COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 2015-2016 season for the Columbus Blue Jackets was supposed to be the year they challenged for the top of the Metropolitan Division, not a complete disaster.
After a 0-8-0 start, firing head coach Todd Richardson, trading Ryan Johansen, suffering injuries to some key players, the Jackets wound up finishing 27th in the league.
Brandon Dubinsky needs a breakout season for Jackets – file photo by Brent Clark
John Tortorella will have his first full season as head coach. With underperforming veterans with no move contracts and a group of younger players and new prospects, he will have to whip them into a brand new team.
In the off-season, the Blue Jackets higher ups bought out the contracts of Jared Boll and Fedor Tyutin. Ironically they didn’t shake things up by making bigger trades. It’s possible that they are hoping that Tortorella’s past accolades such as winning a Stanley Cup can lead this team to its potential.
Last year it was like he was there as a trauma surgeon trying to stop a major hemorrhage.
The Jackets are hoping this isn’t the case this year. Call this season one of rebirth, redemption, or going back to square one, because it doesn’t seem like a rebuilding year.
Forwards The depth of the forward line is as deep as bass singing opera. When everyone is healthy, this group should be a force to be reckoned. Six forwards scored 40 points or more with Brandon Saad leading the charge at 31-22-53.
The biggest question with this group is who is going to replace Ryan Johansen? Alexander Wennberg showed promise going 8-32-40 in 69 games, but the difference in goals and assists shows that he is not a natural goal scorer.
Veteran Brandon Dubinsky’s performance has been inconsistent and erratic since joining the Jackets in the 2012-2013 season. Although most of it is due to injury, when he is on all cylinders, he is a threat. The question is can he stay healthy?
Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Jacket’s 3rd overall draft pick can easily win a spot on the team. Dubois is a two way forward who can score goals and hit like a truck. His potential has yet to be seen making him a wild card.
Boone Jenner was the highest point scoring center with 30-19-49. Jenner has drastically improved since coming to the Jackets in the 2013-2014 season. With Dubinsky not playing to his potential, Jenner should be the top center on the team.
Defensemen This is the soft spot for the Jackets, though there were a few changes on this side of the hockey team. The aforementioned Tyutin is no longer with the team after having an abysmal season. Some of the severe bleeding was stopped by a mid-season trade giving Seth Jones to the Jackets from Nashville. Jones picked up 20 points in 41 games with 24 minutes of ice time a game. He and took on some heavy pressure as soon as he dawned the Jackets sweater and became the defensive star of the team.
However, there are some looming questions concerning this unit.
This was the injury prone Ryan Murray’s first full season without an injury. Can he stay healthy?
David Savard has been a huge asset to the Jacket’s blueline. In 2013-2014 he went 5-10-15 with 70 games played, and then notched 11-25-36 in 82 games the very next year. Last year he scored 4-21-25 in 65 games leading the defense in points. Can he still improve?
The variable in this equation is Zach Werenski. Werenski impressed scouts in the World Junior Championships representing Team USA last year. He also helped lead the Lake Erie Monsters to a Calder Cup victory. The Jackets are looking for some big things from this two-way defenseman. Can Werenski play at the NHL level?
Goaltending Some can make a strong argument that this is the weakest part of the team. This is not the case since many of the goals scored were defensive errors. This is actually the strongest asset the Jackets have.
Sergei Bobrovsky had a horrible year facing a series of injuries only playing 37 games with a cockroach low .908 save percentage. This isn’t good, especially when he is the second highest paid goalie in the NHL. After putting up three incredible seasons, one of which he won a Vezina trophy, Bobrovsky will have to redeem himself. If not, right on his heels is Finnish born Joonas Korpisalo who could eventually take Bobrovsky’s spot if things don’t improve.
Korpisalo went 16-11-2 with a .920 save percentage, making his performance one of the bright spots of the year.
Overall The problems facing the Columbus Blue Jackets are a lack of discipline, bad special teams, and horrific defense. The lack of on ice discipline gave the Jacket’s a godlike walloping 380 penalty minutes, which is the third highest in the league. They are 19th in the league in penalty killing and 21st in the power play.
As for defense, they rank 29th out of 30 teams. Hockey teams can’t win games if they have people in the penalty box constantly, and a poor penalty kill adds fuel to the fire. The fact that the Jackets have a hard time scoring on the power play makes it difficult to win games. Still, there is a silver lining in this stew of losing.
Over the past five seasons the Jackets have went 61-35-4 in the last 20 games of the season. If they can get over the hump of going 30-60-10 in the first 20 games of the season, it would make a serious difference.
Head coach John Tortorella should be the taskmaster and disciplinarian that he is to turn this ship around. GM Jarmo Kekalainen made a wise decision in hiring him.
The question is will the changes that Kekalainen and the brass made over the past year pay off?
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