Thoughts on the current state of the Union Blue
The NHL season is nearing the 3/4 pole
Monday night, the Blue Jackets lost one of those games that can plant a worm in a team's brain. It was a Classic Columbus Throwback Loss – the Jackets blew a two-goal lead in the third period, gave up the last goal of regulation while they were on a power play and lost on in overtime. They were beaten by the Edmonton Oilers, who were zombie-like for much of the night, by a score of 5-4.
Credit to the Jackets, then, for what was an impressive bounce back Tuesday night, on the second night of a road back-to-back:
Tuesday night in Seattle, the Jackets capped off a a stretch of five consecutive road games that had a four-game Western swing on the back end of it. The Jackets had won four in a row and six of seven prior to hitting the road. They were winless (0-3-1) on the trip – until they pulled out a 2-1, shootout victory over the Kraken. It was a helluva game. Did you stay up for it?
Michael Arace
By this time next week, the Jackets (8-7-1) will be 20 games into the season. That is basically a quarter of the season, gone. It's getting to the point where it's too late to say, "Well, it's early yet."
Among the notable NHL trends as the season approaches the 3/4 pole is the advent of a group of young stars and the rise of a handful of teams which, after years and years of rebuilding, are no longer racing to win the lottery.
The young stars are poised to infiltrate the upper echelons of your fantasy draft in the years to come. The teams that are rising from the ashes seemed destined to alter the hierarchy of playoff contenders. Change is afoot.
Seven teams that missed the playoffs last season are currently holding down playoff spots. Among these teams are the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks and Utah Mammoth.
Anaheim's Leo Carlson (26 points) and Chicago's Connor Bedard (25) – two 20-year-olds – are among the top three in the league in scoring. San Jose's Macklin Celebrini, 19, is also in this cadre with 26 points. Utah's Cutter Gauthier, 20, is among the top seven in goals (11) and the top 16 in points (20).
On the Eastern side of the ledger, the Montreal Canadiens, who snuck into the playoffs ahead of the Jackets last spring, have Lane Hudson, 21, who is among the leading scorers in the league among defensemen. And the New York Islanders have a No. 1 overall pick, Matthew Schaefer, 18, who is also among the league leaders in scoring by a defenseman. Schaefer might be the best story in the league through the first six weeks of the season.
Here, we could get into the Jackets' history of not properly tanking – they could've had a shot at Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and/or Auston Matthews, to name a few. As it is, they don't have the game-changer who would've come in handy in Vancouver Saturday night, or in Edmonton Tuesday night. But I've written a dozen versions of that failure-to-tank column over the past 25 years. Enough. Besides, the current Columbus team is not devoid of talent. Outside of defenseman Zach Werenski, it may not be elite-of-the-elite talent, but it's ample. And there may be a couple more pieces in the pipeline.
Is there enough talent to get the Jackets into the playoffs next spring, and to build into something resembling a contender in the years to come?
There is a changing of the guard underway. If you are a Jackets fan, it's fair for you to wonder whether the Jackets, who haven't made the playoffs since 2020, are among the recent lottery teams that are in ascension.
Thoughts on the current state of the Union Blue:
- Yegor Chinakhov, 24, needs more playing time with high-end players. He has been in and out of coach Dean Evason's doghouse. Unless there are injuries/illnesses, he has been relegated to bottom-six duty, or scratched. He requested a trade during the summer – management was not at all happy that his request leaked to the public – and president/GM Don Waddell won't budge until he sees what he deems a viable offer (no futures). OK. But do the Jackets have another player with Chinakhov's combination of speed and shooting ability? He's being given 10 minutes a game and little to no room to err. Not optimal, not for anybody. He's one of these players who's going to score 25-30 goals for some other team, and the Jackets likely won't get proximate value in return. He'll be Wild Bill II. Frustrating all around.
- It has been encouraging to see Adam Fantilli, 21, get going after he was put in the middle of the No. 1 line, flanked by the comedy duo of Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov. Fantilli has 4-7--11. The Jackets need Fantilli to be a game-changer. Until very very recently, he has not been.
- Marchenko, 25, is leading the team 8—10--18. He is a buzzsaw. He looks like an All-Star. He'd be the perfect second-best forward on a contender. Voronkov, 25, had 6-7--13. He is a beast, but you want to see him used his physical heft to greater advantage, no? It can be frustrating to watch him taking stick fouls rather than thumping.
- Everyone loves the strength, and strength of character, of Mathieu Olivier. He has one goal on the season. Some fourth-line duty might be in order, no? In combination with Miles Wood and Isac Lundestrom? When that's your fourth line, all four can be rolled with some comfort.
- Everyone loves the strength, and strength of character, of captain Boone Jenner. He left the game in Seattle with an undisclosed injury Tuesday night. That's a tough blow. Whenever he returns, one hopes he will be more productive. At this stage, he looks like a (quality) third-liner.
- Evason has been mixing and matching his forward lines and D pairs in an effort to spur something. The team needs more out of Fantilli and Kent Johnson, 23, a former first-round pick who has 2-3--5. Johnson has a heady combination of game feel and skill, but is he being put in the best position to succeed?
These Jackets are not last season's Jackets, who played with a hard-nosed identity and a high-flying offense. They play hard and, more often than not, they play "the right way." But there's something ill-defined about them, something missing, like there was during the 0-5-1 streak late last winter, which ultimately killed their playoff chances once springtime arrived. They don't have a MacKinnon or a Matthews. If they have a Bedard or a Celebrini, he has yet to emerge from his cocoon.
They need one more top-six forward.
Too early?
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Michael Arace
