Evening from the spacious Nationwide Arena press box, where the Wild and Jackets are about to partake in an exhibition game.

Josh Harding vs. Steve Mason, and it appears as if Nick Johnson will be in the lineup. He arrived in the arena with his Pittsburgh Penguins equipment bag about 5:15 p.m. after taking a car service from Pittsburgh.

If Johnson plays, I'd think Casey Wellman gets scratched because Darroll Powe is supposed to center the third line with Cal Clutterbuck and Brett Bulmer -- with Kyle Brodziak moving up to Line No. 2 in place of Matt Cullen.

I got to catch up with former Wild coach Todd Richards, who's a Jackets assistant. He says hi.

Former Blackhawks defenseman Jordan Hendry is on his way to Houston, where he's signed an AHL professional tryout (PTO) with the Aeros. Yes, an AHL deal. Why? Because he turned down a two-way NHL deal with the Wild, the team he was released from a tryout from Sunday.

For the life of me, I can't figure out why.

If he signs the two-way deal, he gets to pass through waivers and may get claimed by another team anyway. In his PTO, Aeros GM Jim Mill wrote that the Wild has the first right to match if he's offered an NHL deal. Well, wouldn't that caveat in the contract stop another team from signing him anyway? In other words, why would you sign him if the Wild's just going to match? Seems bizarre, but nevertheless, it works for the Wild because now Hendry's down in Houston basically trying out.

The boys are on the ice, but check out Blue Jackets forward Derek Dorsett's comments today about Clutterbuck in the Columbus Dispatch blog:

As part:

"Clutterbuck's the kind of guy who everyone around the league knows the way he plays," Dorsett said. "He embellishes calls. He's do it again and again and again. He's one of those guys, so you just let him be.

"He has some of the latest hits that are worthy of suspension. He throws some of the most gutless hits, and he doesn't respond. He flops all over the ice, all the time. A guy like that you don't have to five very much respect to, don't even bother with him. I pretty sure there's going to be a few choice words exchanged, but I don't think you're going to see any of our guys do something stupid."