In the wake of yesterday’s Jeff Carter trade, a revealing tidbit via Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch:
The Blue Jackets shed no tears over the departure of Carter, who was never comfortable in Columbus. His departure was a foregone conclusion. “From day one,” one player said when asked how long he could see the Carter trade coming.
It was never a secret that Carter was devastated after being traded by the Flyers in June. As Portzline reminds us, he “went into hiding and required a delegation of Blue Jackets to visit him at his summer home in New Jersey before he spoke publicly.”
Not a good start.
“We had high expectations when we acquired Jeff Carter,” Jackets GM Scott Howson said. “But we just couldn’t find the right fit for him. I think Jeff struggled with this right from the outset.
“He made a long-term commitment to Philadelphia. It was hard for him to deal with the trade.”
Howson was being diplomatic. You can imagine what those in the organization have said privately about Carter.
FYI, the Kings are in Columbus on March 8. Might be a few boos that night at Nationwide.