Blue Jackets trade for Sergei Federov

[WVRed]

Dont really follow the NHL much, but isnt Federov a big name?

COLUMBUS, Ohio (CP) - The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired centre Sergei Fedorov from the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on Tuesday in the first significant trade of the NHL season.

The Blue Jackets, struggling badly without injured star Rick Nash, also get a fifth-round draft in the deal while sending forward Tyler Wright and defenceman Francois Beauchemin to Anaheim, which was looking to clear some salary-cap space.

Columbus takes on some extra $4.5 million US in salary in the deal.

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"Sergei Fedorov is one of the league's most gifted players and a proven winner who will bring tremendous experience, speed and playmaking abilities to our lineup," Blue Jackets general manager Doug MacLean said in a release. "We are thrilled to have him as a member of the Blue Jackets organization and he, very much like Adam Foote, will be a great mentor for the young players we have in Rick Nash, Dan Fritsche, Gilbert Brule and Nikolai Zherdev."

Fedorov, who turns 36 in December, will make $6.08 million this season.

Wright, 32, will earn $947,133 while the 25-year-old Beauchemin will make $500,000.

Ducks general manager Brian Burke told The Canadian Press that he planned to use the extra cap space he cleared in the deal to make other moves down the line.

"We like Sergei and it's too bad we have to lose a player of his stature," he said. "But this solves our financial problems and we're looking to reinvest that money."

Fedorov, due back from a groin injury after missing 13 games, should give Columbus an offensive lift while Nash recovers from a sprained knee.

Nash tied for first in the NHL with 41 goals in the 2003-04 season and is expected to miss at least another three weeks.

Fedorov has one assist in five games this season.

Wright has four assists in 18 games while Beauchemin has two assists in 11 games and is a minus-6.

[westofyou]

Dont really follow the NHL much, but isnt Federov a big name?

Big name, big contract, big groin pull. He hasn't played much this year and the Ducks are getting good game from Teemu, but at 36 a guy like him needs his legs, without his legs he's toast.

[Heath]

Sergei Federov a Blue Jacket is akin to situation, say in the 1930's the Reds trading for Babe Ruth.

[WMR]

Wow, can't believe Fedorov is 36; seemed like he was young just yesterday and signing that mega-deal

[Unassisted]

Columbus had only had hockey two seasons before the lockout. I haven't seen any attendance figures, nor do I follow the team closely. My first reaction is that taking on $4.5M in salary strikes me as a big splash designed to get Columbus people to remember they have a team in hopes they'll get excited enough to start going to games again.

[OldRightHander]

Fedorov isn't the player he used to be. It's like the Reds' tendency to bring in a "crafty vet" when he's past his prime. Watching the game last night (Blues losing streak over!) it appeared that he has lost a step but showed occasional flashes of his former self.

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by OldRightHander

Fedorov isn't the player he used to be. It's like the Reds' tendency to bring in a "crafty vet" when he's past his prime. Watching the game last night (Blues losing streak over!) it appeared that he has lost a step but showed occasional flashes of his former self.

He has a pulled groin, thus he's going to look that way for awhile, the problem with expecting magic from a guy that isn't a playmaker or a scorecer like as much as he used to be. But he's a fabulous 2 way player and that's a great skill, problem is the Blue Jackets have zero offense aside from Nash, with him off they'll be keying on Fedorov... a forecheck can make the guys with bad legs look real slow.

[wheels]

Originally Posted by Unassisted

Columbus had only had hockey two seasons before the lockout. I haven't seen any attendance figures, nor do I follow the team closely. My first reaction is that taking on $4.5M in salary strikes me as a big splash designed to get Columbus people to remember they have a team in hopes they'll get excited enough to start going to games again.

They sell out almost every night.

The lockout hurt a bit this season, so, instead of 18,154, they bring in about 17,000 per game.

Attendance, and fan interest is not the problem in Columbus, I assure you.

That arena is magnificent, and the area surrounding it can be fun if you're into giant meat markets that sell beer with the name "brau" or some other thing you can't pronounce.

People are still very geeked up about having a real professional team around here. We all kinda giggle about how bad the Jackets are, but we all love going to games anyway.

[smith288]

I havent attended one game yet and I even used to work for Nationwide.

[westofyou]

What are the ticket prices like?

Pre vs. Post Strike.

[Red Leader]

I would go to a ton of games, maybe even get season tickets, if the individual game tickets weren't so expensive. I can't believe the price of NFL and NHL game tickets. I understand (a little) the price of NFL tickets since there aren't many home games in a season, but the NHL? If they want to generate more fan interest, they've got to make ticket prices more affordable, IMO.

[Red Leader]

Originally Posted by westofyou

What are the ticket prices like?

Pre vs. Post Strike.

We had an email sent to our company from the Blue Jackets for special "company night" offers. Lower arena tickets were $45, upper arena were $38. Drop that down to $30 for lower, and $22-25 for upper and I'd be there. $45 each is just too much for a family of 4.

[wheels]

They have ten dollar ticket nights.

They're in the upper bowl, but there aren't really any bad seats.

Before the strike, I think upper bowl seats were sixteen bucks or higher depending on the section.

I used to date a girl that was a huge hockey fan, and I'd get us lower bowl seats for 54 bucks or something like that. I don't know what they cost this year because I've had to work every single time they've played at home.