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COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Blue Jackets ran a promotion on Thursday night for the poor fans who sunk a bunch of money into a Jeff Carter Blue Jackets jersey. Bring it to the game and they’d swap out the nameplate with Jack Johnson’s for free. It was an easy switch since the defenseman acquired in the Carter trade shared Carter’s No. 7.

Avi Stein was one of the fans who took advantage, though his jersey was autographed by Carter. An autograph he was about to lose in the swap.

“That’s fine,” he said. “I don’t want that autograph.”

The fans in Columbus have moved on. Mostly. Carter was back in Columbus for the first time since being traded to the Kings two weeks ago and he was booed loudly every time he touched the puck. But the cheers for Johnson were much louder. Especially when he scored his 10th goal of the season in the second period, his second in the past two games for Columbus. He leapt high into the glass in celebration.

Thursday night’s 3-1 win over the Kings clearly meant a little something extra to Johnson.

"He was jacked up to play tonight," said his defensive partner James Wisniewski. "He kept telling me, 'Let’s win this one for me. Please.' I’m like, 'Yeah, let’s do it.'"

"This one felt good," Johnson admitted. "It’s the first time I’ve gone on the ice and looked over and saw where I know every single guy on the other team really well. It was a little weird."

The win was the fourth consecutive for the Blue Jackets, who are feeding off Johnson’s playmaking ability along with his positive attitude. Carter, who was held without a point and was a minus-1, made it clear this past summer that he wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of being traded to Columbus. Then at the trade deadline, we learned that captain Rick Nash wants out.

Johnson’s attitude had been quite the opposite and it started with the first phone call he had with general manager Scott Howson. Howson wasn’t sure what to expect from Johnson when he first let him know he was leaving a playoff race and coming to Columbus.

"His genuine excitement came over the phone. It was so nice to hear. It was so refreshing to hear," Howson told ESPN The Magazine. "It made me feel like, 'OK, this has a real chance to be successful. It starts right there with the attitude of wanting to be a part of this."

Johnson now has four points in his past three games and is a plus-6 during that stretch. The Blue Jackets improved to 4-2 since the trade.

In the win over the Kings, they got two goals from Mark Letestu and solid goaltending from the tandem of Steve Mason and Curtis Stanford, who combined to stop 29 of 30 Los Angeles shots. Mason left the game after teammate John Moore’s skate accidentally cut Mason’s hand, requiring 18-20 stitches. Mason said it’s not an injury he expects to keep him out too long.

The wins in Columbus don’t mean a thing in the big scheme of the NHL playoff race, but they mean something to interim coach Todd Richards who is trying to earn a permanent job behind the bench. They mean something to a guy like Letestu, still trying to establish his place in the NHL. They mean something to Johnson. Especially this one.

"You can’t let yourself get wrapped up into it, let your emotions carry over," Johnson said. "For sure, I wanted to get this one."

From Barry Melrose: "The Jeff Carter trade might end up being the best deal of the trade deadline. Columbus gets an underachieving guy who doesn't want to be there, with an albatross of a contract, out of their organization for a good young defenseman and a first-round pick. This might be the turnaround move of a terrible year.

"I think Columbus is crazy to trade Rick Nash. Whoever moves a star player, in the history of the NHL, has never won the deal. Who did the Bruins get for Joe Thornton? Who did Atlanta get for Ilya Kovalchuk? Who did Atlanta get for Marian Hossa? See, you don't know."

Some quick thoughts on this Friday morning as the trade deadline approaches:

• A source told me late Thursday night that the Kings in fact made a huge offer at one point in the process for both Rick Nash and Jeff Carter. Can you imagine? But the Kings eventually dropped out of the Nash talks (he likely wasn’t going to accept a deal to go to L.A.) and focused on Carter only. The feeling in the Kings front office was that Carter’s lower cap hit -- $5.27 million compared to $7.8 million for Nash -- would allow them greater flexibility when it comes time to re-sign star goalie Jonathan Quick. His deal runs out after next season and he’ll command a huge raise over his current $1.8 million salary.
• The Kings are getting lots of interest in captain Dustin Brown. They may not move him in the end but are seeing what’s out there for him. Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia and the New York Rangers are among a long list of teams that have interest in the Team USA Olympian. One source told ESPN.com that the Kings would like to get defenseman Luke Schenn and highly touted forward prospect Matt Frattin from the Leafs in a Brown deal. My sense is that Toronto would find that price too rich, but GM Brian Burke -- who had Brown on Team USA in 2010 -- really loves Brown.
• Steve Ott of the Dallas Stars has lots of teams interested in him, too. It’s certainly not a given that Dallas will move him considering where they sit in the Western Conference standings -- in eighth place Friday morning. But they’re listening. Vancouver likes Ott a lot, and Toronto and Philadelphia also likes him. It just so happens that the Stars also like Flyers winger James van Riemsdyk, but it’s going to take a lot more than Ott to pry him out of Philly.
• One NHL GM we spoke to Friday morning was stunned the Kings dealt blueliner Jack Johnson. Turns out he’s been in play for quite a while. One source told ESPN.com that the Flyers and Kings talked about a van Riemsdyk for Johnson swap a few weeks ago but it fizzled out.

OK, back to the phones ...

It is safe to say that Los Angeles Kings general manager Dean Lombardi is now officially "all in."

He meticulously built the nucleus of a team that should be ready to challenge the perennial big boys of the Western Conference.

He fired his head coach when that group began shooting blanks offensively and slid down the standings.

He lured his old friend Darryl Sutter, who hadn’t coached since the end of the 2006 season, away from the family farm in Alberta to bring some order to a team that seemed to lack, well, something.

And on Thursday night, Lombardi traded away a top, young puck-moving defenseman in Jack Johnson and a conditional first-round draft pick for a disgruntled, oft-injured forward in Jeff Carter. Lombardi is now counting on Carter to rediscover his golden scoring touch and lead the Kings not just into the postseason but deep into the playoffs.

