Columbus Blue Jackets: Looking at the Defense
The Columbus Blue Jackets back-end has been a question for years, and the Blue Jackets started to answer that question trading for Seth Jones .
The Blue Jackets are a very young team with the average age of 24.83. The Blue Jackets two main defenders are the youngest on the roster.. Seth Jones is arguably the Blue Jacket’s most important defense-man and he is the youngest.
Once Jones arrived in Columbus, his role changed immensely from what it was in Nashville. He was expected to play top pair minutes unlike in Nashville were his role was much smaller. Jones has flourished with the Blue Jackets playing large minutes. Jones is young and quite, but he leads by example.
Along with Jones, Columbus has Ryan Murray who is only 22 years old, but has shown flashes of being a top pair defense-man along with Jones. Murray has improved in his time with Columbus, but he still has a long way to go to live up to being selected 2nd overall by the Blue Jackets in 2012. If Murray can be more consistent the Blue Jackets will have a very tough top pair.
On the opposite end of the spectrum the oldest of the Jackets defense core is Jack Johnson. Johnson is 29 and is nearing the end of his prime and that has shown. Johnson’s play has decreased in recent year’s. He ended last season on the IR, but he is poised to have a rebirth year.
Johnson has been selected to join team USA in the World Cup of Hockey which can help him into next season. Johnson along with the rest of the Blue Jackets have had slow starts, but this can change. Jack will get to play against the world’s top talent while many others will be in training camp.
Along with the three listed above the Blue Jackets have David Savard who is the last defense-man that will be a guaranteed every night defense-man barring injury. Savard is a very tough player who is also very talented on the offensive end. Savard is important because he is a talented passer who sees the ice and had a heavy shot.
Rookie defense-man Zach Werenski is the front-runner to make the Blue Jackets out of training camp and join the four above.. Werenski is a University of Michigan product that is flourished with the Lake Erie Monsters after the Wolverines season ended in the NCAA tournament. Werenski is a very talented player who has shown a lot of poise defensively and he is gifted offensively.
Lastly the final spot at defense is between Dalton Prout and Cody Goloubef. Prout is a big bodied defense-man that is a big hitter, but he is a little slow. With the Blue Jackets getting rid of Jared Boll, Prout could fill his role as enforcer which he had been doing with Boll scratched the majority of games. While Prout is a bigger old school style defense-man, Goloubef is a smooth skater that has a lot of speed, but he has made mistakes puck watching.
The Blue Jackets past of mediocre defense looks like it is coming to an end. The back-end coming together for the club can take the pressure of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky who has struggled. Columbus has not fully solved their defense, but the future does look bright.