The Five Greatest Single Seasons by a Columbus Blue Jacket Skater
Our Friday Feature article this week has us taking a look at the five greatest single seasons by a Blue Jacket skater. While the team has had limited success, there have been some really good standout seasons by individual players – proof that the team has had its share of stars, just never enough of them at any one time.
The first four places on this list are pretty hard to debate, but you could make a case for a few other contenders for fifth place. Whether it’s Rick Nash earning a share of the Maurice Richard Trophy in his 41-goal sophomore season; or Ray Whitney still quietly sitting fourth in single season scoring (76 points in 2002-03). For my money, it was hard to omit Nash’s injury-shortened 2005-06 season, so I’ll agree that we left some glaring omissions here. But, I had to choose five to keep this from being a tedious read.
We’ll start in reverse order and count down to number one. It’s important to note that two of the biggest things I took into consideration here, were the success of the team and the level of support each player got in each of these seasons. This kept me from just picking the five highest point totals and being too obvious.
#5: Rick Nash’s two-way dominant 2007-08 season…
To that point in his career, Rick Nash had been well established as one of the top goal scorers in the NHL. But it was in this 2007-08 season where Rick really emerged as a dominant two-way power forward under head coach Ken Hitchcock.
While he didn’t finish in the top-10 in goals or points, Nasher led the Jackets with 38 goals and a then-career high 69 points. He added 95 penalty minutes and a +2 rating, helping the team to a then-franchise best 80 points. They didn’t make the playoffs that season, but Nash further established himself as a superstar by becoming one of the best two-way wingers in hockey.
He led the team by just 8 points (Nikolai Zherdev, 61), but played on a team whose third leading scorer was his center, Michael Peca; who scored just 34 points that season. Offensive stalwart (this is a joke) Jan Hejda led the team from the back end with 32 points, and was followed up by Jason Chimera (31), Manny Malhotra (29) and Sergei Fedorov (28). Just looking at this roster, it’s amazing that anyone was able to achieve nearly 40 goals and 70 points. This was a terrific year for Rick, easily one of the best in his career.
The 2018-19 version of the Columbus Blue Jackets was easily the most successful team we ever had in Central Ohio. At least, from a playoff perspective. They had a pretty good regular season too, on the back of a superstar.
#4: Artemi Panarin resets the record in 2018-19…
The season that led to a #8 playoff seed had plenty of ups and downs, but it was historic in that the franchise record for points in a single season was set by Artemi Panarin. In 79 games played, Panarin scored 28 goals and a still franchise-best 59 assists for 87 points, helping lead the team into the playoffs and an eventual sweep of the President’s Trophy winning Tampa Bay Lighting.
Bread. Top shelf.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/3LPjla5uQP
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 28, 2019
His second season in Columbus saw Panarin dishing out dimes to everyone on the team, leading to him being on the ice for a whopping 114 Blue Jacket goals. The Jackets finished the season with 47 wins and 98 points on the back of their superstar winger; who also helped Cam Atkinson tie a franchise record with 41 goals.
Unfortunately, the lack of two car garages in Columbus led to Panarin leaving the team after just two seasons; removing a key component from what could have been a special Blue Jacket team for many years to come. Still, we can’t overlook the fact that he holds down both the #1 and #2 (more on that later) most productive seasons in CBJ history.
#3: Johnny Hockey’s arrival in Columbus…
While Panarin leaving Columbus left us with a sour taste in our mouths, in just a few years we wound up landing another elite player in free agency. And we like him more anyways. Johnny Gaudreau signing a 7-year deal and choosing Columbus over any other destination, immediately endeared him to the hearts of Blue Jacket faithful – while simultaneously shocking the hockey world.
Gaudreau joined the Jackets as they neared the low point in their rebuild. But his signing brought hope, and had many turning their expectations towards a CBJ playoff run. Unfortunately, that wasn’t meant to be last season as the Jackets suffered through injury after key injury. Coupled with a lack of structure and discipline, the team finished second to last in the entire league.
We cannot overlook how special Johnny Hockey’s first season in Columbus was, however. His 74 points were 5th most in club history – and he led the team by a full 22, ahead of Patrik Laine’s 52 point injury-shortened season. He had 53 assists, which are fourth-most in Blue Jacket history, while playing with a variety of linemates and through plenty of question marks all season.
While he wasn’t able to push this team into the playoffs in his first year; quietly, Johnny Gaudreau had one of the most productive offensive seasons in franchise history, with almost no help. I cannot wait to see what he can do with some real support, hopefully this season.
A lot of the current generation Jacket fans think the last few years have been hard. I agree that they have, but how many of you remember the suffering of the early years? If you were around back then, you’ll recall the magic of the 2008-09 year … even if they got slaughtered in the first round of their first playoff appearance. Our pain and suffering was eased by one of the greatest individual seasons by a Jacket forward.
#2: Rick Nash shoulders the playoff burden in 2008-09…
In what would be the defining year of Rick Nash’s solid career, he absolutely dominated both ends of the ice in the 2008-09 season. Rick scored the second highest goal total in his career to that point (40), and added 39 assists for a career-high 79 points. He led the team in scoring by 23 points in a year when the team’s most productive center was Manny Malhotra (35 points).
Rick carried the team on his back that year, not only producing offensively, but shining on the penalty kill and playing a staunch two-way game that allowed head coach Ken Hitchcock to use him in all situations. Steve Mason won the Calder Trophy in goal, but it feels like Nasher was snubbed in the Hart Trophy race, finishing 13th in the voting. Not to say he should have won it, but for a guy who dominated the game at both ends of the rink, leading that roster into the playoffs … I feel like he should have been much higher. That was a magical season in CBJ history.
#1: Artemi Panarin made all the difference…
Though he played just two seasons in Columbus, Artemi Panarin holds two spots on this list. Two years after acquiring Brandon Saad from the Blackhawks, the Jackets flipped the productive winger back to Chicago in a deal that saw them acquire Panarin – a player many thought would struggle without Patrik Kane. But it was evident very early on in Columbus that Panarin was a rising star in the NHL.
His second year in Columbus saw the team have more success (and a greater individual scoring output), but I don’t think there’s any question that his first season was more remarkable. Panarin scored 27 goals and 55 assists (still not sure who was scoring these goals) for 82 points for the Blue Jackets in 2017-18, leading the club by a full 25. In fact, the second highest scoring forward on the team (rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois), had just 48 points, leaving him 34 behind Panarin.
The Jackets finished that season with 97 points, fourth in the Metro; earning them a first round showdown with the Washington Capitals. They brought home a 2-0 series lead over the Caps, mostly on the back of Panarin’s offensive show – before adjustments made on the other side turned the tides, and ultimately cost the Jackets that series. The Caps went on to win the Cup that year; which makes me wonder how far #9 might have been able to pull this team along, if things had gone a little bit differently.
For the first time in their history, the Jackets had a true superstar in Artemi Panarin that year. Without discrediting Rick Nash; Artemi was a player who could drive offense regardless who was on the ice, making all of his linemates better and more productive. While he spurned the city for the brighter lights of New York, he gave us some credibility during his time here. With only two years played in Columbus, he holds the top two highest point totals in franchise history – at least for the time being.
Next. The Five Greatest Seasons by a CBJ Goaltender. dark