Back in September when the story first broke that Bob might just play out this year and leave our fair city, I suggested that were I GM I would offer Bob around $9M X four years or $8M X five years.

I now feel like I was aiming a too little high, but LOL, I expect you are right Dan, there will be one GM out there somewhere that will top that bid.

Key sentence in this post: "It's worth noting that Bobrovsky and Weekes share the same agent, Paul Theofanous." That said, I'm beginning to wonder if Bob's goal is to get to a team that doesn't play with the "safe is death" defense.

That said, if Bob can't turn it around, does anybody here think he is worth his current price tag (let alone a hefty, long term raise)?

Vancouver goalie played out of his mind all night and was clearly the #1 star of the game. I had a sinking feeling through the first two periods when he stopped good chance after good chance that we were going to regret not cashing in on those opportunities.

It might be time to re-think the "safe is death" syle of play.

That is good leadership...don't let the boys get too down on themselves after a bad game filled with a few bad bounces. On the flip side I'm sure many of the readers here will remember several occasions when in the middle of a hot streak Torts worked to keep them from getting too full of themselves by pointing out all the [legit] areas where there was room for improvement. 

“It’s Duke and Oliver,” Tortorella said. “I have to make a decision. They’re going to have to battle it out as far as who plays.”

Would one of the knowledgeable fans that frequent 1st Ohio Battery please explain to me why the choice regarding who plays isn’t two out of Duke, Oliver and  Sedlack? Heck, I know he has had his ups and downs, but I believe Sonny should be in this mix as well.

Agreed. The news you shared is a bit ironic given that I think the CBJ have done more deals with the Flyers than any other franchise. 

This respect has been earned and has been a long time coming. I believe the rest of the league realized the CBJ created a good leadership team long before the average central Ohio sports fan. That is understandable given how long it has taken to clean up the mess Doug MacClain created.

Unfortunately, at this point trade value is pretty low. Oliver has not proven that he can score consistently at the NHL level. I hope he is not a "tweener" (too good for the AHL but not consistently good enough for the NHL) but I don't think the other 30 NHL GMs are going to trade much for "potential." 

I am not the least bit worried. For whatever reason, big-time goal scorers tend to be a streaky lot and when they get hot, goals seem to come in bunches. Bread is contributing in other ways and hopefully he will get hot when Cam begins to cool off.

Our defense did Korpi no favors last night, but I have seen nothing yet that would lead me to believe that he is ready for #1 goaltending responsibility in the NHL. If Bob is indeed gone next year, CBJ fans had better hope one of the draft picks currently playing in Europe is ready for the NHL.

It was a great team win against Toronto last night. Even though the Maple Leafs controled play for long stretches of the game, the CBJ kept working hard, did all the little things right and took advantage of the opportunities when they came. It's great to see the contributions from the second line. (Now the coaching staff just needs figure out how to get more out of the third and fourth lines.)

A couple of observations: (1) during those two consecutive penalties with less than 5 min to go in the second period (one on each team), LOL, the Blue Jackets looked WAY more dangerous when they were short handed than when they were on the PP! It wasn't just Cam's SH goal, but the Blue Jackets were buzzing around the Toronto net for nearly 1/3 of the PK. (2) After the disappointing performance Monday, it was interesting to see Torts give the 4th line get some crucial minutes, including on the PK. 

On to Pittsburgh: I'm glad to see Korpi get another chance to prove he can be a solid contributor...I hope he can rise to the occasion.

Byouts are a possibility. The fact we're not talking about is that we have nearly $11.4M (14.2% of cap space) tied up in #17 & 71 for two more years (after this season). And according to CapFriendly Mr. Mac is still paying out $4.5M in buyout checks this year and $2.4M next year for Fedor Tyutin and Scott Hartnell. (As a small market team, I'm sure there is a budget limit for players that are no longer playing.) 

All of which is why as a fan I am still cautious about the team overpaying on long term contracts. 

I hear you SmithWesson and I agree that Panarin is the most dynamic player we have ever had here in Columbus so we all hope we can keep him. BUT, consider this: According to CapGeek, the CBJ have $6.8M left to spend under the salary cap. If we give Artemi his $5M raise, that leaves $1.8M under the cap. Unfortunately, UFA Bobrovsky is also due a contract this summer as are RFA Werensk and Ryan Murray. Next summer, two pretty important players, PLD and Anderson, (both RFAs) are also due contracts. And none of that includes trying to keep a dynamic young player like Duclair.

