Columbus Blue Jackets hockey is nearly here!
The pre-season concluded on Saturday with the Blue Jackets 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals, and the Jackets finished the exhibition slate with a 4-3-1 record. On Monday, rosters were finalized ahead of Thursday's opening night game versus John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers.
Patrik Laine appears to be enjoying his new role as center for the club.
He led the team with eight points (four goals, four assists) in five games. Emil Bemstrom might be on his last shot with the team and he was next up with seven points (three goals, four assists).
#CBJ preseason scoring leaders: pic.twitter.com/J3KNllQ9NT
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) October 8, 2023
Will their pre-season successes carry over to the regular season?
Saturday's final exhibition contest featured mostly NHL rosters between the Jackets and Capitals, so the players on the final roster bubble had to hope they made a lasting impression in the days leading up to that last game.
Our 23-man roster is SET
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) October 9, 2023
https://t.co/bnBqUKV5zQ@RuoffMortgage | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/5ZaysEbddf
The Blue Jackets feature one of the youngest rosters in the league with 11 players who are 25 or younger. Laine leads the way at 25 years old and already entering his eighth season.
Updated average ages of projected season opening lineups:
— CapFriendly Depth Charts (@CF_DepthCharts) October 10, 2023
BUF - 25.5
MTL - 25.7
CBJ - 25.8
ARZ - 26.2
ANA - 26.3
NJD - 26.4
OTT - 26.5
PHI - 26.8
SJS - 27.0
CHI - 27.1
VAN - 27.5
VGK - 27.6
DET - 27.7
FLA - 27.7
BOS - 27.8
WPG - 27.8
LAK - 28.0
STL - 28.0
CGY - 28.1
EDM - 28.1
Adam Fantilli is the youngest player on the team and will turn 19 on Thursday, which just so happens to coincide with opening night.
Will he score his first point?
Cole Sillinger is 20 years old and getting set for his third NHL season. On the other end of the spectrum, four players are 30 and older.
25 and younger
- Adam Fantilli, 18
- Cole Sillinger, 20
- Kent Johnson, 20
- Adam Boqvist, 23
- Kirill Marchenko, 23
- Liam Foudy, 23
- Alexandre Texier, 24
- Emil Bemstrom, 24
- Jake Bean, 25
- Patrik Laine, 25
- Andrew Peeke, 25
30 and older
- Erik Gudbranson, 32
- Sean Kuraly, 31
- Johnny Gaudreau, 30
- Boone Jenner, 30
The current roster includes a combined eight trips to the All-Star Game.
Gaudreau leads the way with seven seasons as an All-Star including his first as a Blue Jacket last year. Laine, surprisingly, has only played in one All-Star Game in 2017.
The Blue Jackets scored 213 goals last season (30th) with the current roster contributing towards 175 goals, 263 assists, and 438 points.
| Player | Points | Goals | Assists |
| Johnny Gaudreau | 74 | 21 | 53 |
| Patrik Laine | 52 | 22 | 30 |
| Boone Jenner | 45 | 26 | 19 |
| Jack Roslovic | 44 | 11 | 33 |
| Kent Johnson | 40 | 16 | 24 |
| Kirill Marchenko | 25 | 21 | 4 |
| Eric Robinson | 24 | 12 | 12 |
| Adam Boqvist | 24 | 5 | 19 |
| Emil Bemstrom | 22 | 7 | 15 |
| Sean Kuraly | 20 | 11 | 9 |
| Liam Foudy | 14 | 7 | 7 |
| Andrew Peeke | 13 | 6 | 7 |
| Erik Gudbranson | 13 | 1 | 12 |
| Cole Sillinger | 11 | 3 | 8 |
| Zach Werenski | 8 | 3 | 5 |
| Jake Bean | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| Justin Danforth | 3 | 2 | 1 |
How many points will a healthy Zach Werenski have this season?
Last season, the Blue Jackets had 120 points, 55 goals, and 65 assists, all franchise records, from 18 players classified as rookies. The 120 points were second in the NHL behind the Montreal Canadiens, and the 55 rookie tallies led the league last season.
For Columbus, they're hoping the collective offense as a whole will be improved.
Yegor Chinakhov (back strain) and Daniil Tarasov (knee) missed all of training camp with injuries and will start the season on the Injured/Non-Roster list. Mathieu Olivier (leg) was limited in camp and is on IR. Due to the issue with Tarasov, Spencer Martin will start the season on the roster as the backup behind Elvis Merzlikins. Martin was picked up off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks.
Perhaps a surprise that he didn't make the opening night roster, David Jiricek will be in Cleveland but it's a matter of time before he's back in Columbus. Jordan Dumais started making us wonder if he might have a shot to make the roster. He's on the Injured/Non-Roster list with an upper-body injury. Denton Mateychuk was loaned to the Western Hockey League's Moose Jaw Warriors.
Dmitri Voronkov will start his career in Cleveland as he adjusts to the North American game and rink size. A clause in his contract allows him to return to Russia if he's not in the NHL with the Blue Jackets by the end of December.
Nick Blankenburg will also be with the Monsters to start but it likely won't take long for him, Voronkov, or Jiricek to be in Columbus sooner than later.
