Jackman carried heavy responsibility in St. Louis. In Nashville, with a supporting role, he can just play
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A Weight Off His Shoulders – Jan 25, 2016 - Vol 69, Issue 10 - David Boclair
BARRET JACKMAN IS A FREE MAN. Not that he plays the game for free. Although, given his ability and his reputation, he is the nextbest thing for the Nashville Predators, who signed him to a two-year, $4-million free agent deal this past off-season.
Away from the St. Louis Blues, the franchise that drafted him 17th overall in 1999 and his only team prior to this season, Jackman is not bound by expectations and responsibilities that come with such longevity and accomplishments. And that, he has discovered, is priceless. “There are not many outside distractions,” he said. “In St. Louis, I was there for so long and knew a lot of the front office staff, and a lot of things were run through me for things that needed to be done away from the actual on-ice part of it.
“It’s definitely a bit freer, just being here on the support side of (leadership) and not being one of the go-to guys.”
As far as the Predators are concerned, they got a bargain, which has been a required element of their business plan in recent seasons given that their payroll includes the NHL’s highest individual salary (Shea Weber’s $14 million) and one of the five highest-paid goalies (Pekka Rinne at $7 million).
Jackman, 34, is a strong veteran presence on a D-corps that has six players 25 or younger. Since the start of the season (since the moment he signed, actually) he was paired with Seth Jones, the fourth-overall pick in 2013, whose ability to skate with the puck means Jackman only has to stand his ground when he’s on the ice. “He’s come exactly like advertised,” said GM David Poile. “He’s a veteran player, calm in all situations, a good mentor to our younger defense, has a little bit of a bite to him and he’s done a pretty good job on the penalty killing.”
Jackman even scored a goal in the season’s 13th game, the earliest he’s gotten one in four years and three games before his much younger and more offensively inclined partner got his first. “I was like, ‘I’ll give you every puck from now on,’ ” Jones joked. “We have a lot of fun on the ice. We’re always smiling and trying to have a good time out there.”
It’s easy when all you have to do is play. “Being in Nashville brought a little bit more fun back to the game,” Jackman said. “And it invigorated my career again.”
