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Columbus Blue Jackets: 2019 Postseason Trophy Candidates

By Lansing Murphy |
LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 21: Head coach John Tortorella of the Columbus Blue Jackets poses after winning the Jack Adams Award as 'the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success' during the 2017 NHL Awards and Expansion Draft at T-Mobile Arena on June 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 21: Head coach John Tortorella of the Columbus Blue Jackets poses after winning the Jack Adams Award as 'the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success' during the 2017 NHL Awards and Expansion Draft at T-Mobile Arena on June 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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The Columbus Blue Jackets cleaned house at the 2017 NHL Awards. Who are some candidates for postseason awards this year?

The start of the regular season is just around the corner for the Columbus Blue Jackets and the team is primped for a huge season. Or a complete bust of a year. No team in the NHL has a larger range of possible finishes in my eyes.

If they have a huge season, several Jackets will likely be postseason finalist for some hardware. The only category the Jackets won’t have a clear candidate for is the Calder Trophy. There won’t be any rookies on this Jackets squad that make enough of an impact to gain Calder Trophy buzz.

Lets start with the trophy that will find a home in Columbus within three years. That would be the Norris Trophy.

Last year Seth Jones finished forth in voting for the top defenseman in the league in what was a huge snub in my eyes. Jones was a dominate all around defenseman who, if he played in Canada or New York, would have finished second in voting.

Jones, who is only 23, will be a top five finisher for the Norris for the next five to seven years and is bound to win it sooner or later. Unless his teammate, Zach Werenski, beats him to the punch. Even with a torn labrum that prevented his arm movement significantly, Z scored the second most goals in the league by a defenseman.

Werenski finished 17th in Norris Trophy voting his rookie year and will bounce back this season and finish in the top 10 of voting as long as he is healthy. Even if Jones or Z “split” votes in this category, Jones should still get enough to be a finalist at the end of the year.

Hart Trophy

SAN JOSE, CA – MARCH 4: Artemi Panarin
SAN JOSE, CA – MARCH 4: Artemi Panarin /

The Columbus Blue Jackets have three players who could put together a Hart Trophy candidate level season. One plays between the pipes and the other two are on the top line.

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Sergei Bobrovksy was a finalist for the Hart just two seasons ago after having a career season in 2016-2017. It is next to impossible in today’s day in age for a goalie to win the Hart. Bob had almost the same season in 16-17 that Carey Price had in his Hart trophy year and didn’t even come close to winning the Hart. He finished a distant third behind Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby.

Bob did finish last season with some Hart consideration along with Artemi Panarin. Panarin has the star power and scoring numbers that will grab enough national media attention to put him in the discussion. It isn’t hard to envision a scenario where the Jackets power play isn’t garbage and Panarin tacks on another 10 to 15 points onto his total. That would certainly put him in the Hart discussion.

Finally, Cam Atkinson looks ready to roll his amazing second half of the 17-18 season into this year. Atkinson scored at a point per game pace and without his scoring punch, the Jackets would have missed the playoffs.

This year Cam, alongside Pierre-Luc Dubois and Artemi Panarin, could score 35 goals. Maybe even 40. Those numbers would put him in the Hart conversation as well.

The problem with all of these guys is that Connor McDavid still plays in the NHL and as long as he is on the ice, he will be the overwhelming favorite to win the Hart.

Rocket Richard and Vezina

LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 28: (L-R) Cam Atkinson #13 of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Seth Jones #3 of the Columbus Blue Jackets look on during player introductions prior to the 2017 Coors Light NHL All-Star Skills Competition at Staples Center on January 28, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 28: (L-R) Cam Atkinson #13 of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Seth Jones #3 of the Columbus Blue Jackets look on during player introductions prior to the 2017 Coors Light NHL All-Star Skills Competition at Staples Center on January 28, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Cam Atkinson has a real chance to take home the Rocket Richard this year. In the 2016-2017 season, he had 35 goals. Last year, even with an injury that took him out for an extended period, Cam had 18 goals in the final 32 games. That’s an insane pace that would give him 46 goals in an 82 game season. That would be good for second in the league last season.

The top line of Panarin – Dubois – Atkinson has looked solid in the preseason and if they can continue the high level of play they had last year, Cam can be a dark horse Rocket Richard candidate.

Related Story. Cam Atkinson still hasn't reached his Celling. light

For the Vezina, Sergei Bobrovsky will always be a leading candidate. Bob is the only active player with two Vezina Trophy’s and is looking for a huge payday after this season. What better way to earn “Carey Price money” than by adding another piece of hardware to the trophy case.

Bob has looked a bit shaky in the preseason but no one doubts that he will turn it around in time for October 4th. Bob finished 8th last year after winning the Vezina in 2017. This year, he will be a finalist.

Jack Adams and GM of the Year

NEWARK, NJ – JUNE 30: (l-r) Columbus Blue Jacket executives Jarmo Kekäläinen and John Davidson attend the 2013 NHL Draft at the Prudential Center on June 30, 2013 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ – JUNE 30: (l-r) Columbus Blue Jacket executives Jarmo Kekäläinen and John Davidson attend the 2013 NHL Draft at the Prudential Center on June 30, 2013 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

These awards are quite possibly the most ridiculous trophies in sports. They are selected purely on preseason expectations and not the actual job either the coach or GM does during the year.

Coach John Tortorella has an incredibly challenging coaching job ahead of him. He has a team with high expectations and huge off-ice distractions with the Bobrovksy and Panarin situations.

If Torts can get this team to play well through all of that and navigate his team to a Metropolitan Division title ahead of the last two Stanley Cup Champions, he deserves serious Jack Adams consideration. But, in all likelihood, the three Jack Adams finalist will come from teams that have low expectations to start the year.

Along the same line, the Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen should be in line for the GM of the year if he can navigate this squad through the Panarin and Bob saga. If Kekalainen can either sign one of them and get a good return for the other or sign both of them, he deserves the award.

That effort on top of how well he has drafted, notably Pierre-Luc Dubois, should put him in consideration for the award. Again, like the Jack Adams, the GM of the year award is based solely on expectations. That puts both Jarmo and Torts at a big disadvantage for these awards.

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The 2018-2019 version of the Columbus Blue Jackets are looking at a huge season ahead. They could implode with all of the drama going on around the team or they could dominate the regular season and make a deep run in the playoffs. If the latter happens, expect one of these trophy predictions to come to fruition.

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