Before the puck even dropped on the NHL season, the Columbus Blue Jackets were an afterthought.
They were projected to finish in the bottom five by every major hockey outlet, and in many cases, the bottom three.
MoneyPuck, a hockey analytics website, gave the team a microscopic 0.6% chance to make the playoffs. That means you would need to simulate this season 166 times to find just one time where the Blue Jackets would finish in the top half of the eastern conference.
Self-proclaimed analytics expert Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic gave them a projection of 68 points and a "0 percent" chance to make the postseason. Not less than one, not zero-point-a number.
Zero. Percent.
But the Blue Jackets are 5-3-1, and while early, are turning heads across the league.
The disrespect is still there: as of Thursday morning, the Blue Jackets are +15000 to win the eastern conference on ESPNBet, twice that of the Montreal Canadiens, who, at +7500, have the second-lowest odds in the conference. It hasn't budged since the start of the season. They still define the Blue Jackets as, to translate numbers into words: a non-factor among the non-factors.
MoneyPuck has somehow lowered the odds from the beginning of the season, as they indicate that Columbus now has a 0.3% chance to make the playoffs. For your own safety, don't think about that one too long.
Some credit to Luszczyszyn, who has since bumped his projection for the Blue Jackets to 77 points and a 3% chance playing beyond 82 games.
These statements are not to be confused with naivety. At the current pace, the Blue Jackets would go 46-27-9, a total of 101 points that would easily qualify them for the postseason. Even with the surprising start, a triple-digit season in the points department for this team would more likely be found at the intersection of Astonishing Avenue and Shock Street.
But this team is, through the first small chunk of the season, showing that they can compete — and defeat — any team in the league. They've completely bought into coach Dean Evason's system. The mix of veterans and young players are paying off exactly how Evason and President of Hockey Operations/General Manager Don Waddell intended and the young guys are quickly growing up before our eyes.
The entire team is being given opportunities and freedom that, in most cases, they haven't had in a Columbus sweater. Permission to play to their strengths, to make mistakes without fear of being benched (as long as they're the right kind of mistakes), being embraced by the staff and the organization around them to be the best version of themselves they can be. They're playing for each other — and they're passionate about it.
They're earning it, as the phrase has become around Nationwide Arena this season.
And the fruits of these labors as the calendar shifts from October to November? A franchise that feels rejuvenated, that finally feels like it may be ready to turn the page after what feels like a thousand licks of the fingertip.
Oh, and these nine stats — one for each game of a wild opening month:
12 Multi-Goal Periods:
Through 27 periods of regulation hockey, the Blue Jackets have scored in twenty of them. That's good, but this is better: they've scored two or more goals in 12 periods already. To do that last season, it took them 46 periods.
153-Game Streak Snapped:
When the Blue Jackets got two points Wednesday night, it gave them seven points in a four-game span for the first time since November, 2022. That's a span of 153 games. The three wins during the span were also the last time that Columbus won three straight games at Nationwide Arena.
35 Goals:
The 35 goals through nine games — an average of 3.89 per game — are the most in franchise history, and the margin isn't really that close. The previous record was 31 (or, 3.44 goals per game), set three times (2009-10, 2016-17, and 2018-19).
It's Not Just Scoring:
In the eastern conference, only the New York Rangers (+16), New Jersey Devils (+11), and Tampa Bay Lightning (+11) have a better goal differential than the +10 put up by Columbus so far. And of the five teams across the entire NHL who average more goals per game, only the Rangers and Winnipeg Jets have a lower goals against average than Columbus' 2.78.
The .611:
With a .611 points percentage in the month of October, the Blue Jackets just wrapped up their fourth-best opening month in club history. The three above it? 2007, 2017, and 2018. They made the playoffs in two of those three seasons.
Outshooting The Opposition:
It's a narrow margin, but the Blue Jackets are outshooting their opposition by a difference of 28.9 to 28.3 so far. They've been outshot by at least three shots per game in each of the last four seasons, so, in a word: progress.
Bested Only By McDavid & Draisaitl:
There are 60 forward lines who have played 50+ minutes together in 5-on-5 this season. The trio of Yegor Chinakhov, Sean Monahan, and Kirill Marchenko rank second among them when it comes to expected goal percentage. In other words, how many expected goals would go in that teams favor. The Blue Jackets top line checks in at 72.9%, trailing only the Oilers top line of Zach Hyman, Leon Draisaitl, and Connor McDavid, who are at 74.0%.
14.21%:
In five-on-five play, the Blue Jackets are burying 14.21% of their shots. That ranks #1 in the NHL. Their also second in the league with a shooting percentage of 7.0% on all shot attempts, trailing on Vegas at 7.4%.
Five With Eight+:
Five Blue Jackets already have eight or more points this season: Marchenko (11), Monahan (9), Chinakhov (8), Zach Werenski (8), and Cole Sillinger (8). How does that stack up against the rest of the teams in the Metro? It's more than the New York Islanders (none), Carolina Hurricanes (2), Philadelphia Flyers (2), Washington Capitals (2), Pittsburgh Penguins (3), and equal to the New York Rangers. The only team with more are the New Jersey Devils, who have already played 13 games, four more than the Blue Jackets.
