With the Blue Jackets finally able to ice their complete defense corps, there is a surprising name remaining in the lineup. Jake Christiansen has played his way up the depth chart, going from apparent #9 defenseman; to getting in ahead of three others.
Last week, the team demoted Carson Soucy to the Cleveland Monsters, passing him through waivers before doing so. This is the role we anticipated Christiansen filling once bodies started to come back. His play, however, has made that threat go away.
Long road to success.
As an undrafted player, Jake has not taken an easy path. He played five seasons in the Western Hockey League, earning himself a pro contract with the Blue Jackets thanks to some impressive offensive numbers with the Everett Silvertips.
After finishing his junior career, he spent the next four years picking up miles on I-71, acting as the go-between for the Jackets and the Cleveland Monsters. Finally, in 2024-25, it seemed like he was getting his chance to play in the NHL full-time.
He got into 68 games with the Jackets that season, scoring 8 points and giving the team a third pairing option. Since then, however, things have gone way south. Last year, Jake got into just 40 games, averaging just over 10 minutes per night.
This season started off looking like a repeat of that campaign. He found himself in the press box, even with the team missing three regulars on defense. He was scratched behind the newly signed Soucy, and newly acquired Emil Andrae.
Since that scratch-and our own article wondering if it was time to move on-Jake has gotten back to doing the things he does best. As a result, he finds himself passing not only Soucy and Andrae on the depth chart. He looks like he'll be in the lineup ahead of Erik Gudbranson tonight.
first projected lineup in the hometown remix jerseys! pic.twitter.com/jnlHlHRA5P
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 3, 2026
Playing simple, fast hockey.
I haven't noticed Christiansen on the ice too much, and that's honestly a great compliment. He's fit right in, playing reliable, steady hockey, at an NHL pace. For the first time in his career, maybe other than a brief stretch in that 24-25 season; he looks like he belongs here.
Whether that's coaching, or a change in his overall mindset, he has earned his place in this team's lineup. I'm interested to see if he and Dante Fabbro can give this team something it has lacked for the last few seasons: a viable third defense pairing that can play more than 10 minutes at even strength.
Taking the load off of this team's top-4, which does a lot of the heavy lifting; would be really helpful. I'm interested to see how it works tonight.
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