangible dynamics into Columbus' roster. Sydor, a terrific two-way blueliner who has scored 82 goals in 863 NHL games, was a key cog in the Dallas Stars' reign among the NHL's elite in the late '90s and will give the team a proven winner to show the kids how it's done.
"Darryl Sydor is a perfect fit for our hockey club and I am ecstatic that we were able to bring him to Columbus," said MacLean, who will enter his first full season behind the team's bench. "Not only is he an excellent puck mover and strong power play performer, but he is a winner having won a Memorial Cup championship in juniors and a Stanley Cup with the Stars.
"I've pursued Darryl for some time and I'm thrilled that he is a Blue Jacket."
Sydor is the third veteran defenseman the Blue Jackets have added the past two years, as last summer marked the arrival of both Luke Richardson and Scott Lachance. However, MacLean has to pray that Sydor will make more of a splash than that duo. Richardson was merely OK in providing a physical presence on the backline, but didn't carry over the success he enjoyed in his last couple of years in Philadelphia. Lachance was a huge disappointment after being counted on to help bring along Klesla, the fourth overall pick in the 2000 Entry Draft.
Perhaps Sydor's arrival will help both Richardson and Lachance bounce back, as he will in all probability serve as the corps' anchor, scooping up ice time in all situations. This will allow Richardson, Lachance and Jaroslav Spacek, who led the team in TOI a season ago, to revert down the depth chart into more suitable roles. In addition, Sydor's pedigree as an all-around defenseman can only help the development of Klesla, who has yet to really break out in three NHL seasons.
Improved play in the defensive zone will be crucial in the Blue Jackets taking steps toward playoff contention, as the team allowed a whopping 263 goals in 2002-03 -- the second-worst mark in the league behind the Atlanta Thrashers. The team did sport a respectable offensive attack that tallied 213 times, which was more than three playoff teams -- Philadelphia, Anaheim and Minnesota -- could muster. Of course, those three clubs were able to compensate for their inept scoring because they are among the best in the league in playing stifling defense.
Another addition that should boost the Jackets' defensive play, and their ability to protect overworked goaltender Marc Denis, was the signing of free agent forward Todd Marchant, one of the fastest players in the NHL. Marchant, traditionally a checking centerman, is coming off a season in which he posted a career high 20 goals and 40 assists. He inked a six-year, $19 million deal in early July -- one of the richer pacts of this pre-Armagheddon summer in the NHL.
"Todd gives us a speedy center who proved last year what kind of production he can provide when given the opportunity to play on one of the top two lines," MacLean said upon the signing.
Role player Trevor Letowski was signed away from Vancouver the same day as Marchant, and veteran goaltender Fred Brathwaite was added to provide a stable backup for Denis, who appeared in 77 games this past season and was exhausted come April.
And just as important as the above additions were the re-signings of forwards Andrew Cassels and Geoff Sanderson, who re-ignited the spark they had in Hartford early in their careers with a combined 54 goals and 81 assists in 2002-03. Because of a logjam on the left wing depth chart, leading scorer Ray Whitney was allowed to leave, and Mike Sillinger was traded in the Sydor deal to make room for Marchant. Whitney's departure allows sophomore Nash, the top overall pick in 2002, to move to one of the top two lines and continue his progression into a top level power forward.
Nash, expected to play alongside Marchant, scored 17 goals with 22 assists and finished third in Calder Trophy voting behind St. Louis' Barret Jackman and Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg. Increased ice time and a year's worth of NHL rigors under his belt should help him grow even more in 2003-04, and there's a chance he could be joined by Zherdev, whose skill level is believed to be slightly below that of budding Atlanta superstar, and countryman, Ilya Kovalchuk.
In all, the bottom line is that the Columbus Blue Jackets are taking proactive steps in the right direction, unlike fellow expansioners Atlanta and Nashville, who have both been caught in ruts. The Thrashers have two legit superstars on their roster but not much else, while the Predators have decided they're going to rebuild their defense. Don't you have to first have a defense before it can be rebuilt?
With the moves the higher-ups out West, namely Colorado and Detroit, have made this summer, the Jackets are unlikely to pull a Wild and make the conference finals, but a playoff berth isn't as far fetched. Keep in mind, though, this is a club that finished with a Western Conference-worst 69 points, meaning roughly a 21-point improvement would be needed to qualify for the postseason.
Whether or not that spike in the standings can be achieved remains to be seen, but any way you look at it you can't argue with the way MacLean and Co. are operating -- i.e. crashing and burning with the young players who are supposed to motor an expansion franchise.
In other words, If Nash turns out to be the bruising, high-scoring power forward he's supposed to, the team's brass will look like geniuses. But if he becomes the next David Legwand, Nashville's former high draft pick who offers flashes of brilliance but little else, the franchise's growth will be stunted significantly.
After seeing Nash's rookie year, that appears like a gamble worth taking.
