It might sound crazy, but it also might be true.
Would you trade the Columbus Blue Jackets' defensive corps for any other in the league?
Sure, there are some good ones out there. Anaheim and Nashville come to mind. Minnesota has built a good one. Carolina's is coming of age. And the one in Pittsburgh has won back-to-back Stanley Cups.
In Our Defense...
- Point shares leader: Zach Werenski (9.1)
- Ice-time leader: Seth Jones (23:24)
- Blocked shots leader: Jack Johnson (134)
- Shots leader: Zach Werenski (188)
But with Columbus, there's a lot to like. At the top, there's one of the burgeoning dominant pairs in the league in Seth Jones and Zach Werenski. Last year's second pair, Jack Johnson and David Savard, was as steady as they come. The third pair a year ago, Ryan Murray and Markus Nutivaara, includes a one-time No. 2 overall pick and a youngster whose playoff performance turned heads. And that doesn't even include Gabriel Carlsson and Scott Harrington, who will round out the eight-man squad to begin the season.
On some teams, the defense is exactly that: a six-man unit each game tasked with keeping the puck out of the net. But on the "safe is death" Blue Jackets, the defense is expected to start the attack and sometimes finish it, as it often did a year ago.
“Of course we’re thrilled,” head coach John Tortorella said of the depth within the organization after last season. “They’re all so young, as far as what we can build there. I’ve said it to you guys all along, I think that’s going to be our engine as we go through here and keep on working at the process of trying to get where we want to be and who we are.”
Any discussion of the unit has to start with the pairing of No. 3 and No. 8.
Jones and Werenski had positive percentages last year when it came to almost all of the major 5-on-5 stats, including goals scored, scoring chances, and CF%.
Seth Jones, who turns 23 today, truly came into his own in his fourth NHL season and first full campaign with the Blue Jackets, earning his first All-Star bid. The No. 4 overall pick in the 2013 draft, Jones finished seventh on the Jackets with 42 points thanks to 12 goals and 30 assists.
With a long reach thanks to his 6-foot-4 frame that seemingly eliminates half of the ice for opponents, Jones is able to effectively play in his own zone, while he showcased a hard shot a year ago capable of taking goaltenders by surprise. He had a trio of game-winning goals, two in overtime, and also played a team-best 23:24 per game.
Most of that time was spent next to Zach Werenski, who will have to reach some impressive heights to truly put an encore on his rookie campaign. Last year at just 19 years old, the smooth skating defenseman with perhaps the league's prettiest and most accurate shot from the blue line, Werenski finished with 11 goals and 36 assists for 47 points.
The Michigan product became just the 12th teenage defenseman in league history to top the 40-point mark, and he was on the ice at 5-on-5 for 55 goals compared to just 40 against. Of course, he also has proved to be a power-play weapon with 21 points on the man advantage a season ago, and he also doesn't put himself in bad positions taking just seven minor penalties all season.
Werenski finished third in the league's Calder Trophy voting a season ago, but perhaps his most memorable moment was when he was hit by a puck off the stick of Pittsburgh's Phil Kessel in Game 3 of the playoffs. Werenski left the ice gushing blood but returned later and played until his eye swelled shut, then posted a memorable selfie that later became a T-shirt.
While such superhuman efforts won't be in the cards every night, Werenski has the ability to provide a consistent force out of the blue line all season long.
"I'm just way more comfortable here – comfortable with the city, the guys, the management," he said. "I'm looking forward to it. Last year was a lot of unknowns for me. I wasn't sure where I stood. Obviously, I knew a lot of the prospects but not a lot of the guys. Now I know I can go into battle with every one of them."
If everything stays the same, the second unit will again include David Savard and Jack Johnson. The two gave Columbus a pairing that could keep the other team off the board in stressful situations, including on the penalty kill and while protecting leads late in games.
Savard, who is about to turn 27 but has already played in 326 games for the Jackets, set a new franchise record with a plus-33 rating while playing 21:50 per game. While he was among the most trusted defensemen on the team in defensive situations, he has also showed he can pitch in offensively, finishing with six goals and 17 helpers.
Johnson also is coming off of one of the most consistent seasons of his career. Now in his sixth full season with the team after coming over in the Jeff Carter trade, the 30-year-old is coming off a season in which he had five goals and 18 assists along with a plus-23 rating. At 5-on-5, the two combined were on the ice for 129 goals for and just 89 against a season ago, all while the two faced a majority of defensive zone starts.
When it comes to the third pair, there are plenty of options. Ryan Murray seems to have played himself into one of the spots, and why wouldn't he have? The No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 draft, he's been stopped by injuries in his career but shown flashes when healthy, including a 4-21-25 mark while playing all 82 games in 2015-16. Last year, Murray had two goals and nine assists in 60 games before an injury ended his campaign.
"I think he's had a really good camp, and he keeps on progressing really well," Tortorella said.
No one knew much about Markus Nutivaara when he arrived last year at camp, but the young Finnish defenseman became a dependable part of the lineup a season ago. Possessing a simple, smooth game that could have used a little more bite, Nutivaara nonetheless impressed, finishing with two goals and five assists in 66 games. He culminated his year with a Game 4 playoff performance that included a goal and was a ludicrous plus-16 in shot attempts.
How impressive was Gabriel Carlsson a season ago? In the span of two weeks, the 2015 first-round pick went from finishing his season in Sweden to suiting up for the Blue Jackets in all five playoff games. Carlsson's stats from overseas forecast a true defensive defenseman, but the 20-year-old showed more of a willingness to embrace offense this preseason.
And then there's Scott Harrington. Picked up from Toronto before last season for Kerby Rychel, the 24-year-old spent last year with Columbus even though he played in just 22 games with a goal and two assists. He won't ever be a star, but Tortorella likes what he brings on a consistent basis.
"You have to give Harry a lot of credit as far as how he played for us last year and some of the things he had to go through," he said midway through the preseason. "This is the life and this is the lay of the land for some players. It may not be fair. It may not be a really good situation for him personally, but he has to find a way.
"That's what I thought he did last year. I don't know where it goes this year. I think he's had a good camp, but you look at our roster and there's probably going to be eight guys there when we start our season."
