Blue Jackets quarter century team: what they got right, and what they got wrong

It's been 25 years since the Blue Jackets entered the NHL. Since they came into the league right at the turn of the century, they are in a perfect spot. The league is releasing its quarter century teams; which gives us a chance to reflect upon the greatest players in our brief franchise history.

While the Jackets haven't had much success overall, they have had their share of pretty good players. Not surprisingly, the majority of the names on these lists came during the team's brief run of success between 2016 and 2020. The complete first and second team lists are below:

These lists were compiled based on votes from the media and people around the NHL. Overall, I think they did a pretty good job, but there are a couple of names missing here.

What they got right, and what they got wrong...

I don't think I would change much about the names on the first team. The only argument I can make here, would be to move Johnny Gaudreau or Nick Foligno off of the second team, in place of Cam Atkinson. Not to sleight Cam in any way. He was definitely a loyal member of the Blue Jackets, spending 10 seasons here and sitting second in franchise history in points (402). He very much deserves to be included on these lists.

My argument isn't so much against him, as it is for the other guys. No player has spent more games as captain of the Blue Jackets than Nick Foligno. And, while he wore the "C", the team had its best run of success. All while scoring 334 points (5th all-time). Nick was the face of this team during its best stretch.

When it comes to Gaudreau, it's an easy argument to make. If you're including Artemi Panarin on the first team after only spending two seasons in Columbus, Johnny deserves to be up there as well. Johnny chose Columbus and was the player to ever sign here and captivate us in a way similar to Panarin. Legacy should matter here.

This is just nitpicking between the rosters, to be honest. All of these guys deserved recognition. The only real exclusions I see are two original Blue Jackets: Ron Tugnutt, and David Vyborny.

Tugnutt played just two seasons here, but still sits 8th in franchise history in wins (34), and is second all-time in save percentage (.910%, min. 50 GP). He's also sixth in shutouts (6), while playing in at least 1200 fewer minutes than every single goaltender ahead of him in that category. Personally, I would have voted for him ahead of Steve Mason. Again, taking nothing away from Steve, who had one amazing rookie year; I just think that Tugger did better under worse circumstances.

Finally, I'm not sure who I would exclude from the list in favor of David Vyborny, but he deserves honorable mention. It was announced today that he'll be inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame this year, and he was an important Blue Jacket early on. To this day, he sits sixth in franchise history in scoring (317 points) and third in assists (204).

Hopefully, the next 25 years are better to this franchise than the first quarter century was. I can already picture the next list being led by a few guys on this year's roster.