Mike Munden / Dispatch The Blue Jackets' brain trust at draft weekend included, seated, from upper left, Chris MacFarland, Paul Castron, Bob Strumm, assistant general manager Jim Clark, director of amateur scouting Don Boyd, president/general manager Doug MacLean, MacLean's 12-year-old son Clark, Sam McMaster and Bill Davidge.

Blue Jackets draft coverage Blue Jackets scouts get crash course Lindros drawing lots of interest Clarke gives Leafs, Kings, Rangers OK to woo center Waiting pays off for Blue Jackets Columbus draft picks How about a Harvard man, eh?

Columbus must decide which players to hold on to

Monday, June 26, 2000

Michael Arace
Dispatch Sports Reporter

CALGARY, Alberta -- The Columbus Blue Jackets arrived at the NHL draft weekend with 16 players already in the fold. They're coming home with 53 players, the makings for an NHL team and a farm system.

"I'm leaving here feeling the staff has done as good a job as we could have done, and that's a great feeling,'' president/general manager Doug MacLean said. "It was as intense a time as I've ever had. I feel we did the job. I also never want to go through anything like this again.''

Now a different process is under way.

The Blue Jackets have until Saturday to sign their unrestricted free agents and make qualifying offers to restricted free agents they want to keep.

They have until July 15 to decide what to do with some of their European pros -- sign them and bring them to training camp or leave them over there until they're needed or ready.

After a weekend of long addition, the math is being checked. And, at first check, the magic number is 15. That's the number of players the Blue Jackets have who are most likely to be on the roster when the team plays its first game.

Those 15 "keepers'' are:

Goaltenders

The keeper is Marc Denis. A possibility is Rick Tabaracci.

Denis, who turns 23 in August, was acquired in a trade with Colorado earlier this month. Denis is the potential franchise cornerstone. Tabaracci, taken from the Avalanche in the expansion draft as a condition of the Denis trade, is entering the option year of his contract. The Blue Jackets can pick up the option and keep Tabaracci. Or they can grant him his unrestricted free agency.

There's a good chance Tabaracci will be unrestricted. There's an even better chance Dwayne Roloson will be unrestricted. Roloson was taken from the Buffalo Sabres in the expansion draft and probably won't be extended a qualifying offer.

Fredric Chabot, acquired from Montreal in the expansion draft, and Greg Gardner, signed as a college free agent, are ticketed for Syracuse.

Defensemen

The five keepers are Jamie Pushor, Bert Robertsson, Mattias Timander, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre and Frank Kucera. All were acquired in the expansion draft except Kucera, a free agent from the Czech Republic.

Lyle Odelein, a hard-hitting and highly respected defenseman gleaned from the expansion draft, is bound for unrestricted free agency unless the Blue Jackets can sign him. MacLean will make a big push to keep Odelein.

"I'm the only one that can talk to him until July 1,'' MacLean said. "I'm interested in getting something done.''

Rostislav Klesla, the Blue Jackets' first pick (No. 4 overall) in the amateur draft, will be given the opportunity to make the team in training camp.

Finland's Petteri Nummelin, the Blue Jackets' fifth-round pick (133rd overall), will also be given a chance to make the team in camp.

There won't be a desperate push to keep another potential unrestricted, Mathieu Schneider, an expansion-draft acquisition from the New York Rangers. Schneider's asking price will start at close to $3 million. It's too rich.

Deron Quint, acquired from New Jersey for future considerations yesterday, may or may not be extended a qualifying offer.

Jonas Andersson-Junkka will likely be left in Europe for seasoning. The same fate may await Tommi Rajamaki. There is trade action on Radim Bicanek. Dan Watson is ticketed for Syracuse.

Forwards

The nine keepers are expansion draftees Kevyn Adams, Tyler Wright, Steve Heinze, Robert Kron, Bruce Gardiner and Geoff Sanderson; European free-agent signees Espen Knutsen and David Vyborny, and Krzyzstof Oliwa, recently acquired in trade from New Jersey.

Sanderson, Heinze and Oliwa need to be qualified and they'll get the offers.

There will be a huge effort to convince Kevin Dineen, plucked from Ottawa in the expansion draft, to matriculate in Columbus. Dineen is entering an option year. The Blue Jackets will show the veteran the utmost respect and let him decide whether he wants to be a Blue Jacket or an unrestricted free agent.

"It'll be a family decision,'' said Dineen's agent, Steve Bartlett. "But I think Kevin views this as a good opportunity. I think there's a decent chance he'll come to Columbus.''

There will also be an effort to sign Dallas Drake, obtained from the Phoenix Coyotes in the expansion draft. It's unlikely Drake will pass up unrestricted status, however.

Among the expansion picks who stand a lesser chance of landing in Columbus are Ted Drury (he'll be in camp) and Jeff Williams (Syracuse, perhaps), Sergei Luchinkin (will be left in Europe), Martin Streit (Europe) and Dmitri Subbotin (Europe).

Jan Caloun, acquired in a trade, might stay in Europe. He might be signed and brought to camp. He might be traded.

Then, there is a pack of kids -- draft choices and free-agent signees -- who will have the opportunity to fight for a roster spot. Among these are Martin Spanhel, Chris Nielsen, Blake Bellefeuille, Mathieu Darche, Brad Moran, Jeremy Reich, Jonathan Schill and Matt Davidson. Veteran Reggie Savage will be in there fighting with them.

That's 15 keepers and a pack of possibilities. The opening night roster will include 23 players. Twenty will dress.

Obviously, there's more work to do. More trades are coming -- albeit not in a flurry. Finding a goaltender on the free-agent market will be a priority. MacLean figures he has close to $12 million spent already. He has a few qualifying offers to make and a couple of unrestricteds he'd like to sign. He'll be playing with something in the range of $5 million to $7 million when the free-agent derby begins in July.