As John Tortorella indelicately put it at the end of the season, Matt Calvert’s season was up and down like a toilet seat. Coming into the season, most of us expected it to be his final as a Blue Jacket, and that he would play reduced minutes and could even be scratched. In the first month, however, Calvert surprised by showing increased speed, hustle, and offensive productivity. He scored 3/5/8 in his first 14 games, on 15:25 minutes a night. Then he suffered an upper body injury and missed 12 games. In his final 55 games, he was down to 6/10/16 on 12:51 per game. As players like Josh Anderson and Boone Jenner returned to the lineup, Calvert was the one moved down to the fourth line, and he had a revolving door of linemates.
The playoffs were a different story. Calvert was the most productive forward outside of Artemi Panarin. He put up 3/1/4 in 6 games, carrying a heavier load of 17:16 per game, including one game winner.
Calvert is an unrestricted free agent this summer and despite that late season surge is not expected to be re-signed. He made $2.9 million in base salary this season and that’s too much for Columbus to pay on a fourth liner. That being said, he will be missed for what he meant to his franchise and this community. He has always been a popular player on and off the ice and is the longest tenured of the current Blue Jackets (by debut date; Cam Atkinson is the longest by games played).
Matt Calvert Stats
Games played: 69
Goals: 9
Assists: 15
Points: 24
Time on ice: 13:23
Penalty Minutes: 33
Corsi For (even strength): 47.9%
High Point
Overtime, Game 2, at Washington. Calvert did this to put Columbus up 2-0 in the series:
This is, of course, the second time in his career Calvert did something like this. He also scored the Game 2 OT winner against Pittsburgh in 2014. Calvert is tied with Boone Jenner for the franchise lead with 6 playoff goals each.
Low Point
On February 14 against the Maple Leaves, Calvert was -4 in just 10:48 of ice time, with no shots and 1 hit.
Report Card
How would you grade Matt Calvert’s 2017-18 season?
| A | 7 |
| B | 52 |
| C | 45 |
| D | 6 |
| F | 1 |