Whatever else Lombardi does or doesn’t do before Monday’s 3 p.m. EST trade deadline -- whether he trades back-up netminder Jonathan Bernier or even captain Dustin Brown, as rumors suggested he was contemplating Thursday night -- the Carter deal is Lombardi’s line in the stand.

From this point forward, it will be remembered as the deal that led to a renaissance for the Kings and a realization of the good times that have been hinted at but not delivered for the past three or four years. Or it will be Lombardi’s Waterloo, the signaling of what many hockey observers predict will be a dramatic overhaul of a Kings team that has failed to achieve simpatico in spite of so much talent and promise.

We recall sitting in Lombardi’s office at the Kings’ practice facility near Los Angeles International Airport in December. The team was struggling offensively and he was within days of firing Terry Murray as head coach and replacing him with Sutter.

Lombardi talked about the need to assess his locker room before he made any moves, the need to make sure that there was enough there to warrant making significant roster moves.

On Thursday, he put the onus on those remaining players to prove they were worth it, giving them what should be the tools needed to salvage this season -- emphasis on "should."

There is more than a little skepticism in the hockey world that this is the move that saves the Kings and, by extension, Lombardi’s job and likely Sutter’s job as well.

Carter is a proven NHL scorer, having once scored 46 goals in a season. Two other times he topped the 30-goal mark. But his durability has been an issue, as has his attitude and his ability to elevate his game when it matters.

Numerous sources around the NHL expressed disappointment with Carter’s response to being traded last June from Philadelphia to Columbus after signing an 11-year deal with the Flyers. The 27-year-old wasn’t happy with the deal and never seemed to embrace his new hockey home. Beset by injuries, he produced 15 goals in 39 games, three of those coming in a win over San Jose this week.

The fact that Columbus GM Scott Howson moved so quickly to jettison what looked last summer to be such a key component of the Blue Jackets’ long-term future speaks volumes about how unpleasant things were on so many fronts in Columbus this season.

Joining his third team in eight months, Carter is going to have to face questions about his maturity as he is reunited with former Philadelphia Flyers captain Mike Richards, another victim of the Flyers’ offseason purge.

Philadelphia GM Paul Holmgren has his own worries what with the shaky psyche of netminder Ilya Bryzgalov who was signed to a nine-year deal after the Flyers cleared cap room in part by dealing Carter and Richards. But the bottom line for Holmgren was that he clearly felt he could not win long-term with Carter and Richards in the room.

In short, he believed those two top-six forwards, one his captain, were expendable.

Before trading Carter and Richards, the Flyers GM was candid at times about whether his team was prepared for games and the stories about the party boys from Philly were legion. Fair or not, Richards and Carter were inexorably tied to that perception of the team and then they were gone.

Richards has struggled this season, too, with just 14 goals in 53 games.

They were both part of a Flyers team that advanced to the Stanley Cup finals in 2010, although it was Richards who played a much more significant role in that memorable spring, so both have an understanding of what goes into a long run.

Maybe Richards and Carter can find some sort of mojo and those stories of sowing their wild oats will become a footnote to something greater both personally and for the Los Angeles Kings.

If they can’t generate that chemistry and help pull the slumping Kings into the playoffs and further, then it won’t be just their reputations that will take a beating when the dust clears in Los Angeles.

The Columbus Blue Jackets sent center Jeff Carter to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday for defenseman Jack Johnson and a conditional first-round pick in the 2012 draft.

If Kings miss playoffs this year, the pick goes to 2013. If Kings make the playoffs this year, the Jackets can choose to make the pick for either the 2012 or 2013 draft.

Carter will be reunited with ex-Philadelphia teammate Mike Richards in Los Angeles. The Flyers traded Carter to Columbus and Richards to Los Angeles in June ahead of the NHL draft.

Carter is in the first year of an 11-year, $58-million contract. His no-trade clause does not kick in until July.

The center was shocked when he found out about being traded to Columbus and never lived up to the expectations the Blue Jackets had for him. Carter has 15 goals and 25 points through 39 games and has missed 20 games due to a broken foot and a separated shoulder. The Jackets have the worst record in the NHL.

Carter is expected to supply some offense for the goal-starved Kings, who started Thursday night holding the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Johnson, a 25-year-old former University of Michigan star, has eight goals and 16 assists this season -- his fifth in the NHL, all with the Kings.

OTTAWA -- From conversations I’ve had with teams over the weekend, there’s a chance the trade season will get going for real after the All-Star break.

One name that could move as early as this week is Tuomo Ruutu, the Carolina Hurricanes forward who is slated to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. The Canes have taken lots of calls on him and may finally be ready to move him.

One player that won’t be on the move is Ryane Clowe. The San Jose Sharks winger was mentioned in a published rumor this past week, but Sharks GM Doug Wilson vehemently denied it, telling ESPN.com there was no way Clowe was going anywhere. It would not make sense at all to move him, in my mind. Clowe is a glue guy on that roster, an important blend of sand paper and skill, and the perfect compliment to center Logan Couture.

Speaking of grit, Habs winger Travis Moen is garnering some interest around the league. He’s an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and would be a decent rental pickup for a contender looking for a bit more of a physical presence on their third line. Vancouver and Detroit are among several teams that have an eye on him, although one NHL source told ESPN.com that Montreal GM Pierre Gauthier is telling teams he’s not ready to sell yet. The Canadiens play eight of their next 12 games at home and the word is Gauthier wants to see if his team can make a run before pulling the plug.

Meanwhile in Columbus, GM Scott Howson is expecting he'll be a very busy man in the next four weeks. Aside from the obvious rental players (players who will be UFAs on July 1) he’ll attempt to move, keep an eye on center Jeff Carter. Howson, we’re told, is willing to move Carter less than a year after acquiring him from the Flyers, in part because the player doesn’t want to be in Columbus. But can Howson find a taker for Carter’s contract? He’s in the first season of an 11-year, $58-million contract (cap hit $5.27 million).

