The Columbus Blue Jackets have reached the midway point of another disappointing season.
But unlike last year, where the narrative by this point in the calendar was almost entirely focused on the draft lottery, this season has a slightly better vibe. Yes, the blown leads have been nothing short of a debacle, and the fact remains that they're only slightly improved on an overall basis in the standings from a year ago. At the 41-game mark last year, they were 12-27-2 (26 points), 31st overall in the NHL. This year, they are improved, to the tune of 13-19-9 (35 points), but still sit only 28th in the NHL. Plus, this year's team is not nearly as injured, and has reinforcements that last year's roster would have killed for on most nights.
Before the season, I wrote about what would constitute a successful season. The three-pronged program was (1) for the kids to develop, (2) for the team to build an identity, and (3) to exit the season with a sense of optimism. How have they done? Well, it's a mixed bag.
Pascal Vincent had been reluctant to let Adam Fantilli, 19, play alongside Johnny Gaudreau until an injury to Boone Jenner forced his hand. His star rookie has performed exceedingly well most nights and looks like a 30-30-60 player, at worst, for the foreseeable future. He'll be their captain one day and is the 1C the organization has been looking for since 2000. Yegor Chinakhov, 22, Kirill Marchenko, 23, and Dimitri Voronkov, 23, have all shown that they belong in a middle-six capacity, and there are nights where each of them has been the best player on the ice. Cole Sillinger, 20, who struggled mightily last season, has been much improved this season, and the center is back on a trajectory that matches his first-round pedigree. Kent Johnson, 21, has games where he is the club's best player and the organization should be thrilled that he seems to figure out a little bit more about life in the NHL every month.
Those six players represent one-half of the current forward lineup. A literal half of forwards playing meaningful minutes for the Blue Jackets are still figuring out what works in the NHL, growing into their bodies, and have not yet entered their prime. Generally speaking, could they be playing more, or in better roles? Yes. We've been vocal on this website about player usage and will continue to be.
Defensively, it's a similar story. David Jiricek, 20, has found himself playing on the second and third pairing alongside Ivan Provorov and Jake Bean, respectively, in recent games. Like with Sillinger, I am long-term optimistic about his development, but wonder if the organization has the right pulse of what's best for him now. Adam Boqvist, 23, is still, somehow, only 23. He returned from injury against the Minnesota Wild and played great, providing an element that is clearly lacking with Zach Werenski injured and out of the lineup.
So that's the kids. What about identity? It's been, shall we say, not ideal. If this club does have an identity, it's that they fold like a cheap suit when the pressure ramps up. I do think that Vincent has done well to weather the early storms, high-profile benchings/scratchings, and the criticisms that came with it and is better for it now. His task was to change the culture of an organization that had just fired a head coach and then embarrassed itself trying to replace said fired coach. Not an easy spot. So while I think it's safe to knock the team's current identity, I at least feel like this one needs to be graded on a curve. Is he the right guy for the team long-term? I don't have a strong sense either way.
The final piece, then, is about the long-term outlook. Is optimism warranted? Probably? I think this has to be, sincerely, the most entertaining, talented, awful team I've ever seen. They score a lot of goals. They have a ton of young, high-end talent. And they are in 15th place of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference. It's wild that all of those things can be true, but this is their reality.
The next 41 games are academic in some ways and crucial in others. This team won't qualify for the playoffs. The trade deadline is likely to be a quiet affair. But the team must continue to see strides taken from its young players. It's learned how to get a lead in the third period - something that last year's team was not familiar with. Now it's time to learn to finish the job. Vincent must impress upon this group that it's not enough to be competitive, but that winning is the ultimate measure of success. In doing so, he would accomplish all three objectives.
