A rebuild is a long process where it seems there may never be a light at the end of the tunnel.
The Blue Jackets are currently in either year two or year three of their rebuild, depending on if you start in the 2020 off-season or 2021 off-season. On Tuesday, they faced the New Jersey Devils, who look like they will be the class of the Metropolitan Division for years to come. The Devils are currently 2nd in the division and have the league's third-best record after missing the playoffs for the last four seasons and nine of the last 10. They've been out of the first round once since 2007-08, but it finally feels like they could return to national prominence due to the roster they've assembled.
Forwards
To win in the NHL, you have to be deep down the middle. The Devils have two elite centers, Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, both of whom were selected first overall in the 2019 and 2017 drafts, respectively. Not only are Hughes and Hischier elite two-way players, but they are signed to team-friendly contracts. Hughes is signed at $8M/year through 2029-30 and Hischier is under contract at $7.25M/year through 2026-27.
Now, I will say that to get two No. 1 picks in three years, you have to be bad, but you also need to get lucky. If there is any year for the Blue Jackets to get lucky and land the top pick, it's this year, because they will select Connor Bedard (C, WHL, Regina).
If they get the No. 2 pick, Adam Fantilli (C, NCAA, Michigan) is another elite center prospect to be the 1C of the future for this team, because it doesn't seem that a long-term 1C on a Stanley Cup-winning team is in the Blue Jackets organization. And you don't even need two elite centers to win. If you told me five years down the road the Blue Jackets' top two centers were Bedard and Cole Sillinger, I'd like to think they'd be winning a lot of games. Then you add in Luca Del Bel Belluz, who the Blue Jackets selected in the second round of the 2022 draft or 2019 fourth-round pick Dimitri Voronkov as your third-line center, and you're in business.
Again, this is a few years down the road, but rebuilds take time. Now let's go to the wings.
The Devils have a star in Jesper Bratt, whose pending RFA status will be one of the most intriguing storylines in the 2023 off-season, and two up-and-coming players in Dawson Mercer and Alexander Holtz, who were drafted 18th and seventh overall in the 2020 draft, respectively.
Looking at the Jackets, Kent Johnson, who has played more wing than center so far, and Kirill Marchenko look like future stars based on their performances in their rookie seasons. Both of them will be RFAs after the 2023-24 season, so the structure of their next contracts will be vital to the success of the team down the road. Yegor Chinakhov has shown flashes of being a good player in the NHL, and Kirill Dolzhenkov, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2022 draft, should be on the Jackets in the next few years. Jordan Dumais has been lighting up the CHL and has promise as a top-nine winger at the pro level.
Oh, and there's Johnny Gaudreau, who has been playing at an elite level this season and shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. Patrik Laine has 50-goal potential but hasn't been able to crack the 40-goal plateau since 2017-18, which can also be attributed to bad injury luck.
Defensemen
Dougie Hamilton, John Marino, and Jonas Siegenthaler are all high-level defensemen who are signed through 2026-27, with Hamilton and Siegenthaler signed through 2027-28.
If you ranked each organization's top-two defensemen prospects, the Devils would win, with 2021 No. 4 pick Luke Hughes and 2022 No. 2 pick Simon Nemec.
However, the Blue Jackets wouldn't be far behind, with 2022 No. 6 pick David Jiricek, who looks like a future Norris Trophy finalist, and 2022 No. 12 pick Denton Mateychuk, who's having success at the WHL level.
You can't talk about the Blue Jackets' defense without mentioning Zach Werenski, who is a star that excels on both sides of the puck. He's under contract through 2027-28 at $9.583M and will be one of the pillars of the team's rebuild.
Back to the prospects, don't forget about Stanislav Svozil, who starred at the World Juniors, and 2021 No. 25 pick Corson Ceulemans, who has been a bright spot for the Wisconsin Badgers this season.
If the Jackets' prospects develop like they're expected to and the current players at the NHL level like Adam Boqvist, Andrew Peeke, and Nick Blankenburg improve, the Blue Jackets' defense should be set for the future.
Goaltending
Neither the Devils nor the Jackets have long-term answers for the goaltending position. Vitek Vanecek has had a good season so far but can be consistent? The same goes for Mackenzie Blackwood, who has shown flashes of brilliance in the past but hasn't been able to return to that level as of late. Maybe Vanecek could be that long-term solution in the net, but time will tell.
As for the Blue Jackets, the best guess as to their long-term answer is Daniil Tarasov, who is currently in the AHL but has shown promise in limited game-time at the NHL level. The Jackets may need to look elsewhere for their goalie of the future.
The Devils have built a team where they are deep at the center position and have high-end talent in the top four on defense, which has allowed them to get away with just above-average goaltending. They've surrounded those positions with skilled wingers that have room to grow into stars. Additionally, they've got some elite prospects in the system that should make this team a consistent contender.
The Blue Jackets have some similarities with the Devils but will need to bolster the center position before they can be taken seriously as contenders. It will be interesting to see if the Blue Jackets end up following a blueprint in the next stages of their rebuild.
