Post by jcoldwell on Apr 27, 2010 18:12:58 GMT -5
Columbus Dispatch:
As reported early last night, the Columbus Blue Jackets have made a major trade involving four players and a draft pick.
The source that was close to the management team in Columbus went on record last night to say that a deal was imminent. As it stands today, both Jakub Voracek and Nikita Filitov along with Columbus' first round pick in this years entry draft have been traded to the Dallas Stars in exchange for play-making center Brad Richards and young forward Jamie Benn.
We caught up to GM jcoldwell this morning and this was his comment on the trade.
"The owners of this franchise brought me in to do one thing and that was to make this club better. I looked at the roster and decided that we needed a number one center to play with Rick Nash, and I set out to find that player.
Bringing in Brad Richards and Jamie Benn, it will give us two players to line up along side Nash and with Richards play-making ability and Benn's tenacious forecheck, this could be a great line next season."
With this trade being finalized late last night it is believed that Rick Nash will be staying in Columbus.
As for giving up two very young players in Voracek and Filitov, there is much talk about gm jcoldwell depleting the club of young talented players.
"Giving up both Nikita and Jakub was something that we knew we had to do to land the center that the club coveted. It was a huge price to pay, but when you get a center such as Richards and another young forward in Jamie Benn, it takes the sting away.
We feel that with bringing in Benn and losing Voracek the team won't see any difference in points, but we also get bigger in the process. As for Filitov's future, we as a franchise, feel that it is best to part ways now as we don't see Filitov coming back to North America and he would be a wasted contract for the club." GM jcoldwell
The next step for the club is to start negotiating with their restricted free agents.
Davis Michael Breier
As reported early last night, the Columbus Blue Jackets have made a major trade involving four players and a draft pick.
The source that was close to the management team in Columbus went on record last night to say that a deal was imminent. As it stands today, both Jakub Voracek and Nikita Filitov along with Columbus' first round pick in this years entry draft have been traded to the Dallas Stars in exchange for play-making center Brad Richards and young forward Jamie Benn.
We caught up to GM jcoldwell this morning and this was his comment on the trade.
"The owners of this franchise brought me in to do one thing and that was to make this club better. I looked at the roster and decided that we needed a number one center to play with Rick Nash, and I set out to find that player.
Bringing in Brad Richards and Jamie Benn, it will give us two players to line up along side Nash and with Richards play-making ability and Benn's tenacious forecheck, this could be a great line next season."
With this trade being finalized late last night it is believed that Rick Nash will be staying in Columbus.
As for giving up two very young players in Voracek and Filitov, there is much talk about gm jcoldwell depleting the club of young talented players.
"Giving up both Nikita and Jakub was something that we knew we had to do to land the center that the club coveted. It was a huge price to pay, but when you get a center such as Richards and another young forward in Jamie Benn, it takes the sting away.
We feel that with bringing in Benn and losing Voracek the team won't see any difference in points, but we also get bigger in the process. As for Filitov's future, we as a franchise, feel that it is best to part ways now as we don't see Filitov coming back to North America and he would be a wasted contract for the club." GM jcoldwell
The next step for the club is to start negotiating with their restricted free agents.
Davis Michael Breier