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Here's a breakdown of how much money the Blue Jackets have to spend this summer and a clarification of some of the things you've read over the last couple of weeks since the season ended.
The Blue Jackets have 13 players under contract whom I believe will be NHL regulars next season -- forwards Rick Nash, Fredrik Modin, Nikolai Zherdev, Manny Malhotra, Gilbert Brule, Jason Chimera, Jiri Novotny, Andrew Murray, Jared Boll and Jakub Voracek; defensemen Rostislav Klesla and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen; and goaltender Fredrik Norrena. Some of these player could be traded this summer, but these are the mostly-certain 12 to this point.
The bill for those 13 players is $24.385 million.
This is where it gets interesting. This is where the guesswork begins.
They're going to resign goaltender Pascal Leclaire, a restricted free agent. That's for certain. The only question is for how much, and, with Steve Mason lurking in juniors, how long? My guess is Leclaire will make between $3 million and $5 million per year, depending on the term. So let's say, for the sake of simplicity, that Leclaire makes $4 million per season.
Now we're at 14 players for $28.385 million.
Also likely to resign and play in the NHL next season, with salary guesses in parenthesis are: Dan Fritche ($850,000), Jan Hejda ($1.75 million) and Aaron Rome ($800,000).
Now we're at 17 players for $31.785 million.
These are the decisions that have to be made by July 1. No, the Blue Jackets don't have to determine if Brassard and Voracek are going to stick in the NHL -- that will be decided by their play in training camp, GM Scott Howson has said -- but they'll need to plan one way or another before they hit the free agent market.
I'd say Voracek is 90-10 to stick in Columbus. I'd say Brassard is 70-30 to be a full-time Blue Jacket, but only if he can hold down the No. 2 center spot. He's bigger and stronger now than he was when he played in Columbus earlier this season, only a few weeks after he'd come back from a broken jaw. He's still two seasons (or more) from being a bona fide No. 1.
OK, so with 17 players at $31.785 million, the Blue Jackets have four or five spots to fill. Depending on how this goes, they could have between $16 million to $20 million to spend on these spots, too, which should really excite Blue Jackets fans.
Here's how I see it playing out:
We've established that the Blue Jackets are likely to trade for a No. 1 center rather than sign one as a free agent. Last year was the prime off-season to sign high-end centers (Gomez, Drury, Briere, etc.), but the Blue Jackets had too many bad contracts and too much wasted money to make the right moves.
This year's crop is somewhat short of bumper.
I'm starting to believe that Zherdev, while not on the block, per se, is a prime candidate to be traded, but only if the Blue Jackets get the prime-time center they desire. Zherdev and the Blue Jackets' No. 6 overall choice would garner a very good player in return. Maybe they'll throw in Brule, too.
Say the No. 1 center they acquire is making $6 million this season. That would represent a $2.750 million increase in salary over Zherdev, so now the Blue Jackets are at 17 players for $34.535 million.
Under this scenario, they would need to sign one free agent winger (assuming Voracek is ready) and two defensemen with the remaining money, about $16 million or $17 million.
Left winger Ryan Malone would be the perfect piece, and he's the kind of player on which you could justify overpaying, both in money and term. The kid is a self-starter, a self-motivated player who could help continue the culture change in the dressing room. He doesn't need to be prodded, and he doesn't need to be told when to prod others, either. It'll be hard to get him out of Pittsburgh -- his dad played there, he was born there -- but the Blue Jackets could make him a sweetheart offer if the Penguins don't get him sewn up by July 1.
I'm not a big Kristian Huselius fan, but he's a name to keep in mind, too. Actually, this year's crop of free agent wingers is not bad.
The makeover of the Blue Jackets defense will be just as intriguing, if not more so, than the forwards. If they keep Hejda, Klesla, Tollefsen and Rome in the mix, they've got to add two players who are very adept at moving the puck, or at least two players who can help operate a power play with some level of competency.
They can certainly afford this with the money they are willing to spend, but -- as was noted in the Sunday Dispatch -- the hard part will be finding guys willing to take a chance on the Blue Jackets.
Wade Redden anybody? It's looking likely that Ottawa will let him walk. The Blue Jackets might have to give him a real eye-opening offer to get him to consider Columbus, but what a statement that would make.
I don't think it can be stated enough how important the entry draft is to the Blue Jackets this season. And, no, I don't mean simply drafting the right player.
It's important the Blue Jackets make a splash at the draft. It's important they send a message to the rest of the NHL that they're serious about building a winner -- not for 2011-12, but 2008-09. If they make headlines in Ottawa, it gives the hockey world an entire week before free agency starts to being viewing the Blue Jackets -- perennial losers -- in a much different light.
Maybe the Blue Jackets are this year's Philadelphia Flyers. Remember how the Flyers turned over their roster last summer. Mostly, the turnover and the change of perception began at the draft, when they made a slew of moves.
Here's a way-out-in-front look at a lineup for next season (FA is free agent; AIT is a player acquired in trade):
Forwards
F1: Nash -- AIT -- Modin
F2: FA -- Brassard -- Voracek/FA
F3: Chimera -- Malhotra -- Brule/Voracek
F4: Murray -- Novotny -- Boll
Defensemen
D1: FA -- Hejda
D2: FA -- Klesla
D3: Rome -- Tollefsen
(Kris Russell and Clay Wilson figure into the mix, too)
Goaltenders
G1: Leclaire
G2: Norrena
Now, another matter:
There have been lots of questions about the Blue Jackets' self-imposed budget. I sense frustration with some people regarding the lack of a hard cap, as stated recently in a Dispatch interview with Blue Jackets president Mike Priest.
My opinion: Blue Jackets fans should be elated by this policy.
Priest's point is that the ownership group trusts Howson to make good moves that make sense for today and the future. They don't want him to be limited or held in check by an arbitrary figure. They don't want him to spend $16 million just because he has $16 million to spend, which is what so often happens with a club's cap. They want him to make a series of very smart moves, and they're willing to spend for it.
This was the same policy in place under previous president and general manager Doug MacLean, but many of the moves he made weren't smart. In fact, they were ill-timed and really costly.
If Howson has a banner summer and is presented with a bevy of moves that could turn the Blue Jackets into a powerhouse, the ownership group would rubber stamp it. Up to $52 million? Sure. Up to $54 million? Maybe. All the way up to the NHL salary cap limit?
"We'd listen," Priest said. "We'd consider it."
The Blue Jackets have reached a point of desperation. They might not view it that way or choose that word, but that's pretty close to the truth. They know they have to win now. They know a lot of fans have stopped showing up and, worse, have stopped caring. A market hangs in the balance.
They have to act this summer -- quickly and wisely.

(Column by Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch)