What's the Jackets angle on the Filatov recall?

In the "random thoughts" post from earlier this week I wondered if the Jackets would recall Filatov or Picard for a spark.

I figured that it would only happen if the Jackets continued to slump..... I have to say that after the Jackets big win last night I'm a bit surprised they called the kid up.

Here was Howson's reason from Puck-rakers:

"This will give Nikita an opportunity to experience the atmosphere and practice with the team.," general manager Scott Howson said. "He may or may not play."

Couple of comments here.

1. It seems kind of odd to me to pull this kid out of Syracuse where he's playing well to "may or may no" play the kid. Being around an NHL playoff push is nice but this kid needs to play and right now Syracuse is in a significant playoff push of their own and Filatov has been a big part of that.

As I read from someone else, the Crunch playoff push sure did wonders for Brassard.

Sryacuse's next game is Friday so perhaps they just want him to spend a couple of days with the big squad and then will return him for the Crunch's weekend games.

2. How does this impact his contract? Filatov has 8 games at the NHL level. If he plays 10 or more games he loses a year of his entry level contract. However if he plays less than 42 games (I think it's 42) he will not lose a year of RFA eligibility.

Howson has stated numerous times that Filatov's contract will not be an issue but for a guy who is very cautious of long term implications to any of his moves it makes zero sense at this stage, with the Jackets a near lock for the playoffs, to burn up that entry level year especially for a budget team like Columbus. Not when they are going to have to hand out 2nd contracts to a lot of young players (Brass, Mason, Russ, Voracek, etc) over the next couple of years.

3. Pure speculation on my part but perhaps there is something going on behind the scenes that we aren't privy too that prompted this recall. Maybe the Jackets want to keep a closer eye on the young Filatov? Maybe they want to make sure he get's that NHL exposure as to not be tempted to stay in the Russia/KHL next season? Perhaps they aren't happy with the way he's being handled in Sryacuse?

At this point I see no reason to suspect any of that as Filatov really does seem to have a solid head on his shoulders and knows what he wants which he's said over and over again is to play in the NHL. The Jackets also appear to have a great relationship with the Crunch but I wanted to throw that out there.

With the way guys like Brass, Mase, Dorsett, Boll, Russ and Voracek have developed under Howson's watch I think Filatov is in good hands and I'm sure their reasons are sound.

Congrats to Rick Nash for being named the NHL's 3rd star.

Also in other breaking news from Puck-rakres Denver star center Tyler Bozak will not be signing with the Blue Jackets. That would have been a nice little win for the Jackets but he decided to go in another direction.

-LTL