Columbus Blue Jackets: 5 Players to Consider for Fantasy Hockey
The Columbus Blue Jackets have several players to keep an eye on during your upcoming fantasy draft.
With just over a month left until the NHL season starts, it’s time to start thinking about your fantasy hockey draft. The stakes are high and the smack talk is relentless in your league so there is no messing around this season. Time to start thinking about drafting some Columbus Blue Jackets to ensure you take home the title.
There are several CBJ players that can help you win your league this year from the obvious stars, to some late round sleepers. Whether you play in a standard scoring league or you keep track of obscure stats, you should have a Jacket on your team.
While I believe that Artemi Panarin will start the season on this team, it is likely he won’t finish in Columbus. So, for the purposes of this article, we will exclude the Breadman from this list.
But Panarin is a no brainer when it comes to your fantasy team. He will produce at a high level no matter where he plays and should be drafted in the first two rounds in your league.
Lets take a look at five Columbus Blue Jackets that will help your fantasy team.
Boone Jenner
Boone Jenner is a stat sheet machine. He plays hard every night and if you are in a league that tracks more than just goals and assist, Jenner should be a late round target for your squad.
Jenner has had two, just O.K. seasons following his 30 goal breakout year in 2015. But he has had two sub 10% shooting percentage years following three seasons where he broke 10% so I’m putting money on him breaking the double digit threshold this season.
That would easily get Boone over the 20 goal mark this season. Add in another 20 assist and 210 hits, and you’ve got yourself a great late round steal. He’s also blocked a shot per game over the last two seasons which is great for a forward.
Boone is still only 25-years-old and just coming into his prime as an NHLer. He has been a solid player fantasy wise over the last few years because of his periphery stats and this year he should bring some more scoring to the table. That’s a must have combination for a late round pick like Boone.
Keep an eye on this Columbus Blue Jackets sleeper late in your draft.
Oliver Bjorkstrand
Get ready to look like the smartest guy in your league when you draft Oliver Bjorkstrand. The Columbus Blue Jackets winger is ready to join the league of extraordinarily talented young wingers taking over the NHL.
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The 24-year-old Dane is entering his second full season in the big leagues primed for a breakout. After playing all 82 games last season, Bjorkstrand should see his ice time and deployment significantly increase this year. That is especially true once the Jackets ship off Artemi Panarin, which they will do before the trade deadline.
When that happens, Bjorkstrand becomes the natural successor to Panarin’s spot on the power play. That could also lead to a line shuffle where Cam Atkinson is no longer on Pierre-Luc Dubois‘ right wing.
Bjorkstrand would be a better fit on his wing in my opinion and Atkinson on Alexander Wennberg‘s wing. This move would help Bjorkstrand’s growth and give him an opportunity to hit 30 goals this season.
He has the raw talent to post 30 goals and 30 assist. We’ve already seen him post 29 assist and have much higher shooting percentage rates than his 6.7% last year so Bjorkstrand hitting those numbers is no where out of the question.
Take a good hard look at Oliver Bjorkstrand in the 9th or 10th rounds of your draft.
Pierre-Luc Dubois
Pierre-Luc Dubois was largely overlooked for his performance as a rookie last season. He was undoubtedly one of the best newcomers in the league last year and the best rookie in Columbus Blue Jackets history. His teammate Zach Werenski, may have a problem with that statement, and if you do Zach, send us a DM. We can talk it out.
PLD was fantastic last season and he has established himself as the top line center for the Jackets, making him a must have in fantasy. He will start the season playing along side Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson, both of which should break the 30 goal mark this season. That’s a lot of assists for the 20-year-old.
He isn’t afraid to lay a hit or two either which will help your fantasy team out in the periphery stat column. PLD had 127 hits last year and that number is only going to go up as he becomes more comfortable in the NHL.
The center will likely be the youngest player on the team again this season but should be an obvious middle round pick up for your fantasy team. 60 plus points and some hits will help ensure your team, and the Jackets, make the playoffs.
Seth Jones and Zach Werenski
So we took two players at number two. So what? These guys are absolute studs.
Both Zach Werenski and Seth Jones are top 10 defenseman in the league and when it comes to fantasy players, these guys are a must. Both Z and Jones pile up the numbers that matter; goal and assist.
Last year both finished the season tied for second in goals by a defenseman in the NHL, and they played on the same line. Even more crazy was that Werenski did it with a torn labrum.
Either can lead the top power play unit while the other will be out with the second unit. This will be an overlooked point by most of your opponents in your draft because of how historically bad the Jackets power play was last season. There is no way that it will be as bad as it was last year so that will tack on another eight to twelve points to both of these defenseman’s point totals.
The two are dynamic scorers and one of them will win a Norris Trophy in the next two or three seasons. It could happen as soon as next season and you’re going to want them on your fantasy team when the Norris Trophy comes to Columbus.
Sergei Bobrovsky
We didn’t include Artemi Panarin in this post because he may not be on the team by the trade deadline and he is an obvious top tier fantasy player. The same can be said about Sergei Bobrovsky.
Both players are heading into the final year of their contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets and both are fantasy studs.
Bobrovsky is included on this list because there is a much higher chance of him staying than Panarin.
Either way, Bob will be one of the best three goalies in the NHL this year once again. He has put up impressive numbers over the last five years of his career and has cemented himself as the best regular season goalie in the NHL.
His new cap hit will be based on his postseason performance, but you don’t care about that for your fantasy team. What you care about is Bob’s 40+ wins, his .930 save percentage, and his crazy low goals against average.
Bobrovsky is a freak athlete that shows no sign of slowing down. He should compete for another Vezina Trophy this year. He is a must get on your fantasy team if the scoring tends to lean towards the netminder’s favor.
Next. Panarin, Atkinson Slighted by NHL Network Rankings. dark
Beyond these six and Panarin, you should keep an eye on Alexander Wennberg and Markus Nutivaara in your draft. Both have high potential and just need more opportunity to prove it.
They could be late round steals for your fantasy team. If you have any questions on Columbus Blue Jackets fantasy players, ask us on Facebook, Twitter, or comment below!