Local boy Fritsche and Blue Jackets come to terms.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Amidst the hullabaloo around Zherdev and the recent acquisition of Anson Carter as a stop plug for any hemorrhaging the Blue Jackets might face without Nick, the Jackets and Doug MacLean have finally hammered out a two-year deal with Dan Fritsche, who was the other notable Jacket without a deal and holding out.
It looks like there was middle ground between the two camps, when you consider the specifics of the deal. The first year of the deal, Fritsche is given $475K if he sticks with the Jackets, or a consolation $60K if he is assigned to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL (so a two-way deal). At the moment specifics aren't really out there yet, so I'm not sure how that works. I'm going on the assumption here that it'll all depend on just how much he plays for either the Jackets or the Crunch, since "if he's assigned" is very ambiguous.
Regardless of what happens the first year, the second year of the deal is what Fritsche's camp had been looking for: a one-way deal. At $750K, Fritsche won't have to worry about being sent down to Syracuse.
All in all, I get the feeling this was something that was done for the fans, what with Fritsche being an Ohio native. MacLean wasn't under any pressure to re-up Fritsche, and as much as I like the guy, he's currently not shown himself to be an important or key part of whether or not the Blue Jackets succeed this year or in the future.
As an aside, TSN is saying that regardless of this duo of signings yesterday, the Jackets are insisting this will not impede negotiations with Zherdev. Well, either way, at this point I think most people have resigned themselves to the notion that he'll be playing in Russia this season.
It looks like there was middle ground between the two camps, when you consider the specifics of the deal. The first year of the deal, Fritsche is given $475K if he sticks with the Jackets, or a consolation $60K if he is assigned to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL (so a two-way deal). At the moment specifics aren't really out there yet, so I'm not sure how that works. I'm going on the assumption here that it'll all depend on just how much he plays for either the Jackets or the Crunch, since "if he's assigned" is very ambiguous.
Regardless of what happens the first year, the second year of the deal is what Fritsche's camp had been looking for: a one-way deal. At $750K, Fritsche won't have to worry about being sent down to Syracuse.
All in all, I get the feeling this was something that was done for the fans, what with Fritsche being an Ohio native. MacLean wasn't under any pressure to re-up Fritsche, and as much as I like the guy, he's currently not shown himself to be an important or key part of whether or not the Blue Jackets succeed this year or in the future.
As an aside, TSN is saying that regardless of this duo of signings yesterday, the Jackets are insisting this will not impede negotiations with Zherdev. Well, either way, at this point I think most people have resigned themselves to the notion that he'll be playing in Russia this season.
I kind of agree with you that Dougie wasn't under any huge pressure to resign Danny, but I think the potential is there for this kid is to fill a slot on the third line as a grinder type with 10-15 goal capability.
While he's a marginal fourth liner at this point in his career, his style of play is something the club needs. With the loss in the last twelve months of Tyler Wright and Trevor Letowski, the CBJ need another energy guy (along with Malhotra and Chimera) to spark the team.
Here's the million dollar question: With the addition of Carter probably finishing up the roster moves for the preseason (with the outside possibility of a Zherdev miracle), do you see this team as having a shot at the post-season? On the flip side of that, do you think they would have had a chance with Zherdev?
Enough questions for the day. Have a good one.