It's safe to say that last season was not a fun one for Blue Jackets fans, especially in the last three weeks of the regular season. There has been a fair share of criticism and disappointment about the team's finish, but I'd like to point out a couple positives.
While some players didn't live up to expectations, and others performed up to par, there were four players who all made great strides last season and were a big part of putting the team in a position to succeed, regardless of the end result.
Damon Severson
I'm going to start with the player with perhaps the most unexpected success this season, with that being Damon Severson.
After a bit of a rocky start in his first two seasons in Columbus, Severson finally looked comfortable and found much more consistency this time around.
He got off to a very strong start in the first couple of weeks of the season, and was arguably one of the best players on the team for that initial stretch. He finally showed his solid two-way game, making an impact in both zones.
I attribute a lot of this to his chemistry with the team. Although it took longer than it should have to consistently be on the same page as his teammates, he had been with the New Jersey Devils for nine seasons, with the trade to Columbus being the only one of his career.
Even without digging too deep into analytics, he scored seven more points than the season prior while playing just one more game, and his +/- rating jumped from +5 to +18. That +18 was the second-highest on the team, just behind Mason Marchment's +21 in his 39 games as a Blue Jackets.
It only gets better when you do look at the analytics, as Severson's 2.95 team expected goals for per 60 minutes and 2.27 against per 60 minutes were both first among Columbus defenders at even strength.
This of course also leads him to have a team-best expected goals percentage at 56.5%, and his actual goals percentage of 55.3% was also the highest. All of these metrics are according to MoneyPuck.
I could bring up even more numbers for you, but I think you get the point. If he can keep up this level of play and consistency, the 31-year-old will be a difference-maker for the Blue Jackets' playoff chances this season.
On the next page, we look at a player who had always performed well when given opportunities, but showed that he could also maintain a high level of consistency.
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