The 4-5-2 Columbus Blue Jackets are right in the thick of a crowded and bunched Metropolitan Division.
How they've gotten to where they are with four wins and 10 points hasn't come quite how we would have figured.
For starters, who's the leading point-scorer for the Blue Jackets?
He's a new off-season addition, coming over via trade to help shore up the blue line. And he has no goals yet.
With eight assists, Ivan Provorov paces the club with eight points.
It's good for Provorov but signifies there are players off to slow starts in the goal-scoring department.
Next up with seven points is Boone Jenner (five goals, two assists) — Three of those goals came in a hat trick against the New York Rangers on Oct. 14 — followed by Adam Fantilli (two goals, four assists), Jack Roslovic (two goals, four assists), and Zach Werenski (one goal, five assists).
Kirill Marchenko set the league on fire with 25 points in 59 games and put up statistical oddities with his scoring numbers in which he had 21 goals and four assists. This season, he has five points (one goal, four assists) as he looks to find his goal-scoring chemistry.
But he's matched his assists total from last season.
Among the more mystifying starts to a season goes to Johnny Gaudreau based on the veteran's track record. Gaudreau finally broke a career-long start to a season (nine games) without a goal when he buried the empty-netter on Nov. 2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 4-2 win.
Tampas youngest player on the roster is the 25-year-old Brandon Hagel, born in August 1998. The Blue Jackets have seven players born in the year 2000 or later. #CBJ
— CBJ Stats (@BlueJacketStats) November 2, 2023
Gaudreau was benched in the third period of Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals and played a season-low 11:55, the fourth-lowest amount of ice time in his career.
First-year head coach Pascal Vincent hasn't been afraid to bench his players, regardless of the name on the back of the sweater. Kent Johnson has been a healthy scratch twice this season including opening night. After a third-period turnover on the power play, he was benched for the rest of the period and is now playing for the Cleveland Monsters.
Marchenko was a healthy scratch for two consecutive games before scoring a goal against the Lightning in the 4-2 win.
Speaking of Marchenko, there's something there with him and Dmitri Vronkov. Voronkov has made franchise history with four points (two goals, two assists) in his first five games and has played the last two games on a line with Marchenko.
Most points in #CBJ history in the first five games of a player's career:
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) November 5, 2023
5 -- Zach Werenski
4 -- David Vyborny, now Dmitri Voronkov
| Corsi For/Against | Shots For/Against | Scoring Chances For/Against | High Danger Chances For/Against | Goals For/Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29/14 | 14/4 | 16/7 | 6/4 | 2/0 |
Looking at the overall offense so far, Columbus is 27th in the league in goals for per game (2.55), tied with the Calgary Flames. Monday's opponent, the Florida Panthers, is 25th (2.60).
At 21st in the league, the Blue Jackets' 5v5 xGF% (47.41) is higher than the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Vegas Golden Knights, and Lightning, among other teams per Natural Stat Trick.
Defensively, the Blue Jackets have looked pretty good since the beginning of the season. They're 16th in the league in goals allowed per game (3.09). Alongside team defense, goaltending was the biggest question mark coming in.
And so far, by and large, Elvis Merzlikins has played well.
According to MoneyPuck, his goals saved above expected is 0.5, and he's 3-3-2 on the season with a 2.86 goals against average and .905 save percentage. He allowed two goals in the win over the Lightning and two in the 2-1 loss to the Capitals.
The power play (26th, 12.8%) is still looking to get going as they are 5-for-39. It's better than the St. Louis Blues, who are 1-for-27. Columbus has drawn 49 penalties this year (14th) after drawing 35 (31st) in their first 11 games last season.
Emil Bemstrom has three goals this season — all on the power play — including three in two consecutive games but none since his two-goal game in the 4-3 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 26.
This is the Blue Jackets first four-game point streak since November 10th-17th, 2022. #CBJ
— CBJ Stats (@BlueJacketStats) October 27, 2023
The penalty kill (8th, 86.5%) has been on fire, killing off their last 12 penalties. That includes three in the second period against the Lightning.
Columbus is registering 32.3 shots per game (12th) while surrendering 31.9 (22nd). Last season, they put up 29.3 shots per game (26th) and allowed 35.4 shots per game (31).
They put up a historic amount of shots, 54 all total, against the Minnesota Wild in the 5-4 overtime win on Oct. 21.
Columbus 54 shots on goal are the most theyve had in a game since February 16th, 2020 a span of 1,343 days.
— CBJ Stats (@BlueJacketStats) October 22, 2023
That same game was also the last time that the #CBJ outshot their opponent by 25+ shots on goal.
Vincent's Blue Jackets will look to get back to .500 on the season tonight when they take on the Panthers from Amerant Bank Arena.
