The Blue Jackets Have Plateaued, Not Peaked

At 9-19-04, the Blue Jackets’ record alone calls for a change. It is what type of change that needs to come that is in question. To read the comments to Dispatch articles one would believe that the entire team and all staff and management needs to be fired, along with selling the team to new owners. Some on Twitter call for only slightly less drastic changes, ranging from fire the coach/gm to a roster rebuild. I find the idea that all of management or all of the roster is to blame for the current woes of the team to be absurd.

At the end of last season if any knowledgeable Blue Jackets fan had been asked what holes needed to be filled on the roster the answer would have been a number one center to play with Nash, a true first pair defensemen, and at least some insurance to back up Mason in goal or a proven number one goaltender. By July 1st Scott Howson had moved to fill the center and defense holes in the roster. Getting a number one goaltender was probably not within the realm of reason, given what Howson had to work with at that point. At that point he had a choice: sign a veteran backup who could eat minutes if Mason faltered or go with a highly thought of prospect. Howson went with Mark Dekanich, a young product of the Nashville system that while only having one NHL game under his belt was thought to be a future number one somewhere. Unfortunately, Dekanich has not seen game action at any level this year due to injury.

Those who call for a roster rebuild seem to forget that this is the rebuilt defense. There is talent all over this roster. Even pluggers like Derek Dorsett are finally showing the talent that we have been told is there. Yet, young Grant Clitsome seems to have taken a step back this year. Maxim Mayorov appeared to be on the verge of a breakout, but was returned quickly to the AHL. Developing players Cam Atkinson and Matt Calvert were also sent back to Springfield at the first sign of trouble, seemingly to never be heard from again. Which is particularly disturbing as Atkinson is Springfield’s leading scorer and could certainly provide a spark to a lackluster Jackets offense.

If the first twenty or thirty games if Scott Arniel’s coaching tenure are removed from the record, it becomes pretty abysmal. The wins game easily under the new coach bump at the beginning of last season, but as the season went on the loses begin to be more frequent. Call it losing the room or simply in over his head, Arniel’s record is bad and edging towards horrible.

Given the number of coaches fired and replaced this year, why does Arniel even still have a job? Money is possibly one answer. The Jackets payroll is as high as it ever has been, and having relieved themselves of one failed coach from the payroll this year, ownership might be reluctant to going back to paying two coaches. An over abundance of patience is another possibility, and I think the likely answer. Doug Maclean was kept on long after his expiration date, never putting forth anything close to the development plan Scott Howson has.

I believe that Howson does want to make a change at coach but is being restrained from doing so. The hiring of Craig Patrick may help to bring ownership around, or it may identify a deeper problem. If you look at the Springfield roster and wonder why Cody Bass, Aaron Johnson, and Sammy Pahlsson are better options, I think they are being used to protect young players from a losing season and a losing coach.