Are the Columbus Blue Jackets back?
Maybe. We won't know until they play the games, though. And as it often does, the schedule release can give some hints about where teams have the chance to pick up points and where points may be a scarcity.
Here's a full breakdown of the 2023-24 Blue Jackets schedule:
Columbus' regular season kicks off with four straight home games for the first time in franchise history, and the season opens with consecutive division rivals: Thursday, October 12th against Philadelphia, and Saturday, October 14th, against the New York Rangers. The season opener — Adam Fantilli's 19th birthday — is against a rebuilding team and should be viewed as a winnable game to start the season.
Following the Rangers game, Columbus stays home for games against the Detroit Red Wings and Calgary Flames. Only one of those teams (New York) is among the top dozen in the league in Stanley Cup odds, so this season is certainly an easier start than last season was, when the Blue Jackets first two opponents were the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning.
There is no such thing as an easy schedule in the NHL, but the rest of October is quite manageable for Columbus: the Blue Jackets have just one back-to-back, and face zero of the eight teams who are currently among the eight with the best odds to win the Cup.
Business begins to pick up in November, though. The Blue Jackets have six games in the first 12 days of the month, in five different cities, and against four teams coming off a postseason appearance. The second-to-last month of the year sees 15 total games on the schedule, which is tied with March (though March has an extra day) for the most in any calendar month. November sees two back-to-backs.
December brings eight more home games — and a few quirks. No New Year's Eve game is always a bit of a letdown, and Columbus will have to suffice for a December 29th game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. That will be the second of two (and both) visits to Nationwide Arena by the Leafs, with the first coming just six days earlier. The Blue Jackets also play of of three home afternoon games in December, a 1:00pm Sunday matchup against the Florida Panthers on the 10th. That is a direct overlap with home games at the same time by both the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns, so multi-sport fans may have to make a choice that day.
Without a game on January 1st, this will be the first time since the 2015-16 season (minus the Covid delay) that the Blue Jackets are idle on both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. But they'll need all the rest they can get in the month of January, as the month ends with a nightmare of a road trip that sees Columbus play five road games in eight nights, two countries, three time zones, and three star times. The good news? That goes into the All-Star Break, where the club will get nine days off.
| DAY | GAMES (H-R) | MONTH | GAMES (H-R) | TIME | GAMES |
| Sunday | 9 (3-6) | October | 9 (6-3) | Home (5:00p-7:30p) | 38 |
| Monday | 7 (5-2) | November | 15 (7-8) | Road (5:00p-7:30p) | 23 |
| Tuesday | 16 (5-11) | December | 14 (8-6) | Home (Before 5:00p) | 3 |
| Wednesday | 5 (2-3) | January | 12 (5-7) | Road (Before 5:00p) | 2 |
| Thursday | 16 (9-7) | February | 9 (4-5) | Road (8:00p-8:30p) | 6 |
| Friday | 8 (6-2) | March | 15 (7-8) | Road (9:00p-9:30p) | 5 |
| Saturday | 21 (11-10) | April | 8 (4-4) | Road (10:00p-10:30p) | 5 |
The last two-thirds of February stays tough for Columbus, though. Another road trip — the California swing, this time — comes after just one post-break home game. For those keeping score at home, that's just one home game (against Tampa Bay, February 10th) for the Blue Jackets between January 19th and February 23rd. As that tends to be the most grueling part of winter, maybe that's a blessing in disguise for The 5th Line?
Another long road trip for Columbus comes in March, but not before a stretch of five out of six at home and against just one playoff team from last season. That stretch concludes with a back-to-back on St. Patrick's Day weekend (against the San Jose Sharks and Winnipeg Jets) before Columbus wraps the country with a five-game set that sees them go from Detroit to Colorado to the southwest (Las Vegas and Arizona) before coming back east to wrap up the trip against Pittsburgh. Oh, to be a Southwest Rewards Member. Oh, and Columbus' home game against the Cup champs is in March, too: they face the Golden Knights on Monday, March 4th. It will be Vegas' 6th trip to Columbus, with each of the games coming on a Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday.
The conclusion of that trip is the beginning of a home-and-home with the Penguins, and Columbus starts the final month of the regular season against Pittsburgh at Nationwide Arena on March 30th. That's also the first of four straight in front of the home crowd before one last long road trip that sees the Blue Jackets face Carolina, Tampa, Florida, and Nashville in games 78, 79, 80, and 81. Game #82 is back at Nationwide, a Tuesday date against the Hurricanes.
