Columbus Blue Jackets Odds to Win Stanley Cup in 2018-2019
With the Stanley Cup Finals wrapped up just a few days ago, it’s never too early to look ahead. The Columbus Blue Jackets are being overlooked at 12th best odds to win it all next year. Here are five reasons why.
Even though the Columbus Blue Jackets have yet to overcome the seemingly gigantic hurdle of a playoff series win, they shouldn’t be counted out in 2018-2019. Instead of looking at the team’s unimpressive postseason results, I look at why next year’s Jackets are primed for big results. What some would consider blind optimism, I argue is justified and valid.
According to OddsSharks.com, the Columbus Blue Jackets are considered the 12th most likely team to win next year’s Stanley Cup. Without scratching beneath playoff results or regular season standings, 12th feels fair. Going deeper though, it’s easy to see why the Jackets deserve to be a few notches higher.
Here are five early bullets to sling during your water cooler debates with fellow NHL’ers. Sure there are cracks in the team’s armor, but these points are tough to contest.
1. All Key Players Returning
Unlike many teams slotted above the Blue Jackets, the CBJ return all top talent. Going through the roster, you could even argue they’re getting their top 11 or 12 players back next season. Without diving into each franchise favored over the Jackets, it’s pretty rare that any quality team is able to retain their top ten players going into a sequential campaign. A couple may, but not many.
This too excludes free agent movement of course. Some of the league’s premier contenders are destined to lose key pieces to their roster while others will add. Since the Blue Jackets are considered unlikely to make any big moves in the free agency market, we can presume they’ll kick off the season fully re-stocked.
2. Dismissed by Eventual Champs Two Years in a Row
It’s far from an excuse to acknowledge that the Jackets have fallen prey to the Stanley Cup champions in back to back playoffs. The Metro is not for the weak and the proof is in Stanley Cup production. Unfortunately for the Jackets, they’ve been paired in the first round against what proved to be the NHL’s best in consecutive seasons.
Making the playoffs is a nice consolation prize for teams who don’t win it all. Butting heads with Cup winners in round one takes some sting off the undesirable outcome as well. The likelihood that the CBJ find themselves in this situation three years straight is lightning strike material. Regardless, the Jackets didn’t lay down versus the Caps or Penguins and showed they can hang with the best.
Related Story: CBJ Ousted by Stanley Cup Champs Again
3. The League’s To-Be-Youngest Team is Gelling
You don’t develop chemistry like the Washington Capitals’ power play overnight. Sure the Knights had an amazing run, but most teams (especially young ones) take time to gel neatly.
Last year the Jackets were busy meshing piles of youth and new talent. Dynamite addition Artemi Panarin‘s first line wasn’t solidified until late-mid season. Rookie center Pierre-Luc Dubois proved that the sky is the limit for his potential. Even veteran Cam Atkinson began to find new gears on the electric line with the aforementioned forwards.
The Blue Jackets may lose Ian Cole to free agency, but youngster defenseman Markus Nutivaara paired incredibly well with a recuperated Ryan Murray. First-year wingers Oliver Bjorkstrand and Sonny Milano shone brightly through stretches of the season as well.
No matter how you slice it, it’s hard to argue that another year together for such a young team can only prove beneficial.
Related Story: Blue Jackets Likely NHL's Youngest in 2018-2019
4. Special Teams Will Improve
Columbus Blue Jackets
Even though they’re not guaranteed to get better, it would be a surprise if the CBJ’s power play or penalty kill got worse. Regardless of coaching staff, the collection of talent in Columbus would suggest inevitable improvement.
Many throughout the organization and across the NHL were surprised at the Jackets underwhelming special teams last season. To make the playoffs with the league’s 27th best penalty kill and 25th ranked power play is impressive in its own right. It certainly highlights areas for improvement, but maybe just as interesting, it shows how much room there is for quick growth.
Even if the Jackets slide up only to the middle of the pack next year, it should be reflected in the win-loss column. To corral 97 points with such abysmal special teams is remarkable – albeit in a backwards sort of way.
5. No More Jekyll & Hyde
The 2018-2019 Columbus Blue Jackets turned out to be the most two-faced performing team many of us have witnessed in sports history. From a consistency point of view, I can’t think in all of my years of a less predictable franchise.
Certainly winning and losing streaks are part of an 82-game season. The rollercoaster ride that was the Blue Jackets though, was a very different story. Watching coach John Tortorella try to piece together balance or normalcy across his lines of youth and free agents was at times painful. Jackets faithful know exactly what I’m talking about.
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The team never looked “right” so to speak. Not until the April 26th trade deadline did the Jackets find their groove. Reconfiguring with multiple key players returning from injury and a scoring pinch from winger Thomas Vanek, the CBJ closed out with a 13-4-2 record. More than a hot streak, it felt like an ‘at last’ sort of moment for Jackets fans and brass alike. The team many were waiting months to see had finally arrived.