The Columbus Blue Jackets made no secret heading into the 2008 NHL Entry Draft they were in the market for depth at center and were willing to peddle one of their two first round picks to land a scoring center.

During the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft they managed to land one, shipping the 19th overall pick and the 67th overall pick to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for center R.J. Umberger and the 119th pick overall.

The Flyers would’ve preferred to re-sign Umberger, who in his third NHL season had a breakout performance with 50 points in the regular season and 10 goals in 17 playoff games, but with the club either re-signing, or on the verge of re-signing, center Jeff Carter to a multi-year deal and needing to bolster their blueline they had no choice but to cut him loose.

Umberger should be a strong acquisition for the Blue Jackets, who desperately needed a scoring center for Rick Nash’s line. It's possible the Jackets could try to bring in a better center than the 26-year-old Umberger but if so he could at the very least provide depth to their second line scoring.

He’s also a restricted free agent but given the Blue Jackets $20 million in cap space it shouldn’t take too long to get him under contract.

With the Jackets also selecting Russian winger Nikita Filatov sixth overall in the draft the Blue Jackets have made significant strides in bolstering their scoring depth both now and in the future.