Columbus Blue Jackets(50-24-8, 3rd Metropolitan):
Columbus has been a basement/middle of the pack team for the last 15 years, with the Blue Jackets 3rd place Metropolitan division finish and John Tortorella’s shift in leadership the Blue Jackets have found themselves among some of the better NHL teams now. After a re-surged Nick Foligno, Cam Atkinson’s career year, some youth stepping up, Sergei Bobrovsky Vezina trophy season the Blue Jackets set eyes on yet another postseason run.
With the addition of Artemi Panarin and the departure of Brandon Saad, the Jackets roster remained intact this off-season. Panarin will add a ton of power play production to an already quite successful powerplay. With Zach Werenski and Adam Wennberg playing full-time last season, another year under both their belts will do major dividends to their production and help Columbus on both the offensive and defensive side of the puck. Cam Atkinson we all knew was good, but with Columbus success now his true goal scoring ways are finally showing, as we can all expect another rather successful year by the 28-year-old forward. Nick Foligno must continue to progress after a disappointing 2015-16 season, last season Foligno finally broke through as Columbus will be relying heavily on the captain. “Bob” Sergei Bobrovsky did win his second Vezina in four years and posted a 2.06 GAA with 41 wins last season the 28-year-old Russian goaltender will be starting right where he left off last season. But what four players can we expect to make the biggest impact for Columbus next season and play a new and or improved role for the Jackets success next season.
Alex Wennberg: Wennberg played two full seasons with Columbus prior to this season but perhaps you are just hearing about him now because he was not as successful in years past. With Wennberg’s breakout season and 19 point increase from 2015-16 to 2016-17, the 22-year-old has finally emerged on the Jackets roster and will be looking to make a major impact next season. With the #1 center position more than likely locked up we’ll see Wennberg in critical game situations, more powerplay minutes and averaging 18 minutes per game plus with being alongside Artemi Panarin, Wennberg will be on task for another career year.
Artemi Panarin: Panarin will be leaving Patrick Kane which is a major concern for his production and numbers but still with the Jackets tools and successful powerplay we can expect Panarin to produce 70 points again. Perhaps a decrease in assists due to not playing with one of the best goal scorers. But Panarin will be expected to come in and push this team deeper into the playoffs. Panarin seems to know what is expected of him coming into Columbus and may be playing the same if not a more pivotal role for the Blue Jackets next season. Panarin will be facing some new faces this season traveling from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference.
Seth Jones: The trade Ryan Johansen for Seth Jones in 2015-16 was a huge eye-opener for fans, many said Blue Jackets got the better end due to Jones age, but with how successful Johansen and the Predators have been, who’s to say Nashville did not win that trade. Jones did play 6 fewer games and scored 9 more points last season compared to 2015-16. Jones did not have a ton of powerplay success last season (7 PPP) which is where we can expect him to start taking more of a command and leading the power play one unit. But with Jones youth and plenty of room for growth, the Jackets will have a #1 defensemen in him for years to come. As Jones and Werenski continue to grow the Jackets blue line growth remains bright.
Sergei Bobrovsky: Ok I think it’s fair to say, there’s not much of a chance Bobrovsky repeats his 2016-17 season numbers again this upcoming season. To post similar numbers is a tough feat to repeat, but production, reliability, and consistency Bobrovsky will continue to bring. 2012-2013, when he won his first Vezina Bob, posted a 2.00 GAA 21 wins(37 games started), .932 save percentage after that the following year he posted 32 wins, 2.38 GAA, .923 save percentage. His numbers dipped a bit but he still posted good numbers for a starter. The Jackets will need Bobrovsky to continue his Vezina type performances and continue to be a consistent, top tier goalie in the NHL to help make that push for a deeper postseason run.
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