The defense corps needs an overhaul on the fly.
The Blue Jackets need to add some size and defensive zone snarl to their lineup. There is just one problem: they have no meaningful room to do that. At this moment, they have six defensemen signed for next season. Five of them are pure puck movers.
Zach Werenski and Damon Severson were very solid this year as the top pairing. Ivan Provorov and Denton Mateychuk both turned in solid minutes, especially when paired together. But, the elephant in the room with these two: they have a tendency to get outmuscled, especially in front of the net.
When the opponent discovers that they can strongarm your second defense pairing in front of the net, that's a bad thing. As good as Ivan and Denton were with the puck, they struggled without it.
The Jackets also have Jake Christiansen returning, likely as the 7th-man again. He's fine in spot duty, with very limited minutes. But, he's not altering their plans in any meaningful way. Finally, the only guy they have that I wouldn't call a real puck mover is Dante Fabbro. And, well, he had an awful season, if we're being blunt.
Still, his contract dictates that he's going to play most every night. There's not much the team can do about it, other than try to salvage his game and get him back to playing serviceable minutes. I don't think that's impossible, but he doesn't have any elite traits, and also doesn't exactly bring a lot of size to the mix. Most likely, he's a complimentary piece on the second or third pairing. That's fine, if they can find some more help to play around him.
It was reported last week that the team would be moving on from pending UFAs Erik Gudbranson and Brendan Smith. That makes sense, as neither guy was able to stay healthy this year. Besides, with six other guys signed, keeping one or both makes it impossible to upgrade this unit at all.
I think it's imperative that Waddell and the Blue Jackets spend every ounce of energy required to find a legitimate shutdown defenseman to play on their second pair. Whether that's alongside Provorov or Mateychuk, or if there is some kind of rotation involved; they need an honest to goodness stay at home defender here.
Preferably, one that can skate and not drag the team down when he's on the ice. That was the problem with the guy who was signed to fill in this role for the last four years. As far as what is out there, it's hard to say. Here is how they line up right now:
Werenski - Severson
Provorov - Mateychuk
??? - Fabbro
Christiansen
If the Jackets truly want to play better in their own end, they need to find someone that can fill the shutdown role. Maybe he's in the system already, and is nearing NHL readiness. That would be fun.
Lets take a look at the forwards on the final slide.
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