After giving out the 1st Ohio Battery Award for Columbus Blue Jackets' Rookie of the Year, it is time to give out our next award.
This time we try to pinpoint the Most Improved Player award. There are an awful lot of candidates to pick from with many players having career years.
Here are your three finalists and an honorable mention to boot.
Defenseman David Savard
The differences you'll see in Savard's game don't show up on the score sheet like many others nominated. He just goes about his business in the most simple way possible.
Being moved around in the lineup in years past is a frustrating position to be in and he has made it work.
Savard in 74 games scored six goals and contributed 17 assists for a total of 23 points. The mark isn't a career high, but the decreased ice time given to him indicates that he was able to hold pace despite not playing the same amount.
His scoring stayed level but where he really improved on the back end was with his shot differential. Never really remarkable in this regard, Savard was able to get above 50% Corsi For this season. He did this even though he started almost 60% of his possessions in the defensive zone.
He was given a more difficult assignment this past season and Savard passed with flying colors. It looks like Savard is finally living up to his potential.
Winger Nick Foligno
The Blue Jackets' captain had some explaining to do after his disappointing 2015-16 campaign.
After only scoring 37 points during 15-16, he needed to come back and be the scoring winger that many have seen him be. The question became whether or not Foligno had lost a step or was facing tougher than average luck.
It was never going to be likely that Foligno was going to put up 71 points again like he did in 2014-15. After the season ended, it was pointed out that due to his shooting percentage his scoring output was an aberration.
Nonetheless, Foligno was better than the 37 points he put up last season. During the 2016-17 campaign, he posted 51 points. 26 goals and 25 assists are much more in line with what he has done in the past.
It may not have been a huge improvement but 14 points isn't a number to scoff at. Even though it is likely that his shooting percentage finally normalized.
Center Alexander Wennberg
Given the unenviable task of playing the role as number one center. It would've been okay if Wennberg had an average year.
In his first year in the league, Wennberg put up 20 points. In his second year in the league, he put up 40 points. In his third year, he posted 59 points. These are remarkable increases from year to year.
This doesn't even include the role changes that he has gone through. He is just about to come into his prime and we haven't seen the best of the player yet.
He needs to shoot the puck more and with time that should become better. It shouldn't take away from one of the best seasons from a Blue Jackets' center ever. He is on an upward trajectory that shows no signs of stopping.
Honorable Mention: Center Sam Gagner
Gagner didn't play on the Blue Jackets before the 2016-17 season, so it didn't feel right to put him on the most improved list.
He went from after thought with the Philadelphia Flyers to scoring dynamo with Columbus. A lot of the credit goes to his success on the power play, where he scored in bunches. Gagner knows how to fill the back of the net and was put in a position to succeed.
If used in the right situation, he can be a difference maker. Whether he does that with the Blue Jackets' next season is another story.
The Winner Is: Alexander Wennberg
It was a simple decision.
When looking at all of the candidates, Wennberg showed the most improvement in different facets of the game.
First, his scoring went way up. Second, his shot differential improved a great amount. Third, he was given a new role and succeeded wonderfully.
All of that adds up to a player that is poised to be the Blue Jackets' number one center of the future.
