The Columbus Blue Jackets narrowly miss out on the postseason in back to back seasons as the Philadelphia Flyers claimed the third place Metropolitan Division slot to reignite the rivalry of Pennsylvania. This is the sixth consecutive season the Blue Jackets will be on the outside of postseason contention, with the 2020 coronavirus bubble in Toronto being their last appearance to the eventual Stanley Cup champions of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Blue Jackets regular season hockey concluded with a hockey culture controversy in what may have been the final NHL game of Alexander Ovechkin, the greatest goal scorer of all time.
Columbus finishes the season with a middle of the pack first round draft selection, at #14 overall pending the results of the May draft lottery.
Head coach Rick Bowness popped off in the post game press conference about the efforts on the ice leading to their elimination from postseason contention:
“All you gotta do is look at the stat sheet. Three hits, 23 giveaways. I don’t know if I’m back, but if I’m back, I’m changing this culture. These guys don’t care. Losing isn’t important enough to them. Like how can you go out there and play like that? This is why we’re out of the playoffs. Losing. You have to hate losing, I don’t care if it’s a meaningless game.”
Feels like Season One of the famous fiction hockey show exclusively in the United States on Hulu Shoresy from an outside perspective, where the coach believes this final month’s performance was them not hating to lose.
It’s such a low bar for the guys in the room to get over and turn the light switch on as a collective to come back and win this season when the conference was wide open when teams like Florida, Toronto, Washington, New York, and New Jersey all missed from last season to this completed campaign.
Let the stats show how the season ended, via NHL.com:
Record - 40-30-12
92 points 16th overall
0.561 winning percentage 16th overall
28 regulation wins 17th overall
33 regulation and overtime wins 22nd overall
7-2 in the shootout
253 goals for 16th best
253 goals against 17th best
Even goal differential
20-13-8 home record
20-17-4 road record
Closed the season with a 2-7-1 final 10
Zach Werenski has responded to the media with a polite approach.
“I don’t think it’s right to say we don’t hate to lose and that we don’t care.”
What Went Wrong?
Career Offense Dried Up
All Skaters Below Had Regressed Offensively in the Point Chart from Last Season:
Marchenko
Monahan
Voronkov
Provorov
Olivier
Kent Johnson
Fabbro
Aston-Reese
Gudbranson
Christiansen
Pyyhita
Del Bel Belluz
*Chinakov - traded mid season
Having 12 of 27 skaters on the active roster result with less production is unacceptable when every season has expectation is improve.
Jet Lagged
Elvis Merzlikins is no longer a viable NHL goaltender option. There is no depth coming up the ranks due to poor drafting by Waddell, Kekalainen, and the amateur scouting staff internally. Greaves is here to stay, but who can contribute to the trio tandem style?
This is the number one priority for the brass to target and improve for next season. There have been names available all season long. Maybe half retain as the sweetener on Elvis to improve the roster and depth. Both must be boosted next year.
Mismanagement
After delaying the trigger on Evason and Chinakov, the management brought in Bowness, Heinen, Marchment, and Garland by shuffling the deck chairs. Waddell, Nash, the new and returning staff need to be on the hot seat. Any coach that comes in or returns must also be hot while this team continues to search for change. This is a strong draft, and the amateur scouting must score big.
One Norris Driver
Besides another monstrous season with the Norris trophy most likely being awarded in June to Zach Werenski, there was nothing else truly consistent all season long for the Jackets’ on-ice performance.
Pending Free Agents
Charlie Coyle
Mason Marchment
Boone Jenner
Danton Heinen
Zach Aston-Reese
Brendan Gaunce
Hudson Fasching
Owen Sillinger
Erik Gudbranson
Brendan Smith
Dysin Mayo
Ivan Fedotov
Zach Sawchenko
Coming Off the Books
Alex Wennberg
Adam Boqvist
Pending Restricted Free Agents
Adam Fantilli
Jack Williams
James Malatesta
Hunter McKown
Mikael Pyyhita
Egor Zamula
Corson Ceulemans
Stanislav Svozil
Added NCAA Free Agents
F Joshua Eernisse (Michigan)
D Boston Buckberger (Denver)
Layout of the Roster with No UFAs Returning
Kent Johnson—Adam Fantilli—Connor Garland
Dmitry Voronkov—Sean Monahan—Kirll Marchenko
Miles Wood—Cole Sillinger—Mathieu Olivier
Issac Lundestrom—Luca Del Bel Belluz—Joshua Eernisse
Zach Werenski—Dante Fabbro
Ivan Provorov—Damon Severson
Denton Mateychuk—Jake Christiansen
Jet Greaves
Elvis Merzlikins
Where does this franchise go from here into 2026-2027? What says you on the collapse and controversy that is the Columbus Blue Jackets?