The 2022-23 NHL season is here.
While the Nashville Predators are 2-0-0 after sweeping the San Jose Sharks in Prague over the weekend, the rest of the league starts getting things underway Tuesday night.
It's beautiful https://t.co/lvKIBbJ5XP pic.twitter.com/D6iGZp6hHK
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) October 10, 2022
The Columbus Blue Jackets will open their season at the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday before opening up the home portion of the schedule against the three-time reigning Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night.
They'll then travel to St. Louis to battle the Blues in the first of 16 back-to-backs on the season.
All three of those Blue Jackets opponents have strong playoff aspirations in mind and represent a tough test for Columbus as the Blue Jackets look to get the season off on the right note.
FiveThirtyEight features odds for all the teams and lists the Lightning with the second-best odds (10%) to win the Stanley Cup behind the Colorado Avalanche (18%), with the Hurricanes third (7%), and the Blues seventh (6%).
The Blue Jackets also represent a test for teams.
"We have speed and the league is fast," Larsen said following Saturday night's preseason finale against the Washington Capitals. "I look at our group and we can transition, we can attack, we can arrive, we stay connected and we can be a handful for a lot of teams."
On top of that, the Blue Jackets were one of the better offensive clubs last season, and will now add to their arsenal with a dynamic 1-2 scoring punch of Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine.
Teams know what kind of havoc Gaudreau and Laine, respectively, can each provide. Specifically for Laine, being able to line up with his new winger, coupled with his summer training leading up to this season, might have Laine set up for his best year to date.
"He came prepared," Larsen said. "It's the best shape I've seen him and I think he felt it. You can see how he's moving. I really liked his bodywork for camp, what he's looking like...how he's attacking the game with his speed.
"When he comes with that kind of speed and you mix in the shot, it gets pretty lethal."
The defense will need to improve after allowing a franchise-high 297 goals last season. As Brad Larsen noted, per Aaron Portzline in The Athletic, it might take a few months to see if the new-look commitment from both the forwards and defensemen is for real, but the added emphasis from camp is being heard. And felt as Nick Blankenburg experienced Saturday night.
"I’ve seen progress," Larsen said. "There’s real concentration on it. There are adjustments and different things I’m not going to get into, but guys are plugging into it."
Asked Nick Blankenburg about how it felt to block that Ovechkin shot in the third period: Mentally it felt pretty good, but physically, not so good. Just trying to show the guys on the team and show the staff that Ill do anything to help the team win. #CBJ
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) October 9, 2022
Who knows how much that blocked shot made the difference in final roster decisions but Blankenburg found himself on the right side of the diving line. First-round pick David Jiricek is headed to Cleveland but will likely be called up not long from now.
Larsen likes how his team fared in their final tune-up against the Capitals on Saturday, a 4-3 overtime loss.
"This was a great tune-up game," Larsen said. "I liked a lot of things that we did. There's some stuff we can learn from, no question, but it's a perfect tune-up game going into the season."
Just as you can’t take too much away from preseason results, a season isn’t made or broken in October. But coming out on the plus side of the ledger is certainly the preferable route and one that can boost confidence in the young club early.
"The word we've talked a lot with our group is humility," Larsen said on Monday. "There's a lot of layers to that word and being humble enough to stay in the moment. That's really where you have to stay.
"It can be terrifying when you start looking at the schedule and the quality of the opponent.
"We have to prepare, we have to focus on our game and how we're going to play, and then we'll give them the information, then they got to go out and execute."
Last year, the Blue Jackets were off and flying to a 7-3-0 start and were 5-3-0 in the month of October. This season, the entire opening month figures to be a good measuring stick.
After the first three games, they have three home games against the Vancouver Canucks (93-point projection), Predators (94), and Pittsburgh Penguins (98) before a road trip to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Rangers (101).
They'll then come home to face the Arizona Coyotes (78) and Boston Bruins (100) before closing the month against the Devils (79) in New Jersey.
How will they fare this October?
