FanHouse Nikita Filatov

The Columbus Blue Jackets drafted a super-skilled freelancing forward a year ago and are now wondering why he's not developing into Jere Lehtinen. So on Tuesday, Nikita Filatov took his sticks and went home to Russia and the KHL -- as the Blue Jackets always knew he could.

Now the big question is, where do the Blue Jackets and their "prized" prospect go from here?

Newsmakers in the NHL: During the regular season it's our Weekday look at the previous night's action and some of the storylines taking place around the league. Have a tip or something you want linked? Send it in to nhlfanhouse@gmail.com.

Blue Jackets 5, Canucks 3: It's a long season, and when all is said and done I have no doubt that Roberto Luongo will once again be at the top of the pile when it comes to NHL goaltenders. His first three starts of the season, however, have been quite forgettable, and Monday's game against Columbus was certainly the worst. Luongo was lifted after giving up four goals on just 12 shots, including three in a row to start the second period. Through three starts he's stopped just 50 of 61 shots.

---

---

For the third time in three weeks we have a new team on top of our power rankings, as the NHL-leading San Jose Sharks take over the top spot.

The Devils take a fall thanks to their recent six-game losing streak, while Anaheim continues to climb the rankings.

Every Monday morning The Ice Sheet will take a close look at everything that's happened in the NHL since Friday night at 5:00 PM -- or if need be, anything else the author wants to bleat about. To read them all, click here.

It's been an eventful couple of weeks for Blue Jackets forward Nikita Filatov. Fresh off helping Russia to a bronze medal in the 2009 World Junior Champions -- Filatov was tied with Canadian wunderkind John Tavares in goals scored with eight -- Columbus recalled Filatov to its roster immediately after the tournament.

In just his second game back with the big club -- one depleted by some key injuries -- after his recall, Filatov notched the first hat trick of his career against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night -- a feat he completed while logging just a shade under 10 minutes in ice time. While it's still early in his career, one thing ought to be clear -- Filatov is that sort of natural goal scorer who has the sort of touch that can't be taught, you just have to be born with it.

Nikita Filatov, the No. 5 overall pick in this year's Entry Draft, entered play on Saturday night for Columbus with one goal in his first five NHL games. During the Blue Jackets 4-2 win over Minnesota, the 18-year-old rookie notched his first career hat trick -- and recorded an assist -- helping lead Columbus to its second straight win and sixth in its past eight games.

Steve Mason continued his strong play in net for the Blue Jackets, turning aside 21 of 23 shots to pick up his 15th win of the season. It's a big win for Columbus, as it entered the game trailing the Wild by one point in the Western Conference standings.

Mason is still leading the league in goals against average and save percentage, and he is still not an all-star. Crazy.

If you want a fine example of why NHL teams are staying away from Russian prospects more and more these days, take Columbus' pending fight with the Russian Hockey Federation over the rights to top prospect Nikita Filatov.

Without a transfer agreement between the Russians and the NHL, it was only a matter of time before the Russians starting clucking for more money.

According to a report in the daily Sovietsky Sport, Medvedev said the Blue Jackets owed half-a-million in compensation, even though Filatov's contract with CSKA (the heralded Central Red Army team) had expired.

The matter could end up headed to court, if the Russian team persists in its demands.

NHL teams are more than willing to fork out money for the rights to top Russian prospects, but they certainly won't pay $500,000 for a mid-range prospect. Thus, we've seen the number of Russian players drafted decline from about 30/year before the lockout to just five in this summer's draft. It's just not worth the headache.

Given that CSKA admitted they terminated the contract of Filatov, their position is weaker than Tampa Bay's goaltending. Filatov obviously wants to get to the NHL, and there is nothing, sort of assassinating the young prospect, that CSKA could do to stop Filatov from playing in North America next season.