"SHOOOOOOOOOOOOT!"
It's almost a guarantee that at every Blue Jackets game, especially on the power play, you will hear this bellowing from the 200-level at Nationwide Arena.
Most of us have been in this crowd before, simply frustrated in the Blue Jackets taking what seemed like way too long to shoot the puck. Or, just waiting for them to shoot, period.
Last season, however, the Blue Jackets took a different approach. They took more shots on goal than they ever have, by a seemingly large margin (more than 34 per game).
The problem?
They had fewer goals than the season before, shot less efficiently, and were ranked right in the middle or near the bottom of the NHL in both categories. It was a tough pill to swallow, as the Jackets were consistently outshooting opponents (by a lot).
But in no statistical facet did this shooting spree improve the Blue Jackets' output from the year prior. Less wins. Worse power play. Still a first-round playoff exit.
Yet, the echoes to shoot more reign on.
Let's take some advice from the defending champions:
Last season, the Washington Capitals were dead last – this is true – in total shots. They averaged 29 per game.
Their shooting percentage, however, was tied for first in the league. What's the correlation here?
Well, Washington absolutely has more skilled players than Columbus. But it's what they choose to do with those skilled players, compared to teams like the Jackets, offensively that is worth pointing out.
The Capitals had five players who took more than 135 shots last season. Their names are Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom and Lars Eller. Solid group.
The Jackets, on the other hand, had 10 players who took more than 135 shots. David Savard and Boone Jenner are among that group.
Savard and Jenner are solid role players for the Blue Jackets, but are in the company of top-level scorers in terms of the amount of shots they are taking, which means that shooters like Artemi Panarin, Zach Werenski, and even Alexander Wennberg are getting less rips.
The amount of shots per game is also important to look at, though: since David Savard played 81 games, compared to someone like Wennberg who only played 66.
And even when we look at that category, Wennberg averaged about 1.1 shots per game, with Savard, Jack Johnson, Brandon Dubinsky, Markus Nutivaara and Matt Calvert all averaging more shots per game than him.
This...is not okay.
The Jackets, on the other hand, had ten players who took more than 135 shots.
The issue with Wennberg partially has to do with his pass-first preference, but the idea needs to be cast across the team as a whole: the top players need to be taking the most shots, period.
If Columbus can become a team that generates more dangerous scoring chances with its star players leading the way, they have a chance to do some real offensive damage this season – which will be incredibly needed come April and May.
