Record - 37-38-7 (81 points), 6th in the Metropolitan Division
Goals For: 262 (14th in the NHL), Goals Against: 300 (30th in the NHL)
Leading Goal Scorer - Oliver Bjorkstrand (28)
Leading Point Scorer - Jakub Voracek (62)
In their brief history, the Columbus Blue Jackets have only made the playoffs six times, advancing out of the first round just once. Their most recent runs of success aren't too far in the rearview mirror with their last postseason appearance coming in the 2020 season. They're not necessarily in rebuild mode like other teams around them in the standings, but they're also not a true contender either. It's an interesting spot to be in for GM Jarmo Kekalainen and HC Brad Larsen as we head into the upcoming season.
Despite not having a single player reach the 30 goal plateau, the Blue Jackets finished in the top half of the league in scoring. They had a very balanced attack offensively, with a dozen players scoring 10 or more goals. What's even crazier to think about is that their leading point scorer in Jakub Voracek wasn't one of those players. He scored just 6 goals all season long, and yet still was the only player on the team to top 60 points. This will surely change, however, now that they added Johnny Gaudreau to their lineup.
What the Jackets excelled in scoring, they lacked in defense and special teams. They finished 30th in goals against, 24th on the powerplay, and 20th on the penalty kill. None of those rankings are good enough to get you into playoffs. For a goaltending tandem as solid as Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo, you'd expect this team to be better in those departments. If you ask me, there's a couple of contributing factors that lead to the teams lack of success in these areas. For one thing, the Eastern Conference last year was loaded with cup contending teams. By the all-star break it seemed like we already knew the eight teams that would be making the postseason, it was just a matter of the seeding. The second reason is that it was the first season under their current HC Brad Larsen. Not that he did a poor job by any means, but having to adjust from John Tortorella as your coach to someone new is an incredibly drastic change. Torts changed the culture in Columbus having brought them to the playoffs in four consecutive seasons. With his style being so unique, it no surprise that it would take time for the team to get used to the new ways of working.
I feel like when it comes to the Blue Jackets' offseason there's really only one thing worth talking about, and that would be the signing of the biggest name in this year's free agency market: Johnny Gaudreau. There was a ton of speculation across the league as far was who would land the Flames all-star winger. Many were thinking New Jersey or Philly. Some were thinking the Islanders. But no one, absolutely no one was thinking the Blue Jackets would land him. When the notification came up on my phone, my initial reaction was:
It caught everybody by surprise as it really seemed like New Jersey was going to be his destination. The Jacket's signed Johnny Hockey to a 7 year, $68,250,000 contract, convincing Johnny to take less money than he was offered by Calgary and New Jersey. When asked about his decision, Gaudreau said that he's always enjoyed playing in Columbus when he was on the visiting bench, and that he has always wanted to play closer to home. While Columbus isn't nearly as close to the South Jersey area as Philly or Newark, it's still much closer than Calgary and it gives him just enough space to be able to do his own thing with his own family.
Last year was by far the best of Johnny's career. He scored a career high 40 goals and 115 points. If you only counted his even strength points he still would have finished 16th in the league in overall points. He had an ungodly +/- rating of +64, and received the 4th most votes for the Hart Trophy (league MVP). Any other year, I think he's at the very least a top 3 finalist, but this year was incredibly tough as you could have made a case for so many guys to win MVP. He is an instant game-changer for Columbus, and is the biggest name they've ever added to their team via free agency. Normally the Blue Jackets lose all of their talent to free agency (i.e. Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky).
Though Columbus did lose their top goal scorer Oliver Bjorkstrand to Seattle in free agency, Gaudreau is still a major upgrade to their team. He's a perennial superstar that is going to provide an immediate impact to this team's play at even strength as well as on their struggling powerplay. He's currently slated to play on a line with Jackets' sniper Patrik Laine, which could prove to be a major problem for opposing teams this season. Laine is looking to find that same scoring touch he had in first two years in Winnipeg, so placing him on a line with one of the best playmakers in hockey could help him exponentially. Still only 24 years old, Laine could easily reach the 40 goal plateau again now that he has Johnny feeding him the puck.
This year we'll get to see top prospect Kent Johnson come onto the scene for the Jackets. Taken 5th over by Jarmo Kekalainen and company, this kid is already being deemed as the most skilled player the team has ever drafted. Go figure, he played at the University of Michigan the past two years with every other notable draft pick, and was over a point per game each season. He was also terrific for Team Canada in their international play this past year scoring the golden goal against Finland in overtime of the finals of the World Championships. He has endless talent and has shown it over the course of his young career. Having played 9 games for the team last season, so we've already gotten a small sample size of what he can do at the NHL level. I'm really excited to see what he can do over the course of a full season if he does end up making the team.
Where do these key additions leave the Blue Jackets, though? After all, the Metro is still, without question, the toughest division in the sport. On top of that it doesn't seem like any of the top teams are going away this year. Gaudreau is a franchise changing player, there's no doubt about that. But can he produce at that same elite level he did last year on a better team in Calgary? The system Darryl Sutter had in place for the Flames as well as the line combinations greatly benefitted the star winger. Now he's on a team that will look to rely on him even more to make everyone around him better. He's going to have to carry a heavier load for this team than he has in years past. Can he do it? Can he put this squad on his back and put them over top, leapfrogging into the playoffs?
My initial thought is no. But then I think about how spread out their scoring was last year. The amount of guys that contributed. If they can get that same level of scoring from their bottom six, tighten up defensively, and improve on special teams, then this team is capable of stealing a playoff spot from one of the eight that made it last year. They're a bubble team in my eyes. Their fate can go either way, but will ultimately be decided by how good Johnny Gaudreau is for them down the stretch.
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