Happy New Year!
It's time for some New Year's resolutions.
While some are trying to hit the gym or change up their lifestyle, the Columbus Blue Jackets are approaching the 2024 portion of their schedule, not in a place in the standings they would have hoped for before the season started.
Even though things haven’t gone well this season, there are signs of progression and positive steps as the club marches on.
We look at the storylines to watch in the new year.
Calder Race
Adam Fantilli has been just the player the Blue Jackets were seeking. Much to the delight of the club, Dmitri Voronkov has been that and then some.
Fantilli is second among all rookies with 23 points, tied for second with 11 goals, and in a three-way tie for sixth with 12 assists. He finished second on the team with 13 points in December — one point behind Johnny Gaudreau — and tied for the team lead in goals with seven with Yegor Chinakhov. Fantilli also leads the team with 92 shots.
Will first-line opportunities continue for Fantilli in the second half once players like Boone Jenner and Patrik Laine are back from injury?
Adam Fantilli (1-01) scored the @BlueJacketsNHL's third tying goal of the game with his 10th tally of the season and set the stage for Johnny Gaudreau's overtime winner. #NHLStats: https://t.co/EXjYZA1BFK pic.twitter.com/REHUFVORW3
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 30, 2023
Voronkov is fifth among rookies with 19 points, is in a three-way tie for sixth with 12 assists, and is in a five-way tie for sixth with seven goals.
Voronkov has been on one of the best lines skating for the Blue Jackets over the past month with Chinakhov and Kirill Marchenko.
| Time On Ice | Shot Attempts For/Against | Shots on Goal For/Against | Scoring Chances For/Against | High Danger Chances For/Against | Expected Goals For/Against | Goals For/Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 149:31 | 141/156 | 68/83 | 67/79 | 19/41 | 4.51/8.8 | 8/4 |
Trade Deadline
With plenty of speculation about the struggling team on the ice and how that can affect players on the roster regarding trades, the Mar. 8 trade deadline will be huge to monitor.
As Dan Dukart wrote a few weeks ago, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek discussed the possibility of Elvis Merzlikins as a change of scenery candidate for teams interested in goaltending on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast.
The Blue Jackets are currently rostering three goalies as Merzlikins, Spencer Martin, and Daniil Tarasov are splitting the net. Merzlikins has a $5.4 million cap hit through 2026-27 with a modified no-trade clause.
Jet Greaves is in Cleveland after tying an NHL record for the most saves to start a career through three games.
Flying into the history books @BlueJacketsNHL | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/ATGGtYdhC7
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) December 11, 2023
The Blue Jackets' impending unrestricted free agents are Martin, Jack Roslovic, Brendan Gaunce, and Billy Sweezey. They have restricted free agents in Chinakhov (arbitration-eligible), Marchenko (arbitration-eligible), Jake Bean (arbitration-eligible), Emil Bemstrom (arbitration-eligible), Nick Blankenburg (arbitration-eligible), Alexandre Texier (arbitration-eligible), and Cole Sillinger.
Kent Johnson is a 10.2(C) player. Here's what that entails according to CapFriendly.
A player becomes a free agent when their contract expires on July 1 after the last League Year of their contract. A player who does not meet the UFA requirements or the Group 2 RFA requirements displayed in the table above, and has been issued a qualifying offer, is designated a 10.2(c) player. The player is only eligible to negotiate and sign a contract with the club that holds their signing rights. They are ineligible to negotiate a contract (offer sheet) with any other club. They are also ineligible for arbitration. If the player does not receive a qualifying offer by June 25th at 5:00pm ET, they immediately become a UFA.
Lottery Balls
Fans might not be a fan of it in January, but this season is heading for another crack at the top pick in next summer’s NHL draft.
Columbus is 28th in the overall league standings and four points above the Eastern Conference basement, which is occupied by the Ottawa Senators, a team that came into the season with lofty expectations and has already fired its coach and general manager.
The World Juniors are underway and Canada's Macklin Celebrini is the consensus to go No. 1 next summer. Celebrini has eight points (four goals, four assists) in four games for Canada — he had a two-goal game in Canada's New Year's Eve win over Germany — and has 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) for Boston University where the freshman plays his games these days.
Wherever the Blue Jackets finish in the standings and whichever lottery order they end up, who will the people be tasked with solidifying the draft strategy?
The status of general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and president John Davidson is a big storyline to monitor as the season winds up and the off-season starts.
Injuries To Big Names
Zach Werenski is out on a week-to-week basis with an ankle injury after an awkward collision with Ondrej Palat in New Jersey last week and the Blue Jackets will miss their leading point and assist man.
Werenski has had tough luck with injuries since 2018-19 when he played all 82 games. Since then, Werenski has not played more than 68 games, which he did in 2021-22.
Laine is also out for a while and is another big name on the Blue Jackets roster that has dealt with injury after injury.
Call it bad luck, it's tough to win when your best players get hurt.
Laine hasn't had one of his better seasons, and coincidently, the offense was much better over December where they were seventh in goals for per game (3.57).
Ponder this: Columbus is second in the league in 5v5 goals (88), trailing only the Vancouver Canucks (89), according to Natural Stat Trick.
Clarity
Suffice it to say, the on-ice performance from this season's team is not up to par with what those in charge had in mind.
Whether anyone thought this team was a serious playoff contender or not, most people likely expected a team higher in the standings than to be dwindling towards the league basement on New Year's Day.
And yet, how much better would things look if the team hadn't blown so many third-period leads this season?
They're 9-5-1 when leading after two periods this season — thought it was even worse — and 1-5-2 when tied after two periods. Coby Maeir has the whole breakdown on this season's third-period woes.
Posted this a couple times. Heres the correct stat.
— The CBJ Center (@CBJcenter) December 31, 2023
If the #CBJ didnt blow any leads they held in the final 5 minutes of regulation, they would be 17-17-4. That would be good enough for 38 points, 2 points out of the last wildcard.
Barring a second-half miracle, will there be a front-office overhaul after the season? Who’s making trade deadline decisions in-season?
Change is needed, and at some point soon, there should be clarity on the direction of the franchise as far as the key decision-makers go.
Fortunately for the Blue Jackets, there are positive signs, such as Fantilli, the play of the 'Russian line,' and an improved offense of late.
