The Columbus Blue Jackets have had quite the rollercoaster of a season. After having a busy off-season with some major acquisitions,, the team was supposed to be competitive this season (2023/24) and in the mix for the playoffs. But they are currently 18-28-10, and in 29th place in the league with only 46 points. They are coming off a 2 to 1 loss against the Buffalo Sabres, but recently fired their General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen, after 11 years at the helm. The move came as a shock to some, but not to others, given how Kekalainen had so much time to build this team into a contender. The team has had some playoff success (the big round was when they knocked out the Tampa Bay Lightning in 4 games and ruined everyone’s playoff brackets). But for the past 3 years, it hasn’t been good, and after a disappointing season last year (25-48-9), Jarmo believed that they needed to bolster their blueline to really try to contend for the playoffs. They were able to sign Johnny Gaudreau signed a 7-year, $68 million dollar contract on July 13, 2022 but he has struggled (8 goals and 32 assists in 55 games and at a -19), eliminating the idea that no one wants to sign in Columbus. But now they have Patrik Laine, who is on a 4-year, $34 million dollar contract, out indefinitely, as he has entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. We want to wish Patrik all the best and hope to see him back on the ice soon, but that is a big loss from a guy who can score some big goals (he has 64 goals for the Blue Jackets since his trade). But if the Blue Jackets are to be successful, they need both of these players to be at their top game. It might greatly help to have a 2-way centre that can help feed them both the puck. As most pundits know, you build your team down the middle (and it might be a key goal for the new GM).
But another reason why the team is struggling is the constant injuries they are dealing with (right now it is their superstar rookie Adam Fantilli and he is expected to be out until at least till the end of March). Fantilli,who had a great start to his rookie season; 12 goals and 15 assists in 49 games, has been a bright spot and will be a cornerstone of this team. Without him and Laine, this will impact their offence. They are currently 21st in the league for Goals For at 2.96 and 3.47 Goals Against and it can make it hard to win games. This is because if you aren’t scoring, you have to make sure to keep the puck out of the net. Currently the net is split between Daniil Tarasov and Elvis Merzlikins after trading Joonas Korpisalo last season. But thus far Tarasov, 24, has a 0.881 SV% and a 3.78 goals against, while Merzlinkins has a .900 SV% in 32 games with a 3.33. Now more recently there were conversations with Elvis wanting out of Columbus for a fresh start, his big $5.4 million dollar cap hit can deter a lot of teams from taking him on, especially for another 3 years after this season. But to fix this problem internally, management might want to look at a defensive coach to implement a system where there are fewer danger chances or shots against them, especially if your goaltending is average. Now the Blue Jackets already have some solid pieces on the blue line (Zach Werenski, Ivan Provorov, Jake Bean and Damon Severson) but It seems that the system that Pascal Vincent and his assist coaches (Jared Boll, Josef Boumedienne, Steve McCarthy, Mark Recchi) are implementing isn’t as effective, even though it is Vincent’s first year as Head Coach. We might see a coaching change again with a new GM coming in, but that remains to be seen.
Now I don’t want to make it seem like it is all doom and gloom, because there is some good within this team. First off they have a lot of good young pieces (Kent Johnson, Cole Sillinger, Yegor Chinakhov, and Adam Boqvist) all under 25 already in the system and have all bright futures, but you still need to surround them with them veterans (look at Chicago with Hall and Foligno around Bedard). The new GM has to find some veterans willing to play around your young core and protect them and to give them support. But that will also be a challenge as they are also up close against the cap (around $4 million in cap space) and so they may need to trade a piece or two to make room. There is a good team here on paper and they should be better but it seems some moves need to be made. They do still have their first round pick this upcoming draft and they have some great young prospects coming in through the pipeline. Columbus fans should be excited about. David Jiricek, a defenceman selected at #6 in 2022 NHL Draft and Denton Mateychuk, another young stud defenceman, who was picked at #12 pick in that same draft. Both players have been very good for their teams, and we can’t wait to see how they transition to the NHL. They also have Dmitri Voronkov, who right now plays for the Bars Kazan in the KHL and in 54 games has 18 goals and 13 assists. That’s a good depth piece for the team. They will be excellent. They also have a very dedicated fan base as they currently have a ~16,782 attendance, which is impressive for a team that has struggled for the past 4 years. This shows that there are hockey fans in Columbus and that they are passionate fans. They want to have some success and I believe it is up to the current management to build things up so that we as fans get to see the cannon go off multiple times in the postseason as Columbus goes for a deep run. We are excited to see the future for the Blue Jackets and we want to see the team move in the right direction.
But what are your thoughts? Questions? Suggestions? Then remember to tune in each week to get all the latest news in the world of hockey. For more hockey news, different takes or if you want to chat about anything hockey give me a follow @hockey_two on TWITTER and give us a follow on YouTube, or at https://twoguysandhockeytalk.com/.
- Pawel ‘The Cat’
References – Source: Puckprose.com, website is https://facts.net/lifestyle/sports/15-facts-about-columbus-blue-jackets/ for the photo.
