Nuggets

Russell at wing? According to Puck-rakers Hitch has him playing there in practice today with Picard and Malhotra. Who knows if this is permanent but IMO Russell has been one of the few non-problems on defense so this doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. If Hitch is looking to clear out some room how about scratching one of the top 4 defenders and sending them a wake up call.

Stay tuned.

After stopping 17 of 19 shots in relief of Freddy Norrena that Jackets have sent Dan LaCosta back down to the AHL. Of course that means that Pascal Leclaire is ready to go and should be the starter tomorrow night against Vancouver. He and the Jackets could certainly use a solid performance between the pipes.

..and please Pascal, use the blocker!

Thanks to a comment by Soultrain, we now know the blackout for tomorrow night's game will be lifted on Center Ice (and for all the games that won't be televised on FS Ohio). That is great news for those of us who can't make it down to the arena tomorrow.

The Jackets continue to struggle on the road (what else is new?) so the good news is that they'll play their next 8 of 11 at home. Its a chance to gather some momentum and re-group as a team which according to Puck-rakers started in earnest yesterday as the team met and reviewed tape.

So I don't know why I keep forgetting this story, but as just about everyone knows by now Michael Peca received a reduced "sentence" and will only be suspended 5 games. That will put him back on the ice Friday against the New York Rangers.

The Jackets could certainly use his defensive zone play.

Here is something interesting from NHL.com. This Saturday will see all 30 teams playing at once. According to the article as of around 9 p.m. EST 12 games will be going on at once. Pretty cool.

FTR the Jackets will be in Minnesota to battle the Wild on the 2nd night of a back to back on Saturday night starting at 8 p.m. EST.

Looks like Malarchuk is on ice for now as Puck-rakers has confirmed that the Jackets will add a interim goalie coach. My guess is that the new coach will be given some time and if he pans out then Malarchuk and his baggage are history. If the new coach is a dud then he may be given another chance.

The Jackets missed out on signing Devin DiDiomete as the Rangers apparently have pounced on him and signed him to a standard 3 year deal. Crunch blogger Lindsay Kramer has some interesting details around this one:

Talking to DiDiomete at the end of the prospects camp and before the Syracuse preseason opened, he was raring to come to the Crunch, no question about it. But a couple of days before he was expected to close out the AHL deal with Columbus, his agent said to sit tight.

In retrospect, it's obvious now that another team was interested in him, and was coming through with an NHL deal. That's much better for the player, three years of guaranteed money compared to one year in an AHL pact.

Problem is, teams aren't supposed to negotiate with players under contract to other organizations, even under tryout deals. The Rangers were at Traverse City, and saw DiDiomete. Did they jump the gun? Hope said nope, there was no improper contact.

But somehow, some team made its intentions known to DiDiomete's agent before the tryout deal was over. Anyways, Columbus was faced with the decision on whether to offer him an NHL deal as well, but it did not. Hope said Columbus let him out of the deal over the weekend, and the Rangers were there to pick him up.

Sounds to me like an obvious case of tampering but nobody is going to rock the big boat over a minor league signing. Its a shame too because I love the potential of players like DiDiomete who to me is a Dorsett clone. They make perfect 4th liners at the NHL level and can really be a nice complement to your high skill guys developing down on the farm.

-LTL