Posted November 16, 200519 yr comment_3933181 Blue Jackets acquire Fedorov from Mighty Ducks By RUSTY MILLER, AP Sports Writer November 15, 2005 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired six-time All-Star center Sergei Fedorov and a fifth-round pick in 2006 on Tuesday from the Anaheim Mighty Ducks for forward Tyler Wright and rookie defenseman Francois Beauchemin. The 35-year-old Fedorov had one assist in five games this season for Anaheim, his second with the Mighty Ducks after 13 seasons with Detroit. He recently returned from a groin injury that sidelined him for 13 games. Columbus general manager and president Doug MacLean had been sorting through trades for the past few weeks, but said he was unwilling to part with any of the Blue Jackets' young talent. Columbus is last in the NHL with 34 goals. MacLean likened the acquisition of Fedorov to the free-agent signing this summer of defenseman Adam Foote, a mainstay of Colorado's Stanley Cup teams. "The point of the deal is similar to our signing of Adam Foote," MacLean said. "We have a lot of young players, a lot of young kids with a lot of talent. We're adding a three-time Stanley Cup champion, a Hart winner, who still has a tremendous skill level and is excited to play. He'll be a terrific addition." MacLean said he had scouted Fedorov in two games over the weekend. Fedorov is flying to Columbus on Tuesday night and is expected to be in uniform when the Blue Jackets play St. Louis on Wednesday night at Nationwide Arena. The Mighty Ducks will gain much-needed room under the new NHL salary cap. "We had set aside a reserve of around a million and a half dollars to deal with injuries, and it was inadequate to do for that purpose. So it solves that problem. It also gives us cap room to add a player," Anaheim executive vice president and general manager Brian Burke said. "I couldn't sell this as a stand-alone hockey deal and I won't try to. There's a cap consideration here, but it's also players that we think will help." Columbus had expected to contend for a postseason berth for the first time in the franchise's five-year existence, but is off to a 5-13-0 start. With 10 points, the Blue Jackets are next to last in the Western Conference. Fedorov has 431 goals and 589 assists in 15 seasons in the NHL. The speedy Russian had a career-high 56 goals for the Red Wings in 1993-94, when he won the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP. Fedorov will make $6.08 million this season and each of the next two. "He is an expensive player, but we feel good about it," MacLean said. The Blue Jackets had been seeking a veteran center to play with 21-year-old star Rick Nash when he is finally healthy. Nash missed most of the preseason with a high ankle sprain, then sprained his knee and is out until mid-December. Nash tied Calgary's Jarome Iginla and Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk for most goals (41) in 2003-04 season, becoming the youngest player to lead the league. The 32-year-old Wright had four assists in 18 games this season for Columbus, and the 25-year-old Beauchemin had two assists in 11 games. I guess the Mighty Ducks have called it a season already. I'm happy with this deal. The Blue Jackets need the offense badly.
November 16, 200519 yr comment_3933293 Big time salary dump by Anaheim. Good trade for both sides, though, since Columbus needs help on offence with Nash hurt and the Ducks clear up cap space.
November 16, 200519 yr Author comment_3933296 I think it helps keep Adam Foote happy since they signed him by saying they would do everything to win.
November 16, 200519 yr comment_3935281 Major salary dump by Anaheim, but also throwing in the towel as well as they basically got nothing in return for Federov that will be as big as he was. And no, Tyler Wright won't suddenly be putting up major points, he's a freaking two way centre. Nice job by the Blue Jackets in aquiring him, as it'll definitely help their short term problem of having no real scoring threat.
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