| Nick Obergan. 20th April, 2011 - 11:17 am
 Columbus Blue Jackets’ GM Scott Howson was hired before the 2007-08 season, and next season could be his last season with the club. According to rumors from ESPN and Sporting News, ownership is livid with the team’s futility and “are demanding positive results (read: playoffs) in the next 12 months”.
Ownership has every right to be upset, as they have allowed Howson to spend near the cap (2010-11 figures showed salary spending of approximately $52M), but after four seasons at the helm Howson’s squads have only one playoff berth and an 0-4 postseason record from when they were swept by Detroit in 2009 " the franchise’s only playoff berth.
Just as troubling for ownership, if not more, are the team’s attendance figures. Depending on where you read, their home attendance was down approximately 11% (averaging 73-74% of capacity compared to 84.9% last season) from last season, a drop of around 2,000 seats per game. These paltry numbers rank them 28th in average attendance and 27th in percentage of capacity. So clearly fans are not happy with the product on the ice.
Nor should they be, as throughout Howson’s tenure there hasn’t been much success. One of the core problems has been finding offensive help for team captain Rick Nash. Columbus finished 24th in the league averaging 2.56 goals per game (while giving up 3.05), while their 14% success rate on the power play was second-last.
It looked like Nash had some help last season with the emergence of Antoine Vermette, but he dropped from 27 goals and 65 points to 19 and 47 respectively this year. Columbus as a whole has used eight of their eleven first round draft picks on forwards, but have gotten little out of any but Nash.
Jakub Voracek was Howson’s first pick at 7th overall in 2007 but after improving to 50 points as a sophomore he ended up with 46 this season. Derick Brassard was taken 6th in 2006 but only has 110 points in 201 games after setting a career high with 47 this year. Nikita Filatov was taken 6th in 2008 but has clashed with coaching, and only has 13 points in 44 career games and was demoted to the AHL this year. Last year’s 4th overall pick Ryan Johansen easily looks like the best of the bunch after a stellar World Junior tournament, but it’s too soon to tell.
So first rounds don’t look good on Howson’s resume, but are later round steals his specialty? Well Matt Calvert (5th round 2008) has the look of a keeper after posting 11-9-20 in half of a season, but that amounts to all of the success he has had in later rounds.
Whether the lack of franchise success, the poor team, or who knows what, Howson hasn’t been able to attract any top talent via the free agent market either. You would be hard pressed to find any second-tier free agent talent that he has attracted as a matter of fact except for Kristian Huselius who has two 20-goal seasons since signing a 4-year $19M contract in 2008. And it can’t be forgotten how badly he swung and missed on Mike Commodore, who was inked to a 5-year $18.75M deal because he could hit and had interesting hair. He was sent to the AHL last year and there is talk of a buy-out in the works.
Howson has fared better in his trades, though. The aforementioned Vermette was acquired from Ottawa for Pascal Leclaire, who has barely played since because of a conveyor belt full of injuries. He traded with Philadelphia in the 2008 offseason for R.J. Umberger, and that has worked out rather nicely for them. Howson also made a decent deal this season by acquiring Scottie Upshall and Sami Lepisto for Rostislav Klesla.
But clearly all of his moves, or attempted moves, have been complementary deals. Howson needs to start trying to hit home runs if he wants his team to contend in the ridiculously competitive Western Conference. The Jackets have many holes to fill, and many free agents to sign or let walk; but he also has around $23M in available cap room should he get the go-ahead to spend near the top. He should consider putting the team’s first round pick in play at the draft in order to land someone of significance through a trade; after all, his job is in jeopardy.
Nick is RealGM’s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan |
