Reviewing our 5 bold predictions for the 2023-24 Columbus Blue Jackets
Before the season started, we were full of hope as a fanbase. Promises of a much improved Blue Jackets team have fallen well short of expectation however; which means that our bold predictions have, well, missed.
By Curtis Deem
We were given the "we're going to try to compete for the playoffs" speech all throughout last summer. While we knew that would be a stretch, the hope was still that this team would be vastly improved from last year.
They have improved, but it's far from vastly. Call it slightly. After finishing with 59 points last year, they're sitting at 62 right