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.