5 bold predictions for the Columbus Blue Jackets season
There are only six days left until the puck drops for the 2024-25 Blue Jackets season. Today, we'll offer up our boldest predictions for a team that we hope to see take a step forward.
Bold prediction #1: The Blue Jackets will have three different players score 30 or more goals this season.
Jumping right into this one head first, with a really bold prediction. The Blue Jackets haven't had a 30 goal scorer since Cam Atkinson tied a team record with 41 tallies back in 2018-19.
I guess you can say that we're due for one, or two, or maybe even three?
They certainly have plenty of shooting options this year, even after dealing away Patrik Laine. It feels like this team should have had at least one guy clear this total over the last few years - Laine in particular would have been a solid bet - but, they have been held back by injuries and a power-play that has been very lacking.
One big focus for the newly assembled coaching staff will be improving the power-play. New assistant coach Mike Haviland ran the PP unit for the Cleveland Monsters pretty effectively, and he'll likely be tasked with making things work here.
If they can score at even a league-average pace, this team will have more goal scoring potential overall. With the talented shooters and net-front guys accumulated here, 30 goals should be attainable for several of them.
I'll go one step further. The three who will get there, and my predicted totals: Sean Monahan (31), Adam Fantilli (dare I say 40+?), and Kirill Marchenko (35).
Our next bold prediction is also pretty bold...
Bold prediction #2: Daniil Tarasov establishes himself as the #1 goaltender and finishes top-10 in the NHL in save percentage.
This one is quite bold. Bolder than I would have gone on my own, but our Matthew Duffey thinks that Daniil Tarasov is primed for a big year. Big enough that he came up with this prediction. I won't say it's impossible, but it is a stretch for a player who hasn't played more than 28 games since the 2019-20 season.
Tarasov is certainly the highest upside goaltender on the preseason roster. Not only because of his athleticism; his size certainly plays a factor here too. Simply put: bigger goaltenders are harder to score on.
That size and athleticism would put me more at ease if he had stayed healthy for any stretch of his career. Injuries have afflicted him at almost every turn of his career, stunting his development at many passes and delaying his arrival.
Still, if he can stay healthy, there is so much here to be excited about. The CBJ goalies will benefit this year from playing behind Dean Evason's more strict and competitive defensive zone game plan. If Tarasov can stay healthy and play consistently, his ceiling is certainly high. In that regard, I think he could be a breakout candidate.
He'll also have the motivation of this probably being his last chance to make an impact within the Blue Jackets crease. As an RFA after this season, it's now or never for #40. A top-10 finish in the NHL's save percentage category, would mean a massive payday for Tarasov next summer. Still, I can't help but wonder if all of the time missed due to injuries, has ruined an otherwise promising career. We'll have to wait and see.
Moving on to our third bold prediction, we give an idea where the team might finish in the overall standings.
Bold prediction #3: The Blue Jackets will win more than 30 games, and exceed 75 points this season.
This franchise desperately needs to take a step forward. While I won't go as far as predicting a playoff run, I do think they are capable of moving a few paces up the standings.
They haven't won 30 games since winning 37 in 2021-22. That year, they finished with 81 points; well out of a playoff spot, but they were still playing meaningful games late in the year.
That's what needs to happen this season. They need their young players to see what it takes to play meaningful hockey in March and April. The hope being that next season they can push towards a wild card spot.
More importantly: they need to do this for the fans. We have been very patient through this rebuild, with Nationwide Arena selling out almost nightly; with our only return being a terrible, bottom of the pack NHL team.
The 5th Line deserves a team that fights until the end - even if they do come up short. If the defensive structure is improved, the goaltending will be better. If both of those things happen, and the team can find a way to generate a little bit of offense, I think they can hit both the 30-win and 75-point marks.
Our next bold prediction has us taking a guess at the team's leading scorer.
Bold prediction #4: Kent Johnson will lead the Blue Jackets in scoring this season.
The Kent Johnson hype train has not passed us by this fall. We are definitely on board with #91 having a breakout year for the Blue Jackets this season. Our Mike Stump predicts that he'll lead the team in scoring.
I made a similar prediction last season, which fell flat on its face. Hopefully this time around, we get it right. If KJ can produce like we know he's capable of doing, this team is going to be in much better shape.
So far through training camp and the preseason, he looks primed to do exactly that. Johnson returned to camp energized, looking stronger, and more confident than ever. Combining this with his impressive skillset, who better to predict as the driver of this team's offense this season?
We wrote just last week about him being one of the highest ceiling offensive players in the organization. Kent has that rare ability to change the pace of the game with the puck on his stick. He's a pass-first guy, who will have plenty of quality shooters to distribute to this year. But he's also shown more of a penchant for putting pucks on net this fall, too.
A confident, well-rounded Kent Johnson is bad news for the rest of the NHL. Hopefully, he's kicked aside that nasty sophomore slump, and is ready to show the rest of the world what he can do. Maybe to the tune of 70 points? Let's keep our fingers crossed.
Our final prediction isn't quite as bold. It's probably the most likely to come true.
Bold prediction #5: The trade deadline brings major changes to the Blue Jackets roster - short and long-term.
First, the facts. The Blue Jackets hired Don Waddell this summer because their rebuild wasn't progressing as quickly as they'd hoped. It's Don's job to speed up the rebuild and get this team into contention. Don didn't make any earth shattering changes to the roster this summer, but we know they're coming at some point.
Now, the prediction. I think Don is going to take this season to evaluate the entire organization. By the time the trade deadline rolls around, he'll have a pretty good idea who fits into this team's long-term plans; and who does not.
We don't expect the Blue Jackets to be a playoff team, but I don't think that means they're going to be fully locked into seller mode this season. Not even at the trade deadline. More to the point, my gut tells me that this team is looking to make hockey trades that will improve this team in both the short and long-term.
The new manager and head coach were not hired for a continuation of lottery picks as part of a long-term rebuild. Waddell and Dean Evason were brought in to right the ship and get this team back to playoff contention soon, rather than later.
After this season, the Blue Jackets could have as much as $46 million dollars in cap space. I expect them to start adding major pieces as early as this season, once Waddell has gotten his evaluations put together.
We will still probably see players like Ivan Provorov, Sean Kuraly, Justin Danforth, James van Riemsdyk, and possibly Mathieu Olivier dealt away this season. But, the team won't simply go to their young prospects or replacement level players to fill those jobs. I think they'll be buying as well, if the right pieces are made available.
One thing that is for sure: this shouldn't be a boring season of Blue Jackets hockey. There is a lot of talent here, that just needs to take the right steps. Maybe surrounding them with the right coaching staff and veterans will help them do just that.
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