The Columbus Blue Jackets are open for business.

GM Scott Howson has seen enough and signaled his intentions in a solid column by Bob Hunter in Wednesday’s Columbus Dispatch.

I reached out to Howson on Wednesday to follow up, and his feelings certainly had not changed. The GM was willing to forgive his lineup in the opening six weeks with so many faces missing because of injury or suspension, but since then it’s been mostly a healthy lineup and the Jackets have remained stuck in the basement.

"We haven’t played well in the last 2 to 3 weeks and it’s given us a little bit more clarity," Howson told ESPN.com.

So trades are coming.

"We’re going to be open to discussions, yes," Howson said. "There’s nothing imminent right now; I don’t have anything on the burner right now. But certainly between now and over the next couple of months, we’re going to be very active, yes."

Rick Nash isn’t going anywhere, but what about Jeff Carter?

"I have no intention of trading Jeff at this point," Howson said.

That’s not going to stop other teams from calling about Carter, however.

Otherwise, Howson will be open to almost anything. While the GM refused to name specific players, one has to assume Derick Brassard will be in play, given the controversy earlier in December with the forward’s agent, Allan Walsh, hammering coach Scott Arniel over the usage of his client.

Brassard has two more years on his deal past this season, paying him $3.2 million a year.

Your typical rental players should be available, the likes of Vaclav Prospal, Sammy Pahlsson and Kristian Huselius, all unrestricted free agents July 1.

Either way, interesting times are ahead in Columbus.

Oilers on the move?

If you’re looking for a big name who could possibly move by the Feb. 27 trade deadline, circle Ales Hemsky.

He’s an UFA as of July 1, and with the kids ruling the roost in Edmonton, word is around the league the Oilers might be willing to move Hemsky, although it hasn’t been totally ruled out that they might try to re-sign him as well.

Hemsky has all-world talent, but it doesn’t show up on a consistent basis, and health is always a factor.

Still, given that he’d be a traditional rental player, you will see a number of clubs willing to take him on for the rest of the season if and when the Oilers decide to put him on the market.

The Kings had interest in Hemsky last season before settling for Dustin Penner in a deadline-day trade with Edmonton. If the Darryl Sutter renaissance is successful in L.A. and the Kings are in a playoff spot come February, it wouldn’t surprise me if they came sniffing around on Hemsky again. They need an upgrade on the wing in L.A. -- whether or not the Kings fix that this season or next summer is what remains to be seen.

Another club that could come calling on Hemsky is Detroit. The Red Wings have cap space and will be an aggressive team come the trade deadline. They’ll look at all kinds of options, but I believe Hemsky will be among the names on their shopping list.

Weber contract talks could open soon

With Jan. 1 rolling around, the Predators and the camp for Shea Weber will be allowed to talk contract.

As per collective bargaining agreement rules, because the Nashville captain is on a one-year contract, the two sides have to wait until Jan. 1 to begin talks on a new deal.

Preds GM David Poile told ESPN.com Tuesday that he expected to chat with Weber’s people "sometime in January."

Poile added, however, that the more urgent matter remains Ryan Suter because he’s an UFA July 1, whereas Weber will be a restricted free agent.

The plan, if it wasn’t obvious, is to be able to go to their franchise player in Weber once/if Suter joins star goalie Pekka Rinne with a contract extension to show how serious the team is about competing. It makes sense to approach it that way because in the end, Weber’s deal will be the most difficult to negotiate. Better have the other two in the bag before commencing that one.

So the pressure point now is on the Suter talks with the trade deadline approaching.

"David and I continue to talk, but there’s nothing new to report at this point," Neil Sheehy, Suter’s agent, told ESPN.com Wednesday.

If Suter is not signed by Feb. 27, what does Poile do? He decided not to move Dan Hamhuis a few years back because the team was in a playoff spot only to see the top-four blueliner walk away in free agency. That aggravated Poile; I don’t think he could stomach that again. I think he deals Suter if there’s no extension signed by the trade deadline.

Tick-tock, tick-tock ...

Bruins will have work to do

Boston GM Peter Chiarelli has done a remarkable job managing his cap and payroll, the Stanley Cup champs returning to the ice this season with a near identical roster and with cap space to boot.

But the work never ends.

Earlier this season, Chiarelli took care of his top priority when he extended center David Krejci to a three-year, $15.75 million deal. Krejci would have been an UFA July 1.

The Bruins still have six players headed for unrestricted free agency in forwards Chris Kelly, Shawn Thornton, Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell as well as blueliners Joe Corvo and Johnny Boychuk.

Like any team right now, the tricky part is to try to guess at what the CBA is going to look like next season with the expectation that if the owners and league get their way (and the players will have a big say in that), the salary cap will go down, which means less money to spend on players. So you have to be careful in handing out extensions right now.

"We have six UFAs and we are sorting out our future expenses (new system)," Chiarelli told ESPN.com via email Wednesday. "So, nothing new except that we will try to sign as many as financially responsible and possible."

Just a guess on my part, but I think Kelly is the next player to get signed. Kelly, a versatile two-way forward, is on pace for a career-high 49 points. His career high was 38 points in Ottawa in 2006-07.

Trade winds blow in Carolina

Whether they’ve been buyers or sellers over the years, the Carolina Hurricanes have usually been an active team ahead of the trade deadline and often much before the actual deadline day.

And they have five pending UFAs on their roster who could be in play: defensemen Tim Gleason, Bryan Allen and Jaroslav Spacek as well as forwards Tuomo Ruutu and Alexei Ponikarovsky.

Here’s the catch for the Hurricanes right now, however: They can’t just go ahead with straight-up salary dumps in January in any trade because it risks moving them below the payroll floor. According to capgeek.com, the Canes are at $51.4 million in payroll with the league’s floor set at $48.3 million this year.

