Columbus Blue Jackets’ Goaltending is Greatest Weakness

Both Columbus Blue Jackets goaltenders are off to pretty rough starts, although Joonas Korpisalo has been the better of the two.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have been carried by their offensive ability to start the season. The goaltending has not been reliable, despite Joonas Korpisalo consistently finding a way to win.

Both goaltenders have a goals against average over 3.50 and a save percentage under .890. On a team that’s expected to be a playoff contender, that simply is far from good enough. Unfortunately, the Blue Jackets will have to deal with it and hope that they can bounce back or at least one of them can.

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Sergei Bobrovsky is a Vezina winning goaltender at the top of his game, but he’s far from that level. Joonas Korpisalo is an above average backup goaltender, but he’s not much more than that. Goaltending on the Blue Jackets should be the strongest point on the team based on talent and depth alone, but it’s been the exact opposite to start the year.

With the Blue Jackets at an important turning point for the franchise, the goaltending could not have picked a worse time to fall off the board completely. The longer Bobrovsky’s struggles continue, the less likely it is that he returns to the Columbus Blue Jackets and it’s already very unlikely.

The less reliable Joonas Korpisalo remains through this season, the more likely he gets passed on the depth chart to start next season by top prospect Elvis Merzlikins and stay in the backup role.

Both goaltenders have a very important stake in this season, but neither seems to be up to the challenge at this point in time. If things don’t change soon, we could see the Columbus Blue Jackets’ name in the draft lottery come this June rather than in the postseason.