Cannon Blasts – October 2, 2015

SEVEN. DAYS.

The Jackets wrap up the preseason portion of the schedule with a back-to-back this weekend. Final cuts are coming, as the roster of 31 needs to be at 23 by Monday’s deadline. Josh Anderson has been battling blurred vision for over a week, and could start the season on IR if he can’t clear (medically) to get to Cleveland. Really, the only drama before Monday is if Kerby Rychel makes a strong enough case to expose Justin Falk to waivers or if the team decides to carry 8 D instead.

• The SBNation NHL Season Preview is here! Check it out. Click through to read up on all other 29 NHL teams as well.
• Bovada has their NHL Season Prop Bets out. CBJ over/under win total? 45. That’s more than Montreal. Ryan Johansen is 22/1 for the Hart, which is top 15 in the league and ahead of guys like Corey Perry and Anze Kopitar. Joey is also pegged at 30/1 for the Art Ross, again top 15 in the league. They have Bob at 14/1 for the Veizna as well. That’s a fun link if, ya know, you lived in Vegas.
• For the analytics/advanced stats on Boone Jenner’s 2014-2015 season, here is BS Hockey’s Avery Kreemer’s write-up on the former Oshawa General.
• There is at least one person already touting Brandon Saad as a potential MVP candidate. No word from Bovada on what those odds are.
• Oleg Yevenko played his way into a two-way contract at camp. Good on him.
• Sports Illustrated has their season preview out on the Jackets. They have them projected for 103 points and 3rd place in the Metro.
• Craig Custance has Columbus finishing in the same spot as well in his preview for ESPN.
• SOME LATE ADDS HERE: First up, Japer’s Rink continues their “Top 10” in the Metro – this time it’s the LW position, and two Jackets appear in the Top 10. I don’t think it’s any surprise to see Ovi and Nash go #1 and #2, but Brandon Saad appears at #3. Scott Hartnell is ranked 6th as well, but honestly, give me Hartsy over #4 Jeff Skinner. Obviously putting up something like 25-30-55 would help his case but I just haven’t seen it out of Skinner after his rookie season. I’d also take Boone Jenner (not listed) over Patrick Elias, but I’m probably definitely a homer with these things.
• Similarly they ranked the RWs in the Metro. Like the LWs, I don’t think there’s any surprise to see Kessel and Voracek at the top. I’ll disagree a bit on Foligno being down at #7. One of the main arguments against The Captain’s 2014-2015 numbers was his “unsustainable” shooting percentage. It’s hard to figure it out – people said the same thing in 2013-2014 when he shot 16.2%. All he did was up that to 17% last season. He’ll also be playing with more talent around him, regardless of the line changes HCTR makes during the year. I think if Foligno plays 18+ minutes a night, we’ll see his shot total tick up slightly but he will also have guys who can finish. Maybe he doesn’t get to 70 points again, but 60+ seems likely. I’d take Fligs over Hornqvist and Oshie – homerism here again, probably.

Preseason is almost over – don’t forget, the Jackets will be making a couple practice appearances near Cleveland next week and the Monsters will unveil their new Jackets-themed jersey. Here’s a topic that has fallen off – who are going to be the “A’s” this season to Foligno’s “C”? I have heard nothing on the matter. Maybe it will be a surprise next Friday. Cheers to the weekend, everybody!