First, the good news: for the second season in a row since signing with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Johnny Gaudreau led the team in scoring. That’s what you want from your highest-paid player, right?
The bad news: Gaudreau’s 60 points were the lowest of his career in a full 82 game season. It was down 14 points from his first season in Columbus, and a far cry from his 115 point final season in Calgary. He managed just a single power play goal, despite never previously scoring fewer than 3 in a season.
There’s a little bit of bad luck at play. Gaudreau’s shot just 7.5%, another career low (his career average is 12.1%). His IPP (individual points percentage) at 5v5 was just 60%, meaning that of the goals scored when he was on ice, he only got credit for a point on 60% of those. He is normally over 70%.
The other issue is the linemates he played with most often. Often you could see Gaudreau trying to make a play, but his teammates either couldn’t keep up with him, or couldn’t get into position for his pass. His most common forward linemates at 5v5:
Boone Jenner 658:00 minutes
Jack Roslovic 273:22
Justin Danforth 261:45
Alex Nylander 180:52
Adam Fantilli 176:55
Note that this includes Roslovic, who played just 40 games before being traded, and Nylander, who played just 23 games after being acquired in late February.
His most common power play partners:
Zach Werenski 171:31
Boone Jenner 139:40
Kirill Marchenko 136:49
Dmitri Voronkov 88:46
Adam Boqvist 55:40
The only other player with more than 50 PP minutes with Gaudreau is Fantilli. This shows one of many issues with the power play, that there was no combination of players with enough time together to form any chemistry.
2023-24 Stats
Games: 81
Goals: 12
Assists: 48
Points: 60
Plus/Minus: -27
PIM: 22
5v5 Corsi%: 48.48
5v5 Fenwick%: 48.69
Off Zone Start %: 54.41
Contract
Gaudreau has five years remaining on his contract, with an average annual cap hit of $9.75M. He has a full no-movement clause for two more seasons.
High Point
In a wild late December game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Gaudreau had a 3 point night (one of 4 on the season). He sprung Fantilli on a breakaway to tie the game at 5 in the back half of the third period, then Gaudreau scored the game winner in overtime.
Low Point
On November 4 at Washington, Gaudreau was benched after just two shifts in the third period in a 2-1 loss, the start of a 9 game losing streak. On November 16 against Arizona, Gaudreau was benched again, this time for the final 6 minutes in a 3-2 loss. By the end of that losing streak, Gaudreau had just 6 points in 17 games (1 goal, 5 assists).
Luckily things picked up from there, with a more usual pace for him of 54 points in his final 64 games.
Report Card
C+
This may be a better harsh, since I would describe Gaudreau’s season overall as “fine,” but for his cap hit, he needs to be more than fine. By the time next season starts, he’ll be 31 years old. There are still several more good years left, but can the Jackets put him in a position to succeed, with the right system and the right linemates?