Blue Jackets 2024 season preview, Boone Jenner will be a leader both on and off the ice

Boone Jenner has been a great Blue Jacket since being drafted 37th overall in 2011. He has played all 11 seasons of his NHL career in Columbus and has been a great ambassador of the city both on and off the ice. He has been a player who brings the blue-collar work ethic to each game and always brings his best effort.

Jenner had a decent season in 2023-2024. He scored 22 goals and 13 assists for a total of 35 points in 58 games. His point and goal totals were on-par (albeit slightly below) from his prior two seasons. The biggest issue for Jenner was the time he missed. He lost time due to a combination of injuries and personal loss. If Jenner had played an entire season, the expectation would be that his totals would have been around his ceiling (around 25 goals and 45 points).

Ideally, Jenner would be playing on the third or fourth line on a contender. His skillset is ideal for the checking line and is prime for playoff hockey. However, the Blue Jackets have never had the luxury (minus the 2018-2019 playoffs) of having enough skill up front to put Jenner in the appropriate role. He has always needed to play higher up in the lineup out of necessity.

This season, expect Jenner to again play an elevated role in the lineup. He will likely be playing on the second line at the left wing position (and at times, center). He will be one of the top penalty killing forwards and will be a mainstay in front of the opponents net on the power play. Jenner has always been tasked with a heavy workload. But with the departure of Patrik Laine and tragic loss of Johnny Gaudreau, expect the workload to increase for Jenner unless some of the young players can elevate their games.

In addition to being a leader on the ice, Jenner will need to be a big leader off the ice. The passing of a teammate is never easy. Jenner is the captain of the team, and it is his job to bring this group together and lead them through adversity. It won’t be easy and he won’t be alone in doing so (there are plenty of other leaders on the club). But being the captain comes with great responsibility, and he will be needed to guide this team through the healing. This may be the most challenging season of Boone’s captaincy to date.

Jenner is signed through the 2025-2026 season at $3.75 million AAV. That means he will be with the team this season and next. It’s possible that he becomes trade deadline fodder during the 2025-2026 season. It’s also possible that he is re-signed for another couple seasons to extend his tenure with the CBJ. It really depends on his health and the on-ice success of the young players. If the team continues to struggle, I could see Jenner playing for a contender to finish his career. But if the team begins to rise up the standings, Jenner may want to finish his career on a winning team.

One bold prediction: Boone Jenner will score more than 30 goals.

Boone has been more of the more consistent goal scorers for the Blue Jackets over the past 3 seasons. If Jenner can stay healthy, I think he has a chance to score more than 30 goals. He scored exactly 30 goals once in his career (back in 2015-2016). I think Coach Evason will lean on Jenner’s leadership this season. Don’t be surprised if Jenner is leading the team in goal scoring by the end of the season.