The Columbus Blue Jackets’ stock is certainly rising after the best season in team history. Let’s forecast some players whose stock will rise or fall this season.
The offseason is nearly over. September is here and preseason hockey is right around the corner. The Columbus Blue Jackets will soon be back.
Their return will bring some players whose stock I’m buying and some who’s stock I wouldn’t want in the portfolio.
Who’s stock are we buying for this year? Who’s are we selling? Let’s take a look.
BUY BUY BUY
This is a no doubt about it stock to buy. Alexander Wennberg. He got a nice shiny new contract and is set to be a Columbus Blue Jacket for the next six years. He got a nice shiny new linemate in Artemi Panarin that is going to put up crazy goal scoring numbers on his wing on both the power play and 5v5.
Related Story: Alexander Wennberg Signs 6-Year Contract
Wennberg will continue to progress and a few extra bones in his pocket will help with the motivation through a 82-game regular season. He has increased his point total in every season in the league and that trend will continue. Somewhere around 70 points sounds right to me.
Columbus Blue Jackets
If you aren’t buying the Oliver Bjorkstand hype yet, you better jump on board and get the stock before it skyrockets. Bjorkstrand finally found his spot in Columbus at the end of last season and showed he belongs.
He scored all six of his goals and seven of his assists while at even strength last season with a reasonable shooting percentage that he should keep up. His corsi was at 55% and his defensive play will keep him on the ice all season long. He is versatile and could play on almost any line this season. I’m buying Bjorkstrand having a huge season.
Honorable Mentions: Lukas Sedlak, Seth Jones, and Joonas Korpisalo.
Stocks that are Falling
Going to catch some flack for this but a stock that is bound to fall is Sergei Bobrovsky. He is coming off a Vezina-winning season and finished third in the Hart race. His .931 save percentage and 2.06 GAA from 16-17 are insane numbers. There is no way he can duplicate the season he had last season.
I’m not saying he is going to bottom out. Bob will still be a top ten goalie next season. He just won’t be the clear best goalie in the league.
Another player riding high from last season that will come down to earth is Cam Atkinson. 35 goals was incredibly impressive last year. But it was ballooned by 10 goals on the power play and a shooting percentage at 14.6%. His career average shooting percentage is 11% which is where it will likely return to this season.
Also there will be a bit less of the puck to go around with Panarin on the power play. The Columbus Blue Jackets will certainly look to the breadman on the power play more than Atkinson. Again, not to say that Atkinson is going to fall off the earth, but 35 goals is not going to happen. His stock is going to drop but will still be a solid top line forward with 25 goals this season.