After being scratched for a handful of the recent Blue Jackets games, Mike Commodore has requested a trade from the team. Both laughable and not surprising, efforts are being made by General Manager Scott Howson to accomodate the request and shore up the defensive woes of the Jackets.
Rather than bore you with the standardized blurbs about why he wanted to be traded and what the team reaction was, I'm simply going to voice my opinion on it. Commodore has been a horrible burden on the Jackets over the last two seasons, both on the cap, and on the ice. In his career, he has shown an incredibly ability to play excellent at times, and absolutely horrendous at times.
When he signed in Columbus, I was in large part one of the bigger naysayers about both the contract, and his on ice abilities. I ate a lot of my words the first year he was in town, as the team found great success pairing him with Hejda as the top shutdown line. Forward to year two, and finally my frustrations and disdain for him showed in full colour, as he was unable to stay physical fit and deemed himself a scratch due to the rigors and physical demands of the game. 3.75 MILLION dollars on a healthy scratch, it was hard to imagine he would ever return to form.
Enter summer of 2010, and we (as Jackets fans) had the opportunity to enjoy his personality on twitter, an experience I embraced with open arms, even offering him my support on regaining his first year form. I can honestly say that even when on the ice this year (outside of his injury) he played mediocre at best, proving to once again be one of the more frustrating players to watch. And yet some still feel sympathy for him. I happily open the comments section of this post to those of you who feel he never got a fair shot at becoming a top tier defensemen on this team.
It will be interesting to see if Howson can piece together a trade rather than simply waiving Commodore. At his current salary, with his minimal upside, it is hard for me to imagine that another NHL club will be willing to swallow his contract without taking on a top tier prospect, which is something I am personally not comfortable in seeing happen. This team has spent years building from the ground up, and I would hate for that concept to be thrown out the door just for some short term potential success.
Moving on, the other issue I was faced with yesterday was Wilson being placed on waivers. He has been a reasonable bright spot on the back end of this team, and deserves a fair shot at retaining a roster spot with the big club. I find it incredibly strange that he was waived over MacKenzie, who is both older, and in my opinion, less suited for NHL play. I can't help but wonder if MacKenzie's injury caused the brass to think to themselves that he really hasn't proven himself and are giving him the opportunity to do so.
In any case, I am going to try and stay positive today and see what comes of it (if anything). Howson has not made a hasty trade since becoming GM, and I seriously doubt a guy like Commodore flexing his complaint muscle will change that. My bigger concern right now remains with the team not being able to play a full sixty minutes.
Carry the Flag.
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