Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Mike Commodore doesn't want to be Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Mike Commodore anymore. The 11-year NHL veteran has requested a trade, according to a report in The Columbus Dispatch.
Commodore made the request of Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson late last week, the source said, not because he doesn't like Columbus or playing for the Blue Jackets, but because he feels he's not in coach Scott Arniel's plans.
"We're aware, obviously, that he's not been in the lineup recently," Commodore's agent, Wade Arnott, told The Dispatch this morning. "And we're trying to deal with that with the organization."
The struggle for the Blue Jackets and Howson will be to find someone that will be willing to take Commodore. He's beginning to get up there in years, and if he apparently can't crack the defense of the team in Columbus, what says he'll be able to crack the defense somewhere else?
While he rides the press box pine, as he has for the last several games, he's still the most expensive defenseman on the team with a salary cap hit of $3.75 million for the next three seasons.
Our Jackets blog, The Cannon, has their take:
You almost wonder if Howson cannot find a trade partner, would he be willing to waive Commodore down to Springfield and bring up another player like Moore, Holden, or Savard to fill his slot and avoid problems in the locker room? It would get him out of town, relieve some tension in the room, and give the kids a chance to skate...and at worst, if Commodore does play well in Springfield, perhaps he'd open a few eyes to a deal?