The Blue Jackets have a mostly assembled defense corps, returning 7 skaters from last year's roster. Not to be lost in the mix is Jake Christiansen, who may be the 7th man on paper; but could be important as the season wears on.
When I started the research for this article, I wasn’t entirely sure what I would find. Jake Christiansen went about his business last season in a quiet, “kept his nose to the grindstone” fashion. While it rightfully earned him a contract extension to stay another two years in Columbus, I didn’t know what I was going to find from my usual advanced statistics perspective. I was more than a little surprised by some of the positives I saw.
Jake was one of only four defensemen for the CBJ (Werenski, Fabbro, Mateychuk) that posted a positive On-Ice Goals % (52%) and was #1 among the club’s returning defensemen this season in High Danger Shot Attempts Against per 60 (2.96), and in the top 50 of defensemen in the entire NHL (minimum 800 minutes played), all stats courtesy of our friends over at Moneypuck.com.
Not bad for a young, undrafted defenseman out of West Vancouver, BC.
What surprises me even more about this is that Jake established a reputation while skating for the Cleveland Monsters as an offensive defenseman first. It seems like these days, Christiansen's reputation as a d-man should be adjusted a bit. Jake excelled last year at playing his role in the Dean Evason system: a third pairing guy that can play both sides effectively and churn out an effective 10-15 minutes a night for you.
Moving into the 2025-26 campaign, Jake will return to a marginally less crowded defensive corps with his role even slightly more solidified. He’s a clear #5-7 guy on the CBJ depth chart, and a guy that really shouldn’t play above the third pairing, and against similar level of competition. His competition for minutes is going to be players like Erik Gudbranson, Damon Severson, and possibly call-ups like Daemon Hunt (provided he’s re-signed), Guillaume Richard, and Stanislav Svozil.
Still, I find it unlikely any of these three rookies will see extensive time at the NHL level this season, barring injuries. Given that both Gudbranson and Severson play the right side naturally, it wouldn’t shock me if Christiansen locks down that third pairing left shot role even more firmly as this year goes on.
One Bold Prediction: Jake Christiansen plays in all 82 games this season.
This one might not be too crazy of me, but how long has it been since the Columbus Blue Jackets had two defensemen who played in all 82 games in a season? They came agonizingly close this year with Ivan Provorov suiting up in 82 and Zach Werenski playing in 81.
The answer is 2018-2019 with Werenski and David Savard playing in all 82. Jake played in 68 games this past season and was a healthy scratch a handful of times. I think with a whole additional season under his belt at the NHL level and continuing to flesh out his experience in Dean Evason’s system, he’ll have no issue earning his ice time and proving that he can be a part of a squad that should have a good shot at making the Stanley Cup Playoffs.