If we go all out to keep our two stars (Bobbrovsky & Panarin) in town, which two (or maybe even three) of the other five does Jarmo move out because the franchise can't afford to keep them under the cap?  

Thes film sessions are very helpful, Dan; thank you for adding them this year.

FWIW my first instinct would have been the same as yours: I would have prioritized covering one of the most dangerous scorers in the NHL that is skating down the slot, ten feet in front of the net over a defenseman forty - plus feet away.

Second when I watched this last night in real time and when I watched the clip above, I'm not sure why Savard doesn't get a mention on this goal. He looks like he is stuck in no-mans land: his first move off the face off was to the top of the circle, so he was too far out from in front of the net to protect his goalie from a tip in and yet wasn't in a strong position to cover Tavaras either. 

PS: It all looks so obvious when you can watch it the next day in slow motion! :-)  

Well, maybe at least it gives us a shot. At least that is what some more neutral hockey websites like TSN and others are reporting. As noted, it will still be expensive however and we have a number of younger players (PLD, Z, Anderson) that will be coming up for a raise soon. Difficult slaray cap decisions will have to be made. The reason Jarmo gets the big bucks and I am just a worker bee is that I'm not sure we can tie up $19 AVV in Bob and Bread for the next five years or more. I realize Chicago has won three Stanley Cups (after a 52 year drought) with a "pay the big stars big bucks" strategy but they will be in salary cap hell for another half decade. It is very similar to the issue the Toronto GM is facing right now with Nylander.

For the biggest part of the game, the CBJ outplayed the Maple Leafs and that was reflected in the game statistics. You are correct that the good guys played better in the first period, but I didn’t see any fall off in the compete level. In fact the CBJ had more shots and several good scoring chances in both the second and third periods. They just ran into a hot goaltender that shut them down – this time.

If there was an issue, it’s just that Toronto was the deeper team. Hence, our fourth line was on the ice in situations where maybe they shouldn’t have been (& a little longer than they should have been) and it led to two golden opportunities. The CBJ big guns were banging away and playing aggressively right up until the end. I just didn’t see the fragility you saw; I just saw a good team that had a couple of defensive breakdowns at the bottom of the lineup and the Leafs were good enough (and lucky enough) to bury them.

Toronto’s goalie did to us last night what Bob has done to our opponent dozens of times over the last few years. The CBJ played well, outside of a couple of breakdowns that cost them. Of course I wish the team would have been rewarded for a good effort with a point or two in the standings, but I’m less concerned about last night’s loss than I was after a couple of the losses we took earlier in the year to teams like Carolina and LA. 

On one level Panarin for Nylander makes sense. While some of Toronto's big stars are still on ELCs they could afford to get Panarin as a rental and load up for a run at the Stanley Cup this year and unload a player that evidently doesn't want to be there.

Unfortunately there are two problems with that strategy: (1) From what I have read, Nylander won't take a bridge contract. He believes he is worth a long term contract with an $8M AAV. I don't think he's earned that yet and I doubt that Jarmo would want to take on Toronto's malcontent. (2) The Maple Leafs need is not scoring: they really need to trade for a top four defenseman and there are a couple of other teams (Hurricanes, Kings, Ducks) that appear more ready to trade those assets than I would be.

The next contract for Josh will be a big one...and deservedly so. He has become an integral part of our team

The upcoming home and home series against the Maple Leafs will be a good measuring stick for where the CBJ truly are. It sounds like Matthews will be back for one of both of those games.

Those are know as the "bad old days." He was just playing to get out of town. Other than Rick Nash, the CBJ of old didn't have many other scoring options. 

That's a good observation; I was thinking about the same thing after the game last night. 

1. I totally agree with your comment regarding Panarin staying away from sick kids with compromised immune systems. We shouldn't read too much into that

2. However, do not underestimate the Panthers. They have a number of high quality young players and can be a very dangerous team. After a horrible start they are now on a hot streak, having won five in a row. I suspect the CBJ will have their hands full tonight.

The other part of the post which is more worrisome is the Ryan Murray situation. He has had such a difficult time staying healthy that, fair or not, ANY vague news about missing practice makes me fear the worst.

Don't forget the part where Josh almost shoved Benn over the boards on to his own bench! :-)