Three games separate the Columbus Blue Jackets from the off-season.
And once the horn sounds one final time in 2022-23 on Friday night at Nationwide Arena, it will end the most painful season in recent memory. Both in terms of a record number of man-games lost to injury and the number of losses in the standings.
But there’s some unfinished business to tend to, first.
Columbus will play their last road game on Tuesday at 7:00 pm ET against the Philadelphia Flyers. Then they'll play their remaining two home games against a Pittsburgh Penguins team who is trying to solidify a playoff spot, and they’ll play a makeup game against a Buffalo Sabres team who is still alive for playoff contention.
A view from the bottom of the #NHL standings thru 4/10:
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 11, 2023
- #Blackhawks lose 4-2 to Wild, #SJSharks lose 6-2 to Jets
- Chicago falls to 32nd due to more games played
- new, more relevant info added to chart
Today's games
CBJ at Flyers
Blackhawks at Penguins
Canucks at Ducks pic.twitter.com/E9gfB8Jf9n
As the Blue Jackets currently occupy 31st place in the overall NHL standings, the 23-year-old franchise that's starved for winning success, and has only advanced past the first round of the playoffs once, controls its own destiny, so to speak. If the Jackets fail to pick up even just one more point between now and the end of Friday night, Columbus guarantees themselves no less than a top-three pick, and the greatest odds of every team at the No. 1 overall pick.
Connor Bedard.
Everyone inside the Blue Jackets organization, from management to coaches and players, has realized the bitter reality of the situation their team has faced ever since October when the team started 3-7-0 out of the gate.
And especially throughout November when players started dropping and the injury toll increased.
Of course, management, coaches, and players want to win games. Specifically, coaches and players who are coaching and playing for jobs.
These people don't have it in them to lose. It's not in their DNA. Management would never admit to anything other than trying to win now, even as they try to piece together a healthy lineup that can fill out a roster and are ultimately tasked with building the next great roster for tomorrow. But deep in the burrows of Nationwide Arena, everyone affiliated with the franchise understands how much more impactful a loss can be in the greater picture right now.
As we finally close out the regular season, there is probably a sense of relief for everyone involved. The greatest unkept secret, tanking, is a part of our 2022-23 Blue Jackets vocabulary that won't need to be uttered much longer.
By late Friday night, everyone in the standings will have its place, solidifying their spot for the year, and we'll only have until May 8 when the draft order of the NHL lottery is unveiled to the public.
Connor Bedards junior career is likely over after Regina was eliminated from the playoffs on Monday.
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 11, 2023
His final stats
141 games played
144 goals
291 points
794 shots on goal
G E N E R A T I O N A L pic.twitter.com/T4nZ1hKzJ6
With Bedard, a center and possibly a winger in his NHL future, as the undeniable top prize of them all, he's the most exciting and hyped-up prospect since Connor McDavid. Bedard led the WHL with 143 points and 71 goals and tied for first with 72 assists. His team was eliminated from the playoffs on Monday night, however, Bedard led the Regina Pats with 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in seven games, with Blue Jackets prospect Stanislav Svozil finishing second with 13 points (four goals, nine assists).
For whichever team isn't as lucky to nab Bedard, there are consolation prizes that can make teams very happy.
Congratulations to @AdamFantilli of @umichhockey for being named the 2023 Hobey Baker Award recipient #NCAAHockey pic.twitter.com/K59hSeu77f
— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) April 7, 2023
In any other year, Hobey Baker Award winner, center Adam Fantilli, probably goes as the overall top pick. The top Division I men's college hockey player from the University of Michigan led the country in scoring with 65 points (30 goals, 35 assists) in 36 games. He finished tied for first in goals and fifth in assists.
Russian prospect and right-wing Matvei Michkov is in the KHL through 2026 so it would probably be a while before we see him in the NHL. Personal tragedy struck Michkov recently after the mysterious death of his father in Russia.
Sweden's Leo Carlsson, also a center, represents another huge prospect to be had in the draft. He had 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 44 games for Orebro HK, and he has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 12 playoff games.
Yet, if the Blue Jackets managed to finish with the greatest odds to land the No. 1 pick, it’s hard to deny the impact an elite generational talent like Bedard can have on the franchise before he even plays an NHL game.
The palpable excitement would be reminiscent of the off-season signing of superstar Johnny Gaudreau, which at that time, probably wouldn’t make you think the same team would be in the position they’re in nine months later. Now there’s a chance Gaudreau and Bedard could be teammates.
As of this view, it at least looks like the answer to the Blue Jackets’ long-coveted search for a center, and at the very least an elite forward prospect, is finally within grasp.
Is it May 8, yet?
