COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Columbus Blue Jackets have made a major move to shore up their lagging offense by signing free-agent right wing Nathan Horton away from the Boston Bruins.
The 28-year-old forward, who visited Columbus earlier this week, signed a seven-year deal.
Horton, who still needs offseason shoulder surgery which will delay the start of his season, provides the Blue Jackets with punch it lacked a year ago when it just missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker despite finishing 25th in the NHL in goals. He's averaged 23 goals over the last eight seasons.
The Blue Jackets' are built around Vezina Trophy-winning goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who recently signed a two-year contract. The club badly needed a scoring threat to go with Marian Gaborik.
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