Depth on Defense

[Declan]

This is part of a series of articles look at each position of the Blue Jackets in depth. Go back to the main Blue Jackets forum for more articles & discussion on the Blue Jackets.

GM Scott Howson wants desperately to make a trade. Look at the previous three "Depth Perception" posts, especially the wingers. There's a traffic jam there that needs to be relieved. As you read this post, you'll see the glaring need for another defenseman, specifically one who can run a power play.

To be clear, the Blue Jackets have a very good six-pack of NHL defensemen. At issue is the similarity in their games. Of the top six, only Kris Russell has the potential to be an offensively dangerous player.

It makes the Blue Jackets a difficult team to play against. But it also keeps the Blue Jackets from having a significant margin for error. As long as the top six looks like this, they'll struggle to be among the NHL's elite scoring teams, despite having the potential at forward to score lots of goals.

Here's how The Dispatch sees the Blue Jackets' depth chart at defense:

1. Jan Hejda
2. Fedor Tyutin
3. Mike Commodore
4. Rostislav Klesla
5. Marc Methot
6. Kris Russell
7. Mathieu Roy
8. Jonathan Sigalet
9. Nick Holden
10. Grant Clitsome


Now a thumbnail look at each of them:

JAN HEJDA

Hejda was Howson's first big splash into the free agent market during the summer of 2007, only it didn't seem like a splash at the time. The Blue Jackets -- given their previous mis-management -- had bad contracts on the books, so Howson ventured meekly into free agency that summer.

In Hejda, he landed a gem. Not truly a No. 1 defenseman if you look around the top teams in the league, but Hejda, 31, is a very good player, probably one of the more underrated talents in the NHL. In two seasons in Columbus, Hejda has missed only one game. And his contract makes him all the more attractive.

He'll likely pair with Commodore on the Blue Jackets' No. 1 unit, giving coach Ken Hitchcock the shut-down combo he so desires.

Contract: $2M cap hit (signed through 2010-11)
Fantasy projection: 2-11-13, 44 PIMs

FEDOR TYUTIN

At the moment Rangers winger Nikolai Zherdev was awarded $3.9 million through arbitration earlier this month, Howson looked like the clear winner in last summer's trade that brought Tyutin to Columbus.

Yes, the Blue Jackets assumed Christian Backman and his $3.4 million contract during the 2008-09 season. But it was worth it, they figured, to upload a player of Tyutin's ilk, and to unload Zherdev and his pending arbitration rights.

Howson had pursued Tyutin, 26, back to his days as an assistant GM in Edmonton. He loves the well-rounded, fluid style of his game. The belief inside Nationwide is that Tyutin is still rounding into form as a puck moving defenseman, that he could be a good second-unit power play quarterback. With 9-25-34 last season, that might not be a reach.

Tyutin was solid at even strength last season, despite living like Jack Tripper in the 1970s -- he had a different partner every night. Klesla's injuries made for a revolving door next to Tyutin.

Contract: $2.844M cap hit (signed through 2011-12)
Fantasy projection: 10-26-36, 62 PIMs

MIKE COMMODORE

The Blue Jackets' dressing room stopped being library quiet the moment Commodore and his bright orange wig strolled through the doors.

He's not loud and brash, like a Jeremy Roenick or a Sean Avery. But Commodore, 29, speaks frankly and with a booming voice. The room desperately needed a boost in bravado. Commodore's "why not?" approach made a big difference in a room that was feeling lots of pressure to earn its first playoff berth.

It must be said that Commodore played well on the ice, too. That was a concern, you'll recall, after a brief but difficult run with Ottawa late in 2007-08 season. The Blue Jackets took lots of heat for Commodore's contract, but it's looking better by the day.

He'll likely pair with Hejda on the No. 1 unit, drawing lots of penalty kill minutes.

Contract: $3.75M cap hit (signed through 2012-13)
Fantasy projection: 6-18-24, 88 PIMs

ROSTISLAV KLESLA

After seven seasons, Klesla's NHL career has been defined mostly by his non-descript, indecisive play. He makes maddening turnovers, shows very little offensive upside and rarely reveals a pulse.

Then came the Stanley Cup playoffs. No other way to say it: Klesla was a beast in the post-season. As bad as the Blue Jackets looked in their four-game sweep vs. Detroit, Klesla, 27, has never looked better.

