Columbus Blue Jackets Need to Address Faceoff Issues
The Columbus Blue Jackets need to address their faceoff issues this offseason.
The Columbus Blue Jackets center corps was interesting to say the least in the 2017-2018 season, defined by a breakout year and a year that showed relegation. Pierre-Luc Dubois and Alexander Wennberg were the worst “long term” centers on the Blue Jackets last season when it came to faceoff percentage.
The numbers were 43.8% for Dubois and 45.1% for Wennberg. The highest on the team were Boone Jenner and Brandon Dubinsky oddly enough, with 55.5% and 54.7% respectively. (Markus Hannikainen and Jordan Schroeder were not included because they weren’t full time NHL players.)
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The easiest solution internally would simply be to give Boone Jenner his chance at center. He’s done it before and that is his natural position, however the Blue Jackets have always viewed him as more of a winger than a center. With the decline in play of Dubinsky, having a high percentage faceoff man like Jenner in the top 6 could lead to more quality scoring opportunities.
As it sits now, that would give the Columbus Blue Jackets five capable centers in Dubois, Dubinsky, Wennberg, Jenner and Lukas Sedlak. Assuming the line of Artemi Panarin, Dubois and Cam Atkinson stay together, the logical choice is to move Wennberg to the wing. This would essentially be a simple position swap between Wennberg and Jenner, but the simple change could prove beneficial in the long run.
Another option would be to explore external options, whether it be through trade or free agency. An option through trade would be Charlie Coyle from Minnesota, who’s under contract for two more seasons at 3.2M according to Capfriendly.com. He was mentioned as a potential trade piece for Minnesota by Elliotte Friedman at the trade deadline, so it’ll be interesting to see if they’d still be willing to trade him.
If the Blue Jackets are uncomfortable with Minnesota’s asking price, Tyler Bozak would be a phenomenal free agent signing for Columbus. The only issue with him is that the Blue Jackets will likely find themselves in the middle of a giant bidding war for the current Maple Leaf.
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The more unrealistic options would be Paul Stastny as a free agent or Sam Bennett through trade, however both of them are likely going to be too expensive whether it be through cap hit or cost to acquire.
Whether the Columbus Blue Jackets address this issue internally or externally remains to be seen, however it is something that certainly should not be ignored.