Breaking Down the Columbus Blue Jacket Roster: Who Gets Cut?

We took to social media yesterday and tasked everyone with cutting players to make the final Blue Jacket roster. As expected, some names appeared on nearly everyone’s lists; but there were some surprises, too. Today we’ll break down some of the ideas.

It might seem like an easy task at first glance, but I don’t think that’s the case. We count no fewer than 29 players vying for 23 jobs this fall – and every single one of them has a worthy resume; a reason for being on the ice with the Jackets. There are 17 forwards, 10 defensemen, and 2 goaltenders that you could make an argument for having on the team.

You can look at some of these guys and pretty easily assign them to Cleveland because they have two-way contracts. But, what happens if they come to camp and show that they’re ready? Do you risk losing some of the other guys on this list for nothing? Is a trade in the works? There really is a lot to break down here.

First, we’ll knock out the easy one: goaltending. You need two, and the Jackets have exactly two. Barring any trades, Elvis Merzlikins will enter the season as the team’s starter, with Daniil Tarasov backing him up. Tarasov’s contract is now a one-way deal, and I don’t think the team would be willing to risk losing him for nothing. So, any other goaltender they bring on board, likely becomes the bouncer between Cleveland and Columbus this year. Again, barring any trades.

With that said, we’re down to 21 jobs for 27 people. The next method we can use to narrow things down is to look at the players who are 100% locks to be on the team. This is due to their role/productivity, or even just their contracts and the team’s desire to hang onto viable assets during the rebuild. And there are quite a few locks.

Forward locks (10): Johnny Gaudreau, Patrik Laine, Boone Jenner, Jack Roslovic, Sean Kuraly, Eric Robinson, Alexandre Texier, Kent Johnson, Kirill Marchenko, Adam Fantilli.

Defense locks (7): Zach Werenski, Ivan Provorov, Damon Severson, Adam Boqvist, Jake Bean, Erik Gudbranson, Andrew Peeke

Just like that, without anybody actually trying out for the team, we’re down to 4 jobs for 10 players – most of whom played significant time in the NHL last season. As you can see, there are a lot of decisions to be made by the Jackets. So, who is on the bubble?

I count ten names that should be in serious contention for those remaining four spots. And, you could make the case for almost all of them, that they cannot be cut.

Let’s start with the easy one again: defense. Missing from our list of “locks” is one of the top defense prospects in the world, David Jiricek. If he comes to camp and proves he’s ready to be a difference maker, you can’t block him. This alone forces the team’s hand and makes them keep 8 defensemen – because there are already 7 guys who cannot be sent down without the risk of losing them.

And what about Nick Blankenburg? He’s on a two-way deal, and it’s hard to pencil him into that group of 7 as things stand, so it’s easy to say we can send him to Cleveland. But, he was one of the most assertive, hard working players the team had last year. Can you really cut him if he shows out better than two or three of the guys on NHL only deals? He’s done it before.

The only name that seems to be an “easy” cut here is Tim Berni. He’s still an RFA, yet to be extended by the team – but, he played in 59 games here last season, and did not look out of place. We have to mention him as making a push, especially when you look at the depth on the left side.

What makes things more tricky when you start looking at forwards is: keeping an eighth defenseman around means that you can only keep three of the seven players we have on the bubble. And there are plenty of guys with strong resumes here.

First, let’s talk about team toughness and Mathieu Olivier. I thought he had a strong season with the Jackets last year, all things considered, and I like the way he rounded out that fourth line. Clearly the club’s brass thought highly of him as well – enough to extend him with a two year, one-way contract. This is a player that had some rumblings around his name at the trade deadline, and with a cheap contract, he’s an NHL player that certainly wouldn’t clear waivers. Do you really risk losing him for nothing?

Emil Bemstrom has long been the subject of slander amongst CBJ faithful, and I would argue that most of it is tied to unfair expectations that he arrived in North America with. In reality, he’s been a quietly productive two-way winger, who isn’t out of place in this team’s bottom six. He’ll never be the top-two line scoring winger (like Oliver Bjorkstrand) that we thought we were getting, but perhaps one of the best coaches in NHL history can unlock more from him?

Still, Bemmer is probably one of the easier cuts to make from this list … which really says a lot about the situation this team finds itself in. He cleared waivers once last season, and I could see the team risking that again. If he doesn’t clear, he’s easily written off by some of the younger prospects in the system.

Justin Danforth will return from major shoulder surgery, with one year remaining on his contract. He’s a 30 year old journeyman who has been written off plenty of times in his career – but knowing Mike Babcock the way that I do, this is exactly the kind of player that will catch his eye in camp. Danforth works tirelessly, is reliable on both sides of the puck, with just enough speed and finish to fit perfectly into Babcock’s system. Don’t overlook this guy until the team makes the final decisions in its bottom-six.