We still see him as a second-pair guy unless he bottled his playoff performance and pops the cork again in October. One thing to keep in mind: this is a contract year for Klesla, with free agency looming next summer. That can often be its own form of motivation.

Health is becoming a concern, too. Klesla played only 34 games last season because of injuries. In fact, Klesla has played 51 or fewer games because of injuries in three of his seven pro seasons.

Contract: $1.6M cap hit (UFA next summer)
Fantasy projection: 4-16-20, 77 PIMs

MARC METHOT

Methot's emergence last season probably doesn't get the proper credit. Injuries to Klesla helped keep Methot in the lineup for 66 games, but so did his play. He finished with 4-13-17 in his first real taste of the NHL.

This summer, Methot signed a two-year contract and avoided arbitration. He told The Dispatch that last season he "never felt entirely right," after missing valuable summer conditioning time because of mononucleosis during the summer of 2008. "There's no doubt I'm going to be a lot more ready, a lot better player (in 2009-10)," he said.

That would bode well for the Blue Jackets. Methot, 24, looks surprisingly agile and comfortable with the puck, especially in his own end. The 17 points is more than he put up in any of his junior seasons with the London Knights.

Contract: $1.012M (signed through 2010-11)
Fantasy projection: 7-15-22, 55 PIMs

KRIS RUSSELL

Russell, 22, is often compared to Brian Rafalski, a fellow diminutive, swift-skating defenseman. Key difference: Rafalski spent the first four seasons of his pro career in the wide-open ice of Europe. Russell has endured an NHL crash course, going straight to the NHL from junior hockey.

Say this about Little Shake -- he made noticeable improvement last season, his sophomore season. He doubled his points from 2-8-10 in 2007-08 to 2-19-21 in 2008-09. If that trajectory continues, Russell could surprise some folks in Nationwide Arena and around the NHL this season.

Russell is one of the best skaters in the league. A certain colleague bellows "Orr!" every time he skates the puck up the ice. That's a bit of a reach. But if Russell continues to focus on being dangerous with the puck, the numbers and the ice time will follow.

Contract: $744K (RFA next summer)
Fantasy projection: 4-29-33, 33 PIMs

MATHIEU ROY

Not long ago, Roy was considered a pretty good prospect in the Oilers' system. Howson knows his game well, so signing him as a depth defenseman makes sense.

Roy, 25, will be on the short list of call-ups this season. He's a thumper, willing to throw his body around and fight when the situation arises. He had 120 PIMs last season in the AHL, and will likely approach or surpass that this season with the Crunch.

He'll only taste the NHL if injuries mount.

Contract: NHL/AHL deal (RFA next summer)

JONATHAN SIGALET

Sigalet might be a tad high on this list. The organization probably has higher hopes for Holden than Sigalet, but Sigalet's offensive skill -- and the obvious dearth of it on the NHL roster -- makes him a likely call-up candidate.

He might have been called up to aide the Jackets' woeful power play last season, but injuries limited him to just 19 games for AHL Syracuse.

Sigalet is not highly regarded as a pure defenseman. He needs to bulk up his frame and shore up his game to get coach Ken Hitchcock in his corner. But he brings elements to the table that others on this list do not.

Contract: NHL/AHL deal (signed through 2010-11)

NICK HOLDEN

The Blue Jackets are extremely high on Holden. They consider him a sure-fire NHL player within the next two seasons. A sure sign of rubber-stamp approval: Dispatch reporter Tom Reed will focus on Holden in this year's "The Prospect" series starting in the fall.

Holden is a big, strong lad. He has the potential for offense, given the 22-38-60 he put up for Chilliwack (WHL) in 2007-08, his final junior season. Last season, his first as a pro, Holden was very good for AHL Syracuse.

He's a player to watch in training camp. If the Blue Jackets wish to keep a No. 7 defenseman for the first two road trips -- and if Howson doesn't swing a trade -- don't be surprised to see Holden in Columbus.

Contract: NHL/AHL deal (signed through 2010-11)

GRANT CLITSOME

Clitsome, 24, was a ninth-round pick (No. 271) in 2004. Five years later, he's seen as a player likely to reach the NHL in the next few seasons. After a four-year college career at Clarkson, he put together a pretty good rookie pro season for Syracuse in 2008-09.

Even with a very good training camp, he's likely to spend the entire season -- and possibly next -- with the Crunch.

Contract: NHL/AHL deal (RFA next summer)

Source: blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2009/08/depth_perception_defense.shtml