Columbus Blue Jackets: First Ever Union and Blue Fan AMA

This week we’re trying something new at Union & Blue: ask us anything. Via our social media channels we’ve given Jacket fans around the world to ask the questions that are on their mind, for us to answer in detail. We’ll look to do this regularly as we move ahead, but for now let’s get started.

Via Twitter, Mike in Nebraska asks: Is it time for a new uniform design? Not talking about changing the crest or anything like that, but the #CBJ have had the same basic sweater design for over a decade now.

Great question. This is certainly not something I would typically write about, but it is something that I’m sure we’ve all thought about over the years. I actually like the uniforms as they are right now, with some minor changes I’d like to see.

First, I’m one of the people who thinks the swirled Ohio State flag logo in the shape of the letter “C”, wrapped around a star, is fantastic. I love the simplicity of it, and I do think that in time it will turn into something that is iconic with the city of Columbus. Think of it like the spoked “B” that the Boston Bruins have. In that regard, I agree with Mike that the crest is fine as it is.

The design of the uniforms themselves is also pretty simplistic, which is great because it gives them a clean, easy to identify look; but the one thing I’ve never liked is the red pants. I get that they’re that way to break things up, so they aren’t in Union Blue from head to toe … but I don’t like them. For this reason, I think a re-design of the home uniform as a whole, that eliminates the red pants, would be fantastic.

I’m not an artist or graphic designer, but I think it would be cool to see them incorporate more of the red/white on the jerseys themselves, and roll with the blue pants at home. Look at the image above and how clean the road uniforms are with the blue pants. In my opinion, these are about a million times better than the old away uniforms, and it’s the pants that make all the difference.

I do like the look of the new reverse retro, but only when I’m seeing the whole uniform. I don’t particularly care for the jerseys on their own. Maybe going with more of a black/blue theme like that could be something to work around? Or, perhaps they could go Union Blue all the way down, and break it up with some striping along the way.

Justin Needham asks: 

Is Brad Larsen the coach to lead and develop what is most likely going to be one of most talented prospect pools in the league?

I like this question. Obviously, I’m not around the locker room or any of the players/coaches, so this is an outsider’s perspective. But, I think it’s important to look at the track results so far, and if we do that, I honestly think we’re starting to see some positive returns. Remember: everyone develops at different paces. The team has been a lot better lately, and part of that is improvement in the younger players on the roster.

Adam Boqvist has been on an absolute bender lately. Kirill Marchenko worked to earn top line minutes and Lars fed them to him. Kent Johnson has shown consistent improvement throughout the year. Obviously, Cole Sillinger has been struggling to find offense, but overall his game hasn’t really been that bad (more on that below). My opinion on Brad’s handling of the younger players is: that’s one thing he actually seems to get.

We can talk about his actual coaching (systems, ability to inspire, etc) … I do think there are some question marks there. But, I think the reason he was given the job ahead of Brad Shaw or any of the other candidates, is his softer touch and overall patience. Which are qualities you want in a coach of a young team.

Now, all of that said, I do think he was hired to fail. As odd as that sounds, we’ve talked about this plenty: the best way to get a good team, is to be bad for a few years. I think management knew that Lars, being a rookie coach in the NHL, with a young, rebuilding team, was going to struggle. The injuries we talked about on the last page have probably bought him another year, and I think that’s fine. Let’s see what he can do when more of the roster is turned over to youth next fall, then make a final decision. Maybe he’ll surprise us.

Thomas Rothwell asks a question that we can tie in with the above discussion:

I think there are a few players who have underperformed compared to expectations. I’d say Elvis, Sillinger, Chinakov, and in some ways Laine are the most concerning. Panic meter on these guys? Reason to think they can rebound next season?

From this list, the only player I’m worried about here is Elvis Merzlikins. With that said, he’s been a lot better of late, so hopefully his play has turned a corner and we can put his dreadful year behind us. Mental strength can be everything in goaltending, and he may come out of this situation better prepared for tough moments. That’s what we have to hope for, anyway.

As I talked about briefly above, if you look at Sillinger’s numbers this season, it’s been a brutal year. But, if you’ve followed the games closely, the one thing that stands out to me is that he just keeps working. Yes, it’s obvious that his offensive confidence isn’t there; but it hasn’t slowed his effort on the puck or his play in the defensive zone. Lately, he’s been getting some more looks since being paired up with Kent Johnson, and I think it’s only going to take one goal to really set him off.

Through 30 games this season, Yegor Chinakhov was just one point off of his points total from last year – set in 62 games. More importantly, his plus/minus went from -27 last year, to a reasonable -6 this year. He’s fine, and I honestly thought he looked like the most dangerous offensive threat in a lot of his games this year, he was all over the ice on both sides of the puck.

The only thing I can say to the negative, is that he needs to use that shot more often – it’s a top-10 wrist shot in this league right now. The coaching staff has to put him into situations where he can get open, because the more he shoots, the more he’s going to score. He had 44 shots on goal through those 30 games … I’d like to see that up closer to 60. I would be willing to bet he would have 20 goals by now, if he’d stayed healthy and shot  the puck more often.

As for Laine, let’s tie that into this next question and I’ll answer you both…

Hailey asks the Laine question as well:

honest opinion on laine’s production and future? some people truly believe we can build around him and others seem disappointed in him thus far so i’d love to hear your take. also, can elvis realistically rebound from his struggles or did we give the wrong goalie an extension?

I mentioned the Elvis situation on the last page, and I think he can come back a lot stronger next year. He just needs to settle down and not try to do too much.

As for Laine, it’s a simple answer: I think we have to temper our expectations and realize that he’s probably nothing more than a top-six goal scorer. I’m careful to even say first line here, because I’m not sure that his game is built for that kind of play. I don’t see any reason to trade him at this point, because I think he’s doing exactly what they wanted him to do when they acquired him.

He was drafted second overall for his ability to shoot and score from long distance, as well as the secondary ability to pass and create plays. I think the hope for the Jets was that, they would be able to round out his overall game and make him an above replacement-level player. He has improved, but I don’t think he’s ever going to become a dominant power forward or top line winger.

If you look at his season overall, he’s actually been really good. He has 16 goals and 35 points through 42 games, which puts him at a 68 point pace. His career high is 70 points, and he’s basically right there. The main difference here is that he’s scoring fewer goals. Which is completely fine; we all know how hot he can get, and I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that he can do that and double his total by season’s end. He’s capable.

The encouraging thing for me is that, even though the team is well out of the race, he’s still visibly working and trying to make a difference. In the last two games, I would argue that his effort has been amongst the best on the team, and the game results show that. For these reasons, the only way I can fathom the team trading him, is if someone wants to make a stupid offer that they can’t refuse.

It’s not easy to find a rhythm when you get hurt in the first game of the season. Then come back and quickly get injured again. But Patrik has stuck with it and is scoring at a rate you hope to see from top line players. This guy is never going to become the dominant two-way presence that we had in Pierre-Luc Dubois, or an elite play driver like Artemi Panarin – but that’s okay.

He just needs to be Patty Laine. 15-18 minutes a night, lots of power-play time, score 30-40 goals and 60-70 points. Improving the team around him probably inflates his numbers a little bit, which may happen in another year or two. He isn’t drastically overpaid or anything like that, we just can’t expect him to single-handedly carry our offense or dive in front of slap shots. That’s not his game.

Overall, I loved these questions! This was a fun article to write, and we will certainly be doing this again in the near future. If you have any feedback or have a question for our next AMA, feel free to reach out to us via our social media channels (Twitter, Facebook).