It's prediction SZN, everyone.
And we didn't want to be left out of the fun.
We'll do this a bit differently, though; instead of going division-by-division and conference-by-conference, the 1st Ohio Battery staff will offer some bold or semi-bold predictions about the upcoming season. These should be fun to keep track of.
And, without further ado:
Kyle Morrison: Going to go off the board here and say Ryan Murray finally plays a full(ish), healthy season and becomes a key cog for one of the East’s best teams. Not necessarily saying he’ll play 82 games – he’s on injured reserve literally right now – but I have a feeling that he’ll be in the lineup for 70+ games. He’s immensely talented and has been since the Blue Jackets took him second overall in 2012, and he’s not going to suddenly turn into the franchise cornerstone they envisioned, but a full season from him would be huge, especially with Seth Jones starting on the shelf and Ian Cole in Colorado. He’s played all 82 once before (back in 2015-16) but it seems like one or two things just go awry with him every season. He’s missed significant time in four of the last five seasons; call me crazy but I think his luck is going to turn around at some point.
Paul Berthelot: Pierre-Luc Dubois is one of the top two centers in the Metropolitan Division. He avoids the slow start he had last season and with a strong Blue Jackets power play, he eclipses 70 points in his sophomore campaign. He was a top-five center last season with a 55.64% Corsi at 5-on-5, and the points will follow this year.
Sam Blazer: I predicted it last year, why not predict it again? I think the Columbus Blue Jackets are finally going to win a playoff series. It isn’t that insane of a prediction as a whole but it feels dangerous given the noise around the team. The thought process is that they go for it, they bring in outside competition via trade and at least are able to slay one team. It won’t satisfy many fans but it will at least be a milestone to point to about the core of the team.
Dan Dukart: Zach Werenski becomes the first defenseman in Blue Jackets history to score 20 goals in one season, shattering his own franchise record (tied with Seth Jones) from a year ago. He may not be a Norris Trophy contender yet, but this year he takes a massive step and joins Jones on the perennial list of top defensemen in the NHL.
Chris Pennington: The Blue Jackets will win the Metro Division. I’m not predicting a final downfall of Pittsburgh, or a championship-snooze of the Capitals, I just think the drama that surrounds that Jackets actually may be able to work in their favor (I hope). One reason could be how their two best players (Panarin and Bobrovsky) are in contract seasons. Whether they want to stay in Columbus or not, they need to play well if they want to earn the big bucks that we can assume they want. So even if they are playing for their own motivation, they will be needing to play great all year. This being said, I think the rest of the club knows their window of a Cup could close fast if Bob and Bread leave, so they are going to go all out in the regular season. What better way to convince your Russian teammates to stay long term than to, you know, win more?
Rob Mixer: The Blue Jackets’ special teams, a detriment last season, become an asset in 2018-19. There’s too much talent for their power play to struggle as it has, and I’ve been waiting to see how long it would take for Pierre-Luc Dubois to make his way up to the No. 1 unit (it appears he will begin the season there). The addition of a healthy Zach Werenski helps as he’ll be able to shoot a snap-wrister or a one-timer, which he couldn’t do last season. I also think Riley Nash is going to help their penalty kill.
