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?

When I think back to the COVID year of hockey, it brings me a surprisingly fond memory. The Blue Jackets knocked the Toronto Maple Leafs out of the first round on the back of an emerging star center named Pierre-Luc Dubois.

I can’t tell you the exact words I used when he completed his hat trick in game three of that series, I’d like to keep this article G-rated. But, paraphrasing, I shouted loudly in my living room that “Luc was a MAN”. I wasn’t wrong; in that series he went up against the league’s most highly paid offense, helped shut them mostly down, and stole the show as the star of the series. I still get chills watching this highlight reel.

Unfortunately, as we all know, he quit on the team at the beginning of the next season. This prompted his trade to Winnipeg for Patrik Laine, a move that I don’t have any regrets about – Patty has been everything we wanted in a scoring winger since Artemi Panarin left, while Jack Roslovic has scored at a pretty similar pace to Dubois. But, it does make me wonder: what could have been with this team, had Dubois not pouted his way out of town?

Since the trade, he went on to score 143 points in 195 games for Winnipeg, before dropping his shoulders and forcing a trade again – this time to the LA Kings. He just signed an 8-year deal with an $8.5m AAV to play there, finally finding a place where it seems like he can be happy. He’s emerged as one of the premier physical/power two-way centers in the NHL; a guy who plays hard on both sides of the puck, and can play up and down the lineup as needed.

Had he stayed in Columbus and signed long-term, I think this rebuild would look a lot different than it does at this moment. We probably wouldn’t have some of the players/prospects we have, but for just a moment, imagine the other pieces here; and having PLD step onto a top line with Johnny Gaudreau and Kirill Marchenko. Look at what this does to the rest of the roster:

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

Adding Dubois to that top line would give the Jackets easily the best top-six forward group they’ve ever had. That top line would be a nightmare for opposition defenses; with Dubois and Marchenko both creating havoc on the forecheck, buying time for Gaudreau to make plays at will. By season’s end, you could be rolling him out with Fantilli on the second line, Jenner on the third, and Kuraly on the fourth. That’s a playoff caliber lineup for sure, and for that reason; whether you love him, hate him, or have just outright forgotten about him: Pierre-Luc Dubois would be perfect for this team.

So Dubois has burned his bridge here. Honestly, we don’t want him anymore anyway. The diva got his Hollywood contract, good riddance. But we still need a center for our top-six, and there’s a guy who just needed a change of scenery that I would be interested in having back.

The Blue Jackets are paying Alexander Wennberg more than $891k in each of the next three seasons, to not play hockey here. Why not bring him back and make him earn some of that money?

Look, buying him out was the absolute correct decision for both sides. He absolutely refused to shoot a puck, ever, and his scoring production had dipped to just a meager 5 goals and 22 points in 57 games. All of this while the team had him signed to a contract worth nearly $5m per year – basically, second line pay – which he was far from living up to. By biting the bullet and buying him out, the team was able to pay him just 1/3 of his owed money due to his age, which gave him a chance to start over fresh somewhere else.

And that is exactly what Wenny did. He signed with Bill Zito’s Florida Panthers (remember him?) for one year, where his production picked up just a little bit. Now a member of the Seattle Kraken, Wennberg has established himself by staying healthy for the first time in his career, missing just two games over the last two years combined; and scoring 37 and 38 points in those seasons.

He currently has one year and $4.5m on his contract, which is very reasonable for a guy who can play on the second or third line. To be clear, I don’t see Wennberg as a solution to our top line center woes … in fact, I think he’s only a temporary fix on the second line. But, you know what our second line could use? Someone who can win faceoffs, understand the game on the defensive side of the puck, and distribute passes to Laine. Man, that sounds a lot like Alex Wennberg’s music. Check this out:

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

Again, by season’s end, I think you swap Fantilli and Jenner. By having Wennberg on the second line, you give this team a quality 18-minute-per-night line that will draw some attention from the opposing teams. This alone relieves your top line and makes it easier for them to produce, which should help remove some of the burden from Jenner and Fantilli. Call me crazy, but I think it could work. And, it might buy you just enough time for one of Cole Sillinger or Luca del bel Belluz to make the jump to the NHL.