Henrik Lundqvist has, for the last 3 years, been the definition of stability. Since his CMHL debut in Season 4, Lundqvist has hoisted the Stanley Cup, won the Calder Trophy, won the Conn Smythe Trophy, been to the All-Star game, and has been a Vezina runner-up in each of 3 straight seasons.
But on Wednesday, he found himself pulling on an Ottawa Senators jersey.
That's what happens when you start the season 5-4 with a 3.93 GAA and a .845 Save %. The 5-4 record is deceiving. The Blue Jackets won five games by outscoring the opponent. Lundqvist has been holier than swiss cheese. After 11 games, the Jackets had allowed less shots on goal than any other team in the CMHL. And yet, only 3 teams had given up less goals through 11 games. These statistics don't lie, and everyone looks to the net.
Some wonder if it's the money. Lundqvist played the last three years on an entry-level deal, and with the achievements he put up, he cashed in big time this summer. The Blue Jackets made signing Henrik an absolute priority and offered him a league maximum 4-year deal, at $6,500,000 a year, making him one of the goaltending elite in the CMHL.
"I honestly don't know what to make of this. Good goalies don't just suddenly go bad. Lundqvist is a great goalie though - I'd be happy if he was just good. But we cannot compete in this league on the basis of outscoring our opponents. Our defencemen were doing their jobs - our goalie was not." - Columbus GM, habsfan93
So King Henrik was shipped off in a 4-player deal along with forward Chris Stewart to the Phoenix Coyotes, for young netminder Jonathan Quick and star forward Evgeni Malkin. The Coyotes wasted no time sending Lundqvist to the Senators in a bid to acquire another star forward, Anze Kopitar.
"Chris Stewart was a tough guy to give up. We drafted him, and we were hoping he would become the next big Blue Jackets star. And he was living up to that promise. But you have to give to get, and Evgeni Malkin is as good as they get. Malkin came into this league early, and at 24 years old, already has 6 seasons under his belt. He's gotten better every year, and hit the point-per game mark last year, his first as an All-Star. He has nowhere to go but up, and on our team, we think he can become the franchise player many have been waiting to see him become. We couldn't say no."
"As for Jon Quick, we see him as a young Henrik Lundqvist. We have a high flying offence, so we don't need him to win the Vezina, we just need him to keep us in the game. As he grows and gets older, we think he has the potential to be very, very good." - Columbus GM, habsfan93
The two latest additions to the Blue Jackets will make their debut on Monday night against the San Jose Sharks. Malkin is expected to take Stewart's spot on a line with Tomas Fleischmann and Derick Brassard, while Quick will be starting in net.
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