Any deal they make in the short term has to be more of a hockey deal. Instead of just getting a draft pick or a prospect in return, they’ll need to get an NHL roster player back.

If they decide to wait right up until the Feb. 27 trade deadline, by then the cap hit (and payroll hit) should be minimized, so they can go ahead and make any kind of deal they want.

Lots of teams, as always, will be looking for defensemen, so veteran Canes GM Jim Rutherford will be a popular phone call with his colleagues around the league.

The holidays have not dimmed your anger. Love your rants again this week. Let’s take a look:

cbj_fan13k: Bluejackets fan, enough said! I have endured 10 frustrating seasons, but this one takes the cake. Not only is the team playing the worst/laziest hockey I've ever seen (Thursday's collapse vs. Nashville was icing on the cake), the management has pretty much given the finger to all the fans. I understand the season is lost but to at least a gesture of a coaching/player/GM move to just show a little bit of emotion that they cared. But, no, just pretty much, ehh, it is what it is, and you're going to deal with it because we already have your season ticket money, who cares about winning? I will always support the jackets but this year has really tested my love for the team. Usually I have Miami University Redhawks hockey to fall back on but even they are not having the best of seasons.

My take: It certainly has been an existence of mediocrity for this franchise since day one -- 10 seasons, one playoff berth in which it was swept out in the first round. Interestingly, the Blue Jackets have had two GMs during that span, despite that record. There was so much anticipation this season with the acquisitions of Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski, but I don’t have to rehash what happened. Another dud of a season. Believe me when I say the GM and coach care. I’ve had lots of chats with Scott Howson this season, and this is absolutely killing him. It’s not like anyone in that front office is sitting on his hands and enjoying this. The hiring of former Penguins GM Craig Patrick as an adviser to Howson should help, especially closer to the Feb. 27 trade deadline. Important decisions loom for this moribund franchise. Hang in there, my friend, it’s going to take more patience, if you have any left.

Dintino1420: My rant is regarding the cost to attend NHL games. I am a Philadelphia-area resident who attends approx. 4-6 Flyers games a year. It is disgusting to me that the Flyers raised ticket prices almost $60 per seat from last season. Last season, it was $96 for a lower-level seat. This season, it is $155-$165 for a lower-level seat. This is outrageous! The only saving grace here is that I have a website where I can buy tickets from 3rd-party vendors, where the cost is usually lower than the face value.

My take: Count yourself lucky you don’t live in Toronto! Tickets are insanely expensive where I live. I just spent $220 on a pair of upper-bowl seats as a Christmas gift for my sister and nephew. But the Leafs sell out every single game and have forever. Supply and demand. One thing’s for sure -- the league talked about cheaper ticket prices during the 2004-05 lockout as one of the selling points for a salary cap. Needless to say, cheaper tickets have not materialized in the NHL’s bigger markets.

mcbs92: Please tell me what is wrong with the Washington Capitals, I just do not understand. They have such talented individuals in Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, and Green (when healthy), to name a few home-grown stars. While the usual production of these players is below par, save Backstrom, that cannot solely explain why the team is doing so poorly. Could it be that Alex Ovechkin and the team is better off without him with the C? I know there have been flashes of the old Caps, who usually dominate the regular season, in periods of the Dale Hunter era, but seriously, what has to be done for the Capitals to turn it around?

My take: To me they just rarely look like a "team." The elite clubs in this league -- think Detroit over the past 20-odd years -- play as five-man units up and down the ice. They limit gaps for opposing teams to exploit. They control/manage the puck smartly as units. They avoid taking lazy/selfish penalties. That’s what the elite teams in this league do. The Caps have not been that team this year. Alex Ovechkin has but 12 goals. He’s not the same dominant force. The goaltending has been inconsistent. And the Caps are 20th out of 30 teams in 5-on-5 goals for/against ratio -- that’s an important statistic in my mind in rating elite teams. Right now, Boston is tops in that statistic, followed by Detroit, San Jose, St. Louis, N.Y. Rangers, Vancouver, Philadelphia and Chicago. I think you see the picture that paints.

brossin2 Having no games this weekend is why hockey will always be my favorite sport. The players have families too, and should be given the privilege to spend time with them. But that is also possible because hockey fans understand that, and don't demand Christmas Day games. In return, any single hockey player gives back more to the fans than entire NFL and NBA teams on any given day. Sure, this isn't a rant per se, but Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day to everyone nonetheless!

My take: Agree -- whole-heartedly.

Daveyg8484: Hey, Pierre, Tons of Vezina Trophy talk and most of it has to do with goalies who get goal support. It's pretty amazing how Jonathan Quick gets very little talk, especially since he's the main reason LA isn't where Anaheim and Columbus are. If you put Quick on a team that actually score goals, like Vancouver, Detroit or Boston, he'd probably be the runaway winner.

My take: Well, let’s not carried away with "runaway winner." I still think Tim Thomas is the best goalie the world right now. However, your point is well taken about Quick’s lack of national attention. I made sure to include him in my Vezina candidate list on my quarter-pole NHL awards for ESPN.com. But overall, he still doesn’t get that same kind of attention. As you know, the NHL’s 30 GMs vote for the actual Vezina Trophy, one of the few trophies the Professional Writers’ Hockey Association doesn’t handle. I asked one GM last spring if he had Quick on his ballot and he said no, adding that Quick was one notch below who he believed were the elite netminders in this league. So you see, it’s not the media you have to convince, it’s the GMs!

Steve McKown: What would you do if you were Stevie Y in Tampa? There is zero doubt that the two Lightning goaltenders are not going to win us the Cup -- much less even allow us to make the playoffs this year. Granted the defensemen in front are not much better, however, a move in goal could certainly generate a chance like it did last year. Marty and Vinnnie are not getting any younger so what would you do?

