As the Nationwide Arena speakers blared “Johnny B. Goode” in honor of the late Johnny Gaudreau, the sellout crowd and the Columbus Blue Jackets players cheered for each other following a 6-1 win over the visiting New York Islanders. More on the game below, but first let’s look at where this organization stands now.
Although this magical run didn’t end with a berth in the playoffs, it is still worth appreciating. Aaron Portzline this morning wrote about what this team overcame, and what they accomplished. Late last month, in the middle of a rough stretch, I wrote about how this season had already been a success. While we reminisce about the highlights of the season, we also need to look ahead to how the Blue Jackets can build on this. This season can’t be the whole story; it needs to be the first chapter.
Case in point: look at last year’s race for the final wild card spot in the East. The Washington Capitals and Detroit Red Wings both finished with 91 points. The Capitals won the first tiebreaker on regulation wins, 32-27. They were then swept by the New York Rangers. Were Brian McClellan and Chris Patrick (the president and GM) satisfied? Nope. They kept their first year coach, Spencer Carberry (who will likely win the Jack Adams this season), and they went out and added devalued assets with upside, including Pierre-Luc Dubois, Logan Thompson, and Jakob Chychrun. These new faces, plus the internal growth of younger players like Aliaksei Protas, led the Caps to the best record in the Eastern Conference.
The Red Wings, in the meantime, kept their coach, Derek Lalonde, and added…Vladimir Tarasenko? They were content to run it back with the group they had, but they ended up having the same shortcomings they had in 2023-24. A midseason coaching change to bring in Todd McClellan helped, but it was too little too late. Not only did they miss the playoffs again, but it appears that the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens within their division have leapfrogged them in terms of completing their rebuilds.
The lesson here is clear: while the Blue Jackets appear to have the right head coach, and have a strong, young core … this late season slide shows where the holes are on this roster. There definitely need to be changes on the blue line and in net. The assistant coaches could be shuffled further to give Dean Evason the staff he wants, with a full off-season to work with them. Special teams continues to be a struggle no matter who is coach. While this team scored a ton, there’s no harm in adding another forward who can contribute in the top 9.
This season was always meant to be Year Zero for Don Waddell and Dean Evason. Each took over his job relatively late, so they had to get adjusted to this organization as the season went on. Now both have a full idea of what the strengths are in the building, and what personnel or systems need to be replaced/improved.
Improving 23 points in one season is impressive and should be celebrated. But 89 points is not something to rest your laurels on. Those Capitals added another 20 points this season. We don’t need to get that much better again, but 40 wins and 42 losses isn’t the ceiling for this group. They also aren’t going to take anyone by surprise next season. They need to get better yet, and I believe that they will.
Game Notes
Congrats to Jack Williams on making his NHL debut. The center signed with Columbus as soon as Northeastern University’s season ended and he’s been practicing with the Jackets ever since. Dave Maetzold interviewed his parents during the first period, and I will never get tired of family members being there to witness a player’s first game at this level. Getting to this point is a team effort and this makes the years of sacrifice and work worth it.
Jet Greaves missed out on another shutout by less than six minutes, but no one should be upset about his performance tonight, or over the last week. The Jackets needed to win out to stay alive, and Greaves earned 5 wins in as many starts, over just 8 days. He had two shutouts and allowed just 4 goals total. He has as many wins on the season (7) as Daniil Tarasov, in eight fewer starts. I think it’s clear that Greaves has a spot on this roster next season, and Tarasov does not. The status of Elvis Merzlikins will continue to be the subject of much debate.
In another season riddled with injuries, salute to FOUR iron men on the roster: Adam Fantilli, Ivan Provorov, Mathieu Olivier, and Sean Kuraly. It’s especially impressive given that Fantilli was coming off of a major injury, and the other three play a lot of physical, defensive minutes. Zach Werenski playing 81 games (plus 4 in the 4 Nations Face-off) is also worth celebrating given his past injuries.
Werenski also tied Artemi Panarin for the franchise record for assists in a season (59), and tied him for second highest point total in a season (82). A point-per-game defenseman is PRETTY, PRETTY, PRETTY GOOD.
After a scoreless first period, the Jackets exploded with five goals in the middle frame. BEHOLD
Which of these was your favorite? I have to go with Sean Monahan’s perfect pass to Zach Werenski.
Up Next
For the Jackets, just exit day interviews then off to the golf course for four months. For the NHL, the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin on Saturday.
For us here at The Cannon, we’ll post our annual bracket challenge tomorrow, and a playoff open thread on Saturday. Next week, we’ll look at the important things to watch in the off-season, and we’ll launch our player report card series.
Thank you to everyone who reads, comments, and has supported the site this year, and of course my awesome crew of writers. It has been a pleasure to share this season with all of you.