Has this season played out the way you expected?
The Columbus Blue Jackets are getting big wins right now as they continue to hover around the .500 threshold. Currently, they're just one game above that mark.
However, understanding the importance of where the franchise sat entering the season, being a reset of their trajectory forward, the team seems to be playing above expectations than were originally forecasted before the season.
According to FiveThirtyEight's calculations, they have the Blue Jackets in line to hit the 84-point mark by season's end. Interestingly enough, they projected 83 points for the team on Oct. 6. More or less they've idled, or slightly improved a hold on things as the season hits mid-February.
With the roster turnover ahead of the season, including some big names on the coaching staff and on the ice, and a rookie coaching staff headlined by first-year head coach Brad Larsen, there didn't seem to be much optimism for the current 2021-22 season. Maybe not even for the next year or two.
As far as immediate success goes.
However bleak the playoffs might have looked then—and do not confuse this as suggesting this team is a playoff team. They're not!—one could look at this team at the onset of the season and already see some improvements, even if there were some obvious missing pieces, such as taking an initial step back on defense.
For instance, this team figured to score more goals based on having a full season out of a player in Patrik Laine with something to prove. He's been on a tear of late with 12 points on his current six-game point streak (seven goals, five assists).
@PatrikLaine29 collected 3-3—6 in three games to power the @BlueJacketsNHL (23-22-1, 47 points) to a perfect week and a 5-1-0 record in their past six outings dating to Jan. 27.#NHLStats: https://t.co/r9aXXy0SCw pic.twitter.com/3ugE0TEAmu
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 14, 2022
Jakub Voracek is a playmaker that this team didn't have last year, and though his goal total isn't much to write home about, he's had a really nice season. His veteran presence blends beautifully, casting a positive outlook for the group and providing more value than two goals suggest in a 32-point season.
Gus Nyquist has had a bounce-back year after missing all of last season recovering from his labral tear with 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists). The list goes on, including the first seasons from Yegor Chinakhov and Cole Sillinger, and we have seen more goals from the group collectively (3.13, 13th).
Zach Werenski is adjusting to life as the main guy on defense and doing so with a lot of newcomers in big roles.
During their three-game win streak out of the All-Star Break, the team has netted 11 goals. Sure, two of those are against the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens.
It's fun seeing this team compete on most nights—ugly blowouts were to be expected on occasion—and see if this group might be more ahead of their transition than previously thought.
Larsen surely likes the effort and the quiet confidence this team is building as these games play out.
"You got to be careful how confident you think you are," said Larsen. "We talk about staying humble is real important. I think more importantly, just how we're winning, how we're playing...the last five, six games I thought we've upped the ante on the physicality, competitiveness. Even some of those games we're down, we're playing the right way. We've talked a lot about just that process, how important that is. How you win and how you lose is important."
Some probably don't want to hear it, but of course, the more losses a lottery team piles up, the greater the chances of landing a higher draft pick, due to the increased volume of lottery balls in the spring’s NHL Draft Lottery. Though there are no guarantees. Just ask the Detroit Red Wings from a season ago.
A perfect scenario, and a larger pipe dream, is winning as many games as possible and somehow still landing at least a top-three pick.
There’s the interesting fate tied to the Chicago Blackhawks and what becomes of the rest of their season. Their top two draft picks are protected following last summer's trade between the two clubs, and the worse they do can benefit the Blue Jackets this summer.
Sitting on their current winning streak, the Blue Jackets' next challenge comes against a strong contender in the Calgary Flames, a team that thrashed the Blue Jackets 6-0 at Nationwide Arena on Jan. 26.
These are great opportunities for a young team to test themselves against better competition. We'll see what this group is made of now, and for the future, as the future of the team continues to take shape.
