Columbus Blue Jackets: Dangerous Darkhorses

COLUMBUS, Ohio – It has been an interesting two years for the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 2015-2016 season started out as a disaster with the second worst start in NHL history. This promptes the firing of Todd Richards and the hiring of John Tortorella. In his first full year with the Jackets, Tortorella led them to a 50-24-108 record and a 16 game winning streak, the second longest in NHL history. Everything came to an abrupt end with a knockout punch from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the playoffs. This proves that the Columbus Blue Jackets are a serious threat, but not a Stanley Cup contenting team.

Offense

The Jackets had some nights where they turned their opponent’s goal into a shooting gallery with a few six goal wins and a 10 goal win against Montreal. Leading the scoring for the Jackets was Cam Atkinson racking up a career high of 35 goals and 62 points. Right behind him is Alexander Wennberg with 13 goals, 46 assists, and 59 points with the newly departed Brandon Saad with 24 goals, 29 assists, and 53 points, coming in third.

With Brandon Saad being traded back to the Chicago Blackhawks, in return Chicago gave the Jackets Artemi Panarin. Panarin tallied 31 goals, 43 assists, and 74 points for the Blackhawks. Arguably with the addition of Panarin the Blue Jackets added to their offensive threat. The challenge that the Jackets face is replacing the departed Scott Hartnell, Sam Gagner, and William Karlsson; three contributing players who backed up Atkinson, Wennberg and Saad.

Defense

If the Jackets offense is impressive, it pales in comparison to the defense. Ranked second in the NHL last year with an average of 2.35 goals against. The combination of Zack Werenski and Seth Jones scored a combined 89 points. Werenski was a finalist for the Calder Trophy, which was won by Toronto’s Auston Matthews. With two forty plus point scorers on the Jackets first line Werenski and Jones are a dominating pair on the blue line.

Having two big bodied veterans in jack Johnson and David Savard to back up Werenski and Jones is a recipe for the Jackets to make it into the playoffs. Adding Markus Nutivaara and Gabriel Carlsson as depth players will make it tough for other teams to score. The weak spot in this defense is Ryan Murray. Murray has had a history of injuries since being drafted back in 2012. When healthy, Murray is a diving force on the Jacket’s blue line. The key phrase is “when healthy. Murray has only played one full season without being injured.

Goaltending

The hallmark of the Jackets play is goaltending. Sergei Bobrovsky won his second Vezina Trophy last season and came in third place for the Hart Trophy with a GAA of 2.06, a .931 save percentage and 41 wins. The Russian born goaltender has been nothing short of a brick wall for the Jackets. Backing up Bobrovsky is Joonas Korpisalo. Korpisalo has had two solid years as a back up to Bobrovsky with a combined 23 wins, 2.68 GAA and a .915 save percentage.

Special Teams

. After an impressive first part of last season the Jackets wound up 12th on the power play. The addition of Panarin on the power play will give the Jackets some more fire power. Werenski is a year older and will give more strength to the power play on the blue line. Foligno, Atkinson and Wennberg will lead the charge up front. As for the penalty kill, the Jackets came in 9th last year, but will miss Karlsson as he was picked up by Las Vegas in the Expansion Draft. When all is said and done, the jackets will have a solid special teams unit.

Final Analysis

Nothing much has changed for the Blue Jackets. If anything this is an improvement in personnel. With the addition of Panarin and the possible inclusion of Pierre Luc Dubios at center the Jackets are looking to repeat a trip to the playoffs. The team that dons black and gold three hours away is the biggest threat to the Jackets hopes of winning the Stanley Cup. The question whether the Jackets can make the playoffs is a resounding YES. The question of how far they can go in the playoffs is whether they can beat the Pittsburgh Penguins. This is a tall order even with this teams current line up.