Three Active Former Blue Jackets Who Would be Perfect for this Team

Over the years, the Blue Jackets have had their share of talented players – especially over the last 7-8 years or so. The issue has been gathering enough of them at the same time to make this team a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

Now that the team is seemingly building in that direction; I thought it might be fun to look at a few guys that have moved away, who might change the outlook of this team in a big way if they were still here. It goes without saying, this article is going to be contentious for a few reasons, but bear with me and my our reasoning for each pick.

It would be easy to go through and just pick out the best players, but that isn’t the point of the article. Sure, you would love to have an Artemi Panarin or Cam Atkinson back here; those are wildly exciting players that would draw crowds on their own. But who would get pushed out of the lineup if you brought one or both of those guys back? The point here is, these players would fit right into the lineup as it stands and help this team contend as constructed otherwise.

The best way to start this process is to assemble the roster we expect to see at training camp. We did that last week, with our own predictions and reasoning. Now, let’s play fantasy GM for a second, and be realistic … which players are playing out of their elements? This is how you have to look at the roster, if you want to turn this team into contention. For this exercise, we have removed the names of players that I feel aren’t in the right roles (here comes the first point of contention!):

Line 1: Gaudreau – ??? – Marchenko
Line 2: Johnson – ??? – Laine
Line 3: Texier – Fantilli – Chinakhov
Line 4: Robinson – Kuraly – Danforth
Extras: Voronkov, Olivier
Defense pair 1: Werenski – ???
Defense pair 2: Provorov – Severson
Defense pair 3: Bean – Gudbranson
Extra: Peeke
Goaltenders: Merzlikins, Tarasov

As you can see, it’s my opinion that this team is lacking two top-six centers, and a top pairing defenseman for the right side. It’s also my opinion that the goaltending is actually fine here; assuming both guys can stay healthy, the new structure of the team helps them prevent high danger shots, and the new goaltending coach has his stay.

I want to quickly point out that I’m not dropping any of Jenner, Boqvist, or Roslovic off of the roster – I’m just pointing out that I don’t see them as suitable in the roles they’re penciled into. Ideally, Jenner is on your third line, helping lead the way for some of the young guys in the lineup. Roslovic is better suited in a bottom-six role, and I’m still in wait-and-see mode with Boqvist.

If your goal is to contend now, these are the glaring needs you have. So, which former Jacket players who are still in the NHL might be able to fill those roles?