My take: I’m pretty sure my shopping list would be similar to Steve Yzerman’s: a starting goalie and a top-four blueliner -- neither of which are very easy to pick up at all. Yzerman has been monitoring the market for a top-four blueliner since October. Like pitching in baseball, NHL clubs don’t give up top-four blueliners very easily. No question Yzerman will take a hard look between now and Feb. 27, but if he can’t find the right fit before then, he has the offseason as well to shore up these holes. If I was Yzerman, I would inquire about Cory Schneider in Vancouver and Jonathan Bernier in Los Angeles; those types of deals might be easier to pull off in the offseason.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Jeff Carter feigned ignorance at the significance of a particular Nov. 5 matchup, but we weren't buying it. Not for a minute.

"What game is that?" Carter responded to ESPN.com on Friday, a chuckle betraying him.

Oh, you better believe the newly acquired Columbus Blue Jackets star center knows darn well when his first regular-season visit to Philadelphia will be.

After Carter was apparently reassured by Philadelphia that he would not get dealt, his bitter divorce from the Flyers on June 23 should make him one highly motivated player this season here in Columbus.

"There's obviously some extra motivation," Carter said. "I'm excited to get this going."

It got going Friday with the opening of camp at Nationwide Arena, where players underwent medicals before they take the ice for the first time Saturday. Coach Scott Arniel didn't waste any time confirming that Carter would begin camp centering fellow star Rick Nash. Where it goes from there is up to the two big guys.

"That's something I've been looking forward to all summer," Carter said. "I got to play with some pretty good players in Philly, but to play with a guy like Rick is taking it to a whole new level. I'm definitely excited, and hopefully we can build some chemistry quickly and get things rolling."

Nash has only had to wait nearly a decade to get to line up with a center of Carter's ilk. Not that he ever complained. But after being a one-man show for so many years here in Columbus, which simplified the other teams' defensive schemes, help has arrived.

"To get Carter is huge," Nash told ESPN.com on Friday. "Ownership stepped up big time; they showed they want to win. It's what they said they wanted to do, and for them to do it is big."

Jackets GM Scott Howson has been trying to lure an elite, No. 1 center to Columbus for years. And it wasn't easy when he finally delivered. Trade talks with the Flyers consumed half a year.

"It started in January," Howson told ESPN.com on Friday. "A lot of names went back and forth, and then it stopped because they were sailing at the trade deadline."

They picked up again after the Flyers were bounced out in the second round.

"They got beat out by Boston and sort of humbled in four straight. I thought maybe there was a chance [of reigniting trade talks]," Howson said. "And you could see the goaltending was going to have to perhaps be addressed. So if they were going to go after a guy like [Ilya] Bryzgalov, you knew they were going to have to move someone. So we started talking seriously right around the [draft] combine [in June] and we were serious right up until the deal was done."

The problem was Carter wasn't thrilled at the onset. He was stunned, shell-shocked, and didn't immediately speak publicly about the trade.

"Me being quiet had nothing to do with Columbus," Carter said. "I was obviously upset with how things went down [in Philadelphia] in the weeks leading up to the trade and then when it happened. I just wanted to take some time and collect my thoughts before I said anything."

Nash also reached out to Carter via text, wanting him to know he was welcome in his new NHL home. That meant something to Carter.

"That was great," Carter said. "I had met him before at Team Canada events and the All-Star Game, but it was real nice of him to reach out and welcome me. He wanted to see if I needed anything or needed to know anything. That was nice."

Howson said it was critical for Nash to have reached out that way. The Jackets, Howson said, were a bit concerned how Carter would react to the trade. Once that first weekend passed, Howson, Arniel and Nash went to Carter's New Jersey home on that Monday.

"I could tell as soon as we walked into his place on the Jersey shore, he was ready to move on," Howson said. "It was good we did that; he was able to look us in the eye. We gave Rick and him some private time, as well. So he was ready to move on at that point. It's still going to be an adjustment when the season starts; we know that. But he's here and he's ready."

On the ice, the test is for Carter and Nash to mesh. The potential knock on the pairing is they're both shooters first, passers second. All the better, Arniel insisted Friday.

"Oh yeah, I like that fact," Arniel said. "As coaches, we're always harping on our players to shoot the puck. I don't think either one of those guys is going to change their mindset. ... I look at [Jonathan] Toews and [Patrick] Kane; both those guys shoot pucks. [Ryan] Getzlaf and [Corey] Perry? Both those guys shoot pucks. When elite players play together like that, they just have that chemistry."

Carter whole-heartedly dismissed that concern.

"I don't see that being a problem at all. I think we're both good enough players that we can figure it out," he said.

For two weeks, we asked for your opinion on everything ranging from which team will win the Stanley Cup to where the next NHL franchise should go. Now, Scott Burnside weighs in with his thoughts on your votes.

Which player will win the scoring title?

Interesting that in this category, fans were unequivocal about who they think will win the scoring title, and it was No. 87 from Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby.

You'll see below that fans were a little more mixed in their thinking when it came to separating Crosby from longtime nemesis Alex Ovechkin for the coming season, but 46 percent of voters believe that Crosby will best Ovechkin as well as other former Art Ross winners Henrik and Daniel Sedin and Steven Stamkos to win his second scoring title. It's an interesting voting trend given that there remains so much uncertainty surrounding Crosby's health. And it was a bit shocking that the talented Sedin twins from Vancouver, the past two scoring champions, managed to garner just 7 percent of the votes combined. It is hard to bet against Crosby if he's healthy, but so much is unknown about his ability to return from a concussion that it wouldn't surprise us if we saw Ovechkin bounce back with a strong season to grab another Art Ross.

Which player will have the better season?

