Blue Jackets Draft Ryan Murray #2 Overall, No Rick Nash Trade

The NHL Draft began last night with the usual suspects owning the top picks. The Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders, and Columbus Blue Jackets have found themselves drafting in the top 5 too many times. They have whiffed on many picks over the last decade, with Columbus having the worst drafting record in the entire NHL.

Going into the draft, everybody knew that Columbus would be drafting a defenseman and a Rick Nash trade would be imminent. The CBJ drafted defenseman Ryan Murray, but has yet to pull the trigger on a Nash trade.

I will give you the lowdown on Ryan Murray and when/where will Rick Nash be traded.

Columbus drafted Ryan Murray, who played for the Everett Silvertips of the WHL, over a group of defensemen that includes Griffin Reinhart, Moran Reilly, and Hampus Lindholm.

Murray is only 18 years old,  but has great leadership skills. He played for Canada in the recent World Championships. A couple defensemen drafted after Murray have a better two-way game at this point, but the leadership ability is coveted by a team who will be searching for a leader once they trade Nash.

Here is a video of NHL Network's scouting analysis on Ryan Murray...

Nash could be traded this weekend, but you shouldn't hold your breath. Over the last two years, I think every team in the NHL has been rumored to be trading for him. The San Jose Sharks is the current rumored team to be close to trading for Nash. The package Columbus would receive in return would include center Joe Pavelski and other compensation to sweeten the deal. This trade would fill a need on the Blue Jackets, but I say that sarcastically because they have a need at every position.

In the long run, it is hard to see Columbus coming out as a winner in any trade that would include Nash. There is no doubt when he gets traded to a better team, insane numbers will fill up the box score next to his name. Nash has always looked great in Olympic competition and in every All-Star game he played.

No matter where Nash winds up, he will get a standing ovation when he returns to Columbus to play against his former team.

The only trade the Blue Jackets made last night was with the Philadelphia Flyers. They traded three draft picks for goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. They needed help at goalie since Steve Mason can be a basket case in the net. Mathieu Garon had success splitting time with Mason a few years ago and GM Scott Howson is hoping that competition will bring out the best in Mason.

Let's just hope this trade will turn out better than their trade with the Flyers last off-season. The 'Jakub Voracek + others for Jeff Carter' trade may go down as one of the worst trades this decade. Carter whined his way out of Columbus and the Blue Jackets traded him to the Los Angeles Kings for 20 cents on the dollar. Oh, by the way, the Kings won the Stanley Cup this year.

Blue Jackets Need To Improve Power Play

It is no surprise that the Columbus Blue Jackets are last in the Western Conference in power play percentage, they are near the bottom every year. Tonight they play in Vancouver against the Canucks who have one of the league's best power plays. They have scored on 25% of their chances and amassed 28 goals on the power play this season. The Blue Jackets have scored on 14 goals with the advantage, but only register a 11.7% rate. Something needs to improve if they plan on getting two points tonight in Vancouver.

The Vancouver Canucks (16-8-4) and the Columbus Blue Jackets (16-11-2) are two teams heading in opposite directions. The Blue Jackets have been reeling the last ten games (3-5-2) and the Canucks are moving up the Western Conference standings the last ten (6-3-1). Hendrik Sedin has been killing teams on the power play with half of his 16 goals on the season coming on advantage. Daniel Sedin has played well lately with 12 points in his last eight games. Their defense has been stopping shots from even getting to Roberto Luongo, so the Blue Jackets could have trouble getting shots on goal tonight. The Canucks were 3-1 against the Blue Jackets last season.


The good news for Columbus is that Kristian Huselius will be back on the ice tonight. He has been out and the Blue Jackets could use his leadership and offensive ability tonight. Rick Nash has been hot with 4 goals and 7 points in his last four games. They will need more than just him contributing tonight if they want to earn a win in regulation.

Mathieu Garon will face Roberto Luongo in the net tonight. Garon has not have much luck in Vancouver with 2-5 record and 3.68 GAA. Steve Mason has been worse with a 2-2 record and 4.64 GAA, so coach Scott Arniel might want to keep Garon out there.

The game starts at 10pm EST tonight and should be fun to watch. If the Blue Jackets can lasso the Sedin brothers and push the puck across the blue-line, they could stay in this contest. If Vancouver gets out to an early lead, Columbus will have trouble if the Canucks go into a defensive mode.

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Columbus Finally Has A Hockey Team!

I've lived in Columbus, Ohio for over two years and never went to a Blue Jackets game. There are a few reasons for this, but mostly it is because I didn't want to pay to watch the home team get trounced on a nightly basis. I'm a casual hockey fan and have been a free agent, but no team has really caught my eye. I'm originally from northern Indiana and there are no teams in the state and the Blackhawks have been bad for most of my life. I think I have finally found my team, the Columbus Blue Jackets.

I finally went to an NHL game last night, the Blue Jackets played the Dallas Stars. I had great tickets and saw the game from the 5th row. I never realized how tall most of the players are and the speed of the game. I have watched hundreds of games on television and I have found myself watching more the last few years, but my attention usually strays away after one period. I found myself in-tune to every play and didn't want to leave my seat. Dallas ended up winning the game in a blowout, 7-3, but really the Blue Jackets played a horrible first period and pulled the rookie goalie, Steve Mason, in the middle of the first period. They ended up putting even more of a rookie in the game to see what he can do, it wasn't too pretty.

The Blue Jackets are setting themselves up for a possible playoff spot. As of today, they are sitting in the 8th and final spot, but there are a few needs they need to address. They need a veteran goalie to backup Mason and to also provide a mentor for the young stud. Pascal Leclaire might be out for a long time and they need someone other than "Dubie," the young, young goalie, for backup purposes.

Another need would be a defenseman that has been in the playoffs before and can handle top-tier forwards. They never really filled the void that Adam Foote's depature left in the defense. Russell, a promising player, isn't much of a defenseman, he can skate like a forward and should probably be a "4th line" forward, not a 1st or 2nd line defenseman.

Lastly, they need to trade for Doug Weight. There have been rumors that they have been inching close to a deal for about a month, but no new news lately. Adding a few veterans at each position may be needed for them to even make the playoffs and not get swept.

The Blue Jackets are a fun, young team and could be peaking over the next few years. The state of Ohio have never had a winning team and I believe if they start winning, the crowds will come out and support the team. The game that I went to last night was a sellout, if not really close to one. Columbus has one of the best stadiums in the NHL and the city needs to see a winner before this town can become as nuts about the Jackets as it is about Buckeye football. If the Jackets miss the playoffs this year, I'm positive that next year they will improve even more and could possibly contend for a spot near the top. Filatov, Voracek, Mason, and Brassard will all have a year under the belt and will improve enough to help Rick Nash and the Blue Jackets to become a contender in the NHL. It's a bold statement, but if the Tampa Bay Rays can become a winner, why can't the Blue Jackets?