The Columbus Blue Jackets wasted little time in replacing
winger Nikolai Zherdev, whom they deal t to the NY Rangers earlier today.
It was reported Wednesday evening the Jackets had signed
former Calgary Flames winger Kristian Huselius to a four-year contract worth
$4.75 million per season.
Jackets GM Scott Howson needed to bring in a more
experienced winger for his first line and Huselius certainly has that, posting
up 77 and 66 points respectively in the last two seasons.
While Huselius has scored more than the departed Zherdev
over the last two years he no less an enigma who seems to score more in the first
half of the season than in the second, disappears in the playoffs, doesn’t like
the rough going nor being leaned on by a demanding coach.
Huselius twice wilted under Mike Keenan’s iron hand in
Florida and Calgary and he won’t face any less pressure in the demanding Ken
Hitchcock.
Howson is also taking a heck of a risk committing $4.75
million per season to Huselius, considering he only made $1.4 million last
season, but in this summer’s wild spending on free agents that’s what it took
to get him to Columbus.
I knew he'd go...but $4.75!!!!!!!!!LOL Thats crazy, I will say he's talented, when he wants to play, but when is that???? If people are expecting him to flourish in Columbus, they might be in for a disapointment. He'll be playing with a superstar in Rick Nash, under a demanding head coach in Ken Hitchcock....sounds a lot like playing with Iggy under Iron Mike.....lets see what he does....
4.75... man i thought he was worth 3 mill a year. Especially how he folded at the end of last year. Hitchkock is going have to come to every practice and game with a bull whip.
Hopefully Huselius will overcome his baggage in Columbus...I think Hitch is slightly better than Keenan in working with headcases...we needed someone to replace Zherdev's scoring...unfortunately we may have replaced his enigmatic personality also..
Well I hope for that dollar amount on his head he comes to play hard EVERY GAME or the fans will eat him alive in C-town. We are tired of spending big money on these players who just "show up" and skate a little bit here and there like Jherdev did. Anyway...."WELCOME TO COLUMBUS HUSElIUS!!"
I hope for our sake he's worth the money and puts up #'s with Nash. Nasher's needed some help up there, and Zherdev (fancy feet as I called him) was always a joy to watch when he showed up, problem was that was hit or miss. Glad to have you on the team!
I'm confused about this move from a Columbus standpoint. It seems to me that the Jackets traded a younger, less expensive Zherdev for an older more expensive guy with the same reputation.
I'll admit, I don't follow Columbus hockey all that closely so maybe the relationship with Zherdev out there had soured to the point that he had to go. But from where I sit it seems to me that two of the three guys Columbus got (Backman and Huselius) are going to drive the fans out there completely nuts.
Chips: i've gotta agree with you 100%. And the price is nuts. This guy always folds in the 2nd half of the season and is unable to play a full season. It wasn't just this year that he folded in the 2nd half of the season, either.
When you look at the restricted free agents who're getting this money, they're either expected to get better. I'm thinking of other 4.75 million guys and what they have to offer and I don't understand how he got so much. Columbus must've given offers out to others, been denied and then I guess they got desperate. Why don't they chase Sundin? Him and Nash would be S-C-A-R-Y.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