I love this poll, and it's clear that fans have a long memory, as they picked Tim Thomas in a landslide (69 percent) over fellow Vezina nominee and Stanley Cup finals foil Roberto Luongo. Maybe fans recall Luongo's erratic play in the finals and his strange comments about Thomas. Our question is whether Thomas can be as good as he was a year ago, when he ran away with the Vezina Trophy voting, then was the runaway winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Fans were likewise united (67 percent) that of the two former Philadelphia stars dealt before the draft, former captain Mike Richards and sniper Jeff Carter, Richards who would have more success in his new home in Los Angeles. We agree.

One of our favorite polling matchups involved current and former Florida netminders Jose Theodore and Tomas Vokoun. Fans left no doubt that they felt Vokoun, now in Washington, would have the better season (82 percent to 18 percent for Theodore). We're not as sold on that proposition being a lock, but Vokoun will sure have a lot more offense going for him than he ever did in Florida. But we also think Theodore has a lot more game left than many give him credit for.

A couple of other players who swapped places, Martin Havlat and Dany Heatley, gave fans more pause. Voting sided with Heatley, now in Minnesota, by a 57-43 percent edge, but we're not so sure. If Havlat can stay healthy (we know, a big if), he'll have an opportunity to put up big numbers, say, 80 points or more. Heatley's numbers have been declining, and Minnesota isn't exactly an offensive juggernaut even with the arrival of the former 50-goal man and his former teammate Devin Setoguchi.

Finally, the age-old question of who will have a better year, Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby, also had fans wondering, as Crosby edged Ovechkin with 53 percent of the vote. Still, the uncertainty over Crosby's health as he tries to recover from a concussion that cost him the last half of last season and a curiously down season for Ovechkin make this a toss-up.

Which is the most improved team heading into 2011-12?

Lots of options here, although fans picked the Buffalo Sabres just ahead of the New York Rangers as the team they believe made the biggest strides in the offseason. (Twenty-nine percent picked the Sabres, and 22 percent selected the Rangers.) Both are worthy choices with the Sabres spending like crazy under new owner Terry Pegula. They added free agents Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino after acquiring Robyn Regehr and Brad Boyes, who came over at the trade deadline in March. And it's hard not to like the Rangers' chances of stepping up with the addition of top free-agent center Brad Richards.

But for us, the team that underwent the biggest makeover and took the biggest steps toward improvement is the Florida Panthers. Assuming good health, the Panthers will be looking to incorporate as many as a dozen new faces into their everyday lineup, including smooth-skating defenseman Brian Campbell, onetime Panthers hero Ed Jovanovski, former Hart and Vezina Trophy winner Jose Theodore in goal and a clutch of forwards with good scoring potential (Tomas Fleischmann, Kris Versteeg and Tampa's playoff scoring machine Sean Bergenheim). Throw in rookie head coach Kevin Dineen, and you've got a lot of moving parts to get in sync, but we like the Panthers to make it work and join the playoff crowd in the Eastern Conference.

Which team is trending backward?

Most fans -- 33 percent, in fact -- believe that the Phoenix Coyotes are poised to take the biggest step backward this coming season. We tend to agree, although it's never wise to bet against one of the best coaches in the NHL. Former Jack Adams Trophy winner Dave Tippett is a crucial asset to the Coyotes. Still, Tippett will see his coaching acumen put to an extreme test this season, as the Coyotes remain mired in ownership limbo and, as a result, have struggled to keep core pieces of the team in the fold. Even though the Yotes qualified for the postseason for the second straight season this past spring, they never really filled the void created by the departure of defenseman Zbynek Michalek, who signed with Pittsburgh in July 2010. This summer saw the departure of veteran Ed Jovanovski and former Vezina Trophy nominee Ilya Bryzgalov. The team still looks to struggle offensively unless Mikkel Boedker and Kyle Turris really step forward.

Fans also seemed to think the New York Islanders would slide, but we disagree. With a healthy Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo ready from the get-go in training camp, we think the Isles are ready to jump back into playoff contention in the very tough Atlantic Division.

Which city deserves the next NHL franchise?

There doesn't seem to be much debate among voters about where the NHL will land next if there's movement afoot: Quebec City. More than half of voters (51 percent) believe the former home of the Nordiques will follow Winnipeg's footsteps in returning a team to the NHL. Us? Not so sure. Given that building a new NHL-style arena remains a political hot potato in Canada, specifically in the province of Quebec, we will be shocked if the NHL moves to Quebec City in the near future. And given the uncertainty surrounding the situation in Phoenix, the league may be forced to make such a decision before a new arena is assured in Quebec. There is no chance the league agrees to return to Quebec City until the shovels are firmly in the ground to build a new barn.

Given that, we're going to suggest that Kansas City will be the next stop for the NHL franchise carousel. Yes, only 8 percent of voters agree, but given there is an NHL-ready building simply awaiting a new owner, that might be the most logical of moves if the NHL gets pushed into the relocation corner again in the near future. Our second choice? Seattle. Yes, there are arena issues there, but having lost a big American market in Atlanta this past offseason, the NHL would rather see nothing other than a move to a big U.S. market, and Seattle has lots going for it.

Which player will not have a sophomore slump?

It's not uncommon for players to light it up in their rookie seasons only to fall back the next season. (See Steve Mason of Columbus and Tyler Myers of Buffalo as recent examples.) Some of that is mental, expecting things to come easily. Some of that is opposing teams' knowing how to handle the youngsters. Voters feel that won't be a problem for the defending rookie of the year, Jeff Skinner, and Calder Trophy nominee Logan Couture, who led the polling with 26 percent of the votes apiece. Given that Couture is older (Skinner was the youngest player in the NHL last season), we're expecting he may have an easier time in his sophomore season. We also like another Calder nominee, Michael Grabner, to continue his ascension given that he will play under the radar on Long Island and the Isles should be an improved squad. As for Skinner, he is wise beyond his years, but it will be a tall order for him to repeat his success from last season.

Which coach is most likely to be fired?

Almost half our readers, 42 percent, believe that Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau is on the hottest of hot seats. We don't. Given that general manager George McPhee added significant character in Joel Ward, Jeff Halpern and Troy Brouwer up front while bringing in veteran Tomas Vokoun to backstop the Caps, we figure this team is finally ready to make a deep run into the postseason. Boudreau showed his coaching chops last season, arresting what could have been a disastrous midseason slide and taking a much better defensive squad to the top of the Southeast Division standings.

In our mind, other coaches will find themselves in much more precarious positions this season, and you can start with Ron Wilson in Toronto. The Leafs have failed to make the postseason tournament since the lockout, and perhaps more telling is that the team has failed to make strides in the crucial special-teams area. Only so much of those shortcomings can be attributed to personnel. At some point, the coach has to take the fall for not coming up with the proper systems for success on the power play and penalty kill. A slow start in Toronto will almost certainly spell the end for Wilson. Another coach to keep an eye on is Terry Murray in Los Angeles, where the stakes are high for a young Kings team that needs to step forward.

Which coach will have the most successful season?

For the record, 17 percent of voters think Boudreau will have the most successful season, but the runaway winner in this category is Penguins coach Dan Bylsma, the defending Jack Adams Trophy winner who garnered 34 percent of voters' support. It is hard to argue with that pick assuming Sidney Crosby returns to full health in the coming months. We already know that Evgeni Malkin is champing at the bit after knee surgery and James Neal will be fully integrated into the Pens' lineup. If Steve Sullivan can stay healthy, the Pens should return to being one of the most deadly offensive teams in the NHL, which will balance nicely with the defensive mindset that Bylsma has imposed in Pittsburgh, making them one of the most difficult to play (and score) against in the league. For the record, though, if we had to go to a Plan B, we'd go with Boudreau.

It is always exciting when your team signs a big free agent or makes a notable trade. But it is not as much fun when your team loses a player in free agency or your star player demands a trade.

There were a lot of big moves this offseason, which means a lot of players will face the wrath of angry fans when they return to the city they used to call home wearing the opponents' sweater.

Dany Heatley can now add San Jose to the list of cities (Ottawa, Edmonton and Winnipeg) where fans will be happy to see him struggle.

Jaromir Jagr waited so long to give the Penguins an answer to their contract offer this offseason that the team pulled the offer. Then, Jagr signed with the rival Flyers, so it is unlikely he will have a happy homecoming in Pittsburgh. And I'm sure Capitals' and Rangers' fans are also anxious to greet him.

But now it is time for you to tell us: Which transplanted player will get the worst welcome when he returns to his former rink?

Previous results: "24/7" star? » Next NHL franchise? » Most/least improved team? »
Coaching success? » Sophomore slump? » Better player? » Art Ross Trophy? »
Stanley Cup winner? » Conference champions? » East divisions? » West divisions? »

Not So Welcome ...

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Some players will face comparisons to each other for their entire careers. See Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Whether it is goals scored, trophies received or games won, you can't mention one without the statistics for the other guy quickly following. And most people have a strong opinion about who is better.

Other comparisons are brought on by playoff battles, trades or whether or not one goalie remembers to pump the other guy's tires.

But now is time for you to make the call. We picked the matchups, now you tell us: Which player will have a better season?

Previous results: Art Ross Trophy? » Stanley Cup winner? »
Conference champions? » East divisions? » West divisions? »

Which player will have a better season?

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You can tell the dog days of summer are upon us when everything old is breathlessly new again.

Jaromir Jagr is back in the NHL.

Alexei Yashin perhaps is not far behind.

And the Philadelphia Flyers have a partying problem.

This just in, goaltending will be an issue in Philly this season as well.

The partying issue, something that has dogged the team for two or three seasons now, became a talking point this week when Philadelphia Daily News reporter Dan Gross got GM Paul Holmgren to comment on the record that when newly hired coach Peter Laviolette tried to change the dressing room culture by implementing a period of abstinence from alcohol during the 2009-10 season, some players didn't participate.

Holmgren noted to Gross that Jeff Carter and former captain Mike Richards didn't put their numbers up on the board identifying themselves as members of what was reportedly known as Dry Island and that there were other players who didn't sign up, either.

The news has been treated as some sort of bombshell as opposed to merely reinforcing what Holmgren has publicly acknowledged for some time: The team's off-ice behavior was cause for concern for the coaching staff and management.

Before the start of the 2009-10 season, Holmgren acknowledged that his players' lifestyle choices were an issue he and then-coach John Steven had addressed.

"I think this all falls under the umbrella of discipline," Holmgren told local beat writer Wayne Fish in an interview before the season.

"It's on-ice discipline -- not overstaying-your-shift discipline -- it's off-ice discipline, it's night before a game taking better care of ourselves. That's a natural maturation process that a lot of our younger players are still going through. We've addressed that. So am I concerned about it? We'll see how it goes this year. All our players have been talked to about it. Is it an issue? The fact that we've talked about it, I guess it is an issue."

So, did the Flyers GM trade two of his top six forwards because they sometimes ended up in pictures on the Internet partying with adult film stars (as was the case in 2009) or crashing fraternity parties in town?

While it's not uncommon for teams to move players because it's believed they don't have the right focus or priorities (hmm, girls or goals?), Holmgren has established himself as one of the most daring NHL GMs.

That means he doesn't move critical pieces to his puzzle unless he feels the team will be made better as a result.

It's worth noting that almost all of the stuff percolating in recent days dates back to before the Flyers' stunning march to the 2010 Stanley Cup finals.

That playoff run included a historic come-from-behind effort against Boston in the second round, in which the Flyers had fallen behind 3-0 in the series then trailed 3-0 in Game 7.

As defenseman Chris Pronger noted in a conference call shortly after Richards was dealt to Los Angeles and Carter to Columbus last month, people weren't too concerned about the team's chemistry then.

It's a fair point.

Common sense suggests that the whole "party on" issue was but a small factor in Holmgren's decision to substantively change the fabric of his team.

Our guess is Carter's inability to deliver in the playoffs, questions about his durability and his less-than-sunny disposition were bigger issues.

As for Richards, when your captain appears to be ill at ease in his role, you have depth down the middle and you can get one of the top young prospects in the game in Brayden Schenn in return, you roll the dice.

Maybe the trades come back to haunt Holmgren. Maybe they hit the tumblers that will open the Stanley Cup vault in Philadelphia for the first time since 1975.

Either way, don't expect this to be the last we hear of party central.

And oh yeah, this just in, the Flyers will not put in an offer sheet for Tampa Bay forward Steven Stamkos.

Bartender.

Were Mike Richards and Jeff Carter having too much fun in Philadelphia?

Two unnamed players who were with the Philadelphia Flyers this past season told Philly.com that Richards and Carter were traded largely due to their longstanding party lifestyle. The players said the organization was disappointed in Richards and Carter and teammates were concerned about their drinking.

According to the report, coach Peter Laviolette asked his players to commit to not drinking for a month on six occasions by writing their number on a board in the locker room. Richards and Carter did not ever participate in what was known as "Dry Island."

General manager Paul Holmgren confirmed to the newspaper that they did not participate but said they were not the only players to decline. "We carry 23 players and there wasn't 23 numbers up there," Holmgren said.

But Holmgren called it "preposterous" that Carter and Richards were traded because of their drinking.

"As far as Mike and Jeff are concerned, we made two good hockey trades that will better suit us now and for the future," Holmgren said, according to Philly.com. "Columbus is happy, L.A. is happy and the Flyers are happy with the deal."

Carter's agent denied the allegations, while neither player nor Richards' agent returned requests from the paper for comment.

Richards was sent to the Los Angeles Kings in June for prized prospect Brayden Schenn, winger Wayne Simmonds and a draft pick. On the same day, Carter was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for forward Jakub Voracek and two draft picks.

If there was any doubt about whose team the Philadelphia Flyers were before Thursday's blockbuster trades of Jeff Carter and captain Mike Richards, there shouldn't be now.

Chris Pronger, come on down.

It will be a monumental shock if the former Hart and Norris Trophy winner is not named the new Flyers captain at some point this offseason, and look for the Flyers' dressing room to be a better place than it has been the past two seasons in terms of in-house harmony.

Responding to a plethora of calls for the veteran defenseman, the Flyers made Pronger available on a conference call Friday morning.

The face of the franchise? You bet.

Pronger, who said he was "fishing in the bush" with his kids when the trades were announced Thursday afternoon, insisted he hasn't thought about the captaincy.

"You know what, I haven't put much thought into it," Pronger said. "I don't think you nominate yourself. I've never been part of a team where a guy nominates himself. It's one day after two huge trades on our team and in the history of the Flyers, so I don't think that's in anyone's mind right now."

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren rocked the hockey world Thursday, first trading once-upon-a-time 46-goal scorer Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets before sending Richards to the Los Angeles Kings. Holmgren followed that up by signing former Vezina Trophy nominee Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year deal.

"I think when you make a move like that to get a goalie and you've got to pay him, you've got to get the money somewhere," Pronger said. "Time and again in the salary cap era, you've got to give to get. Unfortunately for us, those two guys were traded.

"It sucks as a teammate. You hate to see guys go. They were, for all intents and purposes, the face of the franchise for four of those six years, if not for the six years they were here. I'm sure it's tough for them. The Philadelphia Flyers, it's all they really know."

There are a number of layers to Holmgren's bold moves, but it seems clear that no team trades two cornerstone offensive players unless management and the coaching staff believe the dressing room will be a better place.

Pronger addressed the issue of dressing-room chemistry and pointed out that no one seemed to think there was much of an issue in 2009-10, when the Flyers reached the Stanley Cup finals.

"I don't think anybody would say a year ago when we went to the Stanley Cup final that there was a chemistry problem," Pronger said. "Last year, you're coming off a tough defeat in the Stanley Cup final in overtime, we got off to a good start, and nobody seemed to think we had a problem then. As the season wore on, for whatever reason, we just didn't turn that corner and continue to get better and peak at the right time. That's disappointing, and it's tough. I don't think there was necessarily a rift; I think we just needed more life in the locker room.

"It all has to do with your play on the ice. If you're playing well on the ice, there's never any questions as to who's doing what, or is there a rift, does this guy like that guy, and all of the rest of the stuff that gets thrown out. If you play well on the ice, nobody wants to write about that because everything's going good."

But there were issues with Richards on and off the ice over the past few seasons. There were periods when he wouldn't speak to reporters, national or local. This past postseason, the Flyers struggled to beat Buffalo in seven games in the first round and were then swept by Boston in the second round. Richards had just one goal in 11 playoff games.

Carter, too, has struggled with injuries and playoff production during his time in Philadelphia.

Carter and Richards signed long-term deals within the past few years and fully expected to spend the balance of their careers in Philadelphia. They also had no-movement clauses that were set to kick in next summer.

This isn't to suggest Carter and Richards cost the Flyers a chance at a Stanley Cup. The goaltending was woeful in the 2010 Cup finals and during the 2011 playoffs. Pronger was hurt and played in just three games. Still, it is clear Holmgren has moved to change the culture of the Flyers' locker room and give his team the best chance to win a championship for the first time since 1975.

"I haven't put the X's and O's together. I'm sure you guys have looked at it seven ways from Sunday and tried to figure out who wins or loses," Pronger said. "At the end of the day ... having been traded a number of times, it's always difficult. They both played their hearts out in Philly, but sometimes, as I said, you've got to make tough decisions and you've got to make moves, and sometimes it may hurt and may feel like you're making your team worse to make it better."