CBJ Calendar Year in Review: 2022
The Blue Jackets had a turbulent year in 2022. The highs were high, the lows were low, and the middles were few and far between. With tonight’s game against Buffalo postponed until later notice, the Jackets have just two more games until the calendar turns over to 2023. Today, we’ll take a look back at some of the highlights (and lowlights) of the past year.
2022 By the numbers (two games remaining)
Record: 86 games played 32-46-8 (72 points)
Goals for: 255 (2.97 average)
Goals against: 335 (3.90 average)
Longest win streak: 4 games (February 17-24)
Longest losing streak: 7 games (March 22-April 4)
Signature win: January 13 at Carolina, 6-0 over the Hurricanes. Yegor Chinakhov scored twice and Elvis Merzlikins made 31 saves in the shutout win.
Signature loss: December 7 at home vs Buffalo, 9-4 loss to the Sabres. Tage Thompson scored 5 goals and the Jackets were bludgeoned on national TV.
One would have to look back and really dig into the math, but this has to be amongst the worst calendar years in franchise history. Their points average this year would put them at a 68-point pace over the course of an 82 game season. To put that into perspective, that would be the fifth-worst season in franchise history – and the lowest total since 2011-12, when their franchise low 55-points was league-worst.
Change was the only constant for the Blue Jackets over the last 12 months. This held true both on and off the ice as the team continued their rebuild by moving players in and out.
In: Johnny Gaudreau, Erik Gudbranson, Nick Blankenburg, Kent Johnson, Kirill Marchenko, Marcus Bjork, Mathieu Olivier
Out: Max Domi, Alexandre Texier (loan), Oliver Bjorkstrand, Dean Kukan, Gregory Hofmann, Kevin Stenlund, Gabriel Carlsson, Scott Harrington, JF Berube
The Jackets were the talk of the NHL during free agency for both good – they landed the most talented player available (Johnny Gaudreau) – and bad, signing rugged defenseman Erik Gudbranson.
Unfortunately, a busy day on the free agent market came at the expense of a beloved fan favorite: long-time Jacket winger Oliver Bjorkstrand was traded to the Seattle Kraken for well below market value, as the team scrambled to get back under the league’s salary cap.
At the draft…
David Jiricek (1st round, #6)
Denton Mateychuk (1st round, #12)
Luca del bel Belluz (2nd round, #44)
Jordan Dumais (3rd round, #96)
Kirill Dolzhenkov (4th round, #109)
Sergei Ivanov (5th round, #138)
James Fisher (7th round, #203)
The team made 7 selections at the 2022 NHL Draft, and several of them look to be very promising. In fact, when we look back in 4-5 years, it’s likely that we’ll see the 2022 year as a positive building point for this franchise. They managed to pluck two potential top-four defensemen, added some center depth, and may have found a diamond in the rough with their third round pick.
Heading into 2023
I think the general mood around the team is that they’re playing out the balance of this season hoping for competitive games, but already eyeing a high pick at the 2023 draft. Injuries have rattled this team to the point where the lineup is barely recognizable, in comparison to the opening night roster.
The team just hasn’t found any traction or consistency this year. The defense is very young and has been a mess, leading to shaky goaltending and early deficits that they haven’t been able to overcome. Best case scenario, with a healthy lineup, this team was hoping to be on the playoff bubble. Instead they’re staring down a lottery pick in a draft that should land them a franchise changing player.
As the trade deadline approaches, the team is open for business. They have three players seemingly on their way out for sure: Gustav Nyquist, Vladislav Gavrikov, Joonas Korpisalo; and several others popping up in trade rumors. This should be a busy deadline for the Jackets as they look to weed out players who aren’t going to be part of the future core here.
Expiring deals:
RFA: Mathieu Olivier, Carson Meyer, Tim Berni, Marcus Bjork, Jake Christiansen, Yegor Chinakhov
UFA: Gustav Nyquist, Vladislav Gavrikov, Gavin Bayreuther, Joonas Korpisalo
This one should be pretty cut and dry. It seems like the team is prepared to move on from Nyquist, Gavrikov, and Korpisalo. Bayreuther has struggled to keep a steady job even with a depleted roster, which points towards him leaving the organization as well.
I can see every RFA listed above being brought back. Getting Yegor Chinakhov locked up soon seems like an important task, while Olivier and Bjork have been strong for this team and seem like obvious returnees. Meyer has done everything asked of him by this organization, but still finds himself up and down between the Jackets and the AHL. Is he a long-term piece of this team?
Christiansen is the most polarizing player on the list of RFAs – but he should be brought back if Gavrikov is not returning to this team next season. Depth down the left side is going to be a struggle, if the team does not make any other deals.
One hot take:
Jack Roslovic is dealt by the team either at the trade deadline or the draft over the summer, and he’ll be a throw-in part of a deal to bring in a center or left-shot defenseman.
It’s no secret that Jack and the coaching staff have had their share of disagreement this season. Whoever you lay blame on is irrelevant; but the end result is that things just aren’t working out and this team is moving in a different direction here. With so much depth at the forward spot, they can afford to trade him away – especially if Kent Johnson keeps finding traction as an NHL center.
Way too early guess at the 2023-24 roster, as it stands:
Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Patrik Laine
Yegor Chinakhov (RFA) – Jack Roslovic – Jakub Voracek
Kent Johnson – Cole Sillinger – Kirill Marchenko
Eric Robinson – Sean Kuraly – Justin Danforth
In the hunt: Alexandre Texier, Mathieu Olivier (RFA), Liam Foudy, Emil Bemstrom
Zach Werenski – Nick Blankenburg
Jake Bean – Andrew Peeke
Tim Berni – Erik Gudbranson
Adam Boqvist
In the hunt: Jake Christiansen (RFA), Marcus Bjork (RFA), David Jiricek
Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov
As you can see, there isn’t much immediate help coming in the way of change with this group. A lot of that depends on the readiness of some prospects – David Jiricek in particular looks like he could be ready for a role next year. But with the depth down the right side, one of two things will have to happen: someone will have to play their off-side, or the team is going to have to make a move. We’ll have more on that in the coming weeks.
Should the team be fortunate enough to land a top-3 pick at the upcoming draft, it’s entirely possible that their top-line center question will be answered as well. Any number of players the team would select in that range, should be ready to step right into the NHL.
Some of the upcoming decisions for this team will also hinge on the status of two players who are currently out of the lineup: Jakub Voracek and Alexandre Texier. Voracek is “unlikely to return this season”; while Texier remains in Europe to be closer to his family. Should neither of these players return, the plans are going to be different as well.
In the end, as the rebuild enters its next stage and the team looks to add one more core piece at the draft, our only hope is that they can remain competitive in many of their remaining games. Or maybe better yet, they can play spoiler down the stretch and ruin some other team’s chance of a playoff spot.
Next. Ugly Loss in Chicago: Benching Causes Head-Scratching. dark