There will be no arbitration hearings happening on Wednesday, as the last of the scheduled players to have theirs signed at the 11th hour on Wednesday morning. Defenseman Anton Stralman signed a 1-year deal worth $1.95 million, keeping everything rather civil in Columbus and re-adding an important piece to the team's blueline.Stralman was acquired by Columbus from Calgary, just before the start of last season, and he was an absolute steal by the Blue Jackets, scoring 6 goals and adding 28 assists in 73 games for the club, ranking him 39th among blueliners in the NHL, which is a fantastic ranking to be at, especially for fantasy drafts. Stralman should attract some interest at the draft this year, especially being the Blue Jackets top scoring defenseman.
| Forwards | Defense | Goalies |
| Rick Nash | Anton Stralman | Steve Mason |
| Antoine Vermette | Fedor Tyutin | Mathieu Garon |
| Kristian Huselius | Kris Russell | |
| R.J. Umberger | Jan Hejda | |
| Jakub Voracek | Mike Commodore | |
| Derrick Brassard | Marc Methot | |
| Chris Clark | Rostislav Klesla | |
| Ethan Moreau | ||
| Sami Pahlsson | ||
| Derek Dorsett | ||
| Andrew Murray | ||
| Jared Boll | ||
| Nikita Filatov |
The Blue Jackets now have 22 players on their team table, plus one buyout on their books for an annual cap hit of $54.5 million, which puts them in great shape for the regular season, but not too much room for any new faces, barring injury, of course. The Stralman decision really fit nicely into the books for the 2011 season, leaving the team plenty of wiggle room, should they make enough noise in the regular season, maybe to pick up a rental or two along the way and make a good run for the playoffs.
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