It's a poorly guarded secret around here that I've come to adopt the Columbus Blue Jackets as my "second team". I like a lot of their players (Nash, Huselius, Vermette, Voracek), I like their underdog status and I think Scott Howson has quietly been one of the better GM's in the league since he took the reigns from that bumbler MacLean. As such, I may add a few thoughts on them from time to time around here.
Anyways, it strikes me this summer that the BJ's should be shamelessly courting Sergei Zubov. There's obviously a lot of big question marks surrounding the former superstar: his age (39) and injury history (extensive) being the primary ones...obviously there's a reason the Stars aren't bothering to renew his contract.
On the other hand, the Blue Jackets have an urgent need for an offensively capable blueliner. Their PP was abysmal last season and though some of that was undoubtedly bad luck, a lot of it had to do with a back-end that featured Kris Russel, Rusty Klesla and not much else in terms of PP quarterbacks. Zubov - at least, the player Zubov used to be - obviously fits the bill having scored 50+ points 8 times in career. Aside from his extensive list of injuries, which I admit is non-trivial, there is little evidence that Zubov is on a steep decline: in 07/08, he scored 35 points in 46 games at 36 years old.
The various risks associated with Zubov means the Jackets can probably sign him to a low base salary buttressed by performance incentives. The risk of him retiring and the club eating the cap hit is there, but avenues exist to at least minimize the risk by lowering the cap dollars.
In addition, the problem with offensive defensemen is they are relatively rare and almost universally expensive. The UFA market is basically bereft of blueline scoring threats at this point (outside of perhaps Dennis Seidenberg, although his career high of 30 points is hardly impressive), and trades for such guys are difficult outside of salary dumps (JM Liles anyone?).
Zubov won't cost anything to acquire, he should be relatively cheap to sign and he has a positive prior association with Ken Hitchcock. Heck, Im surprised this hasn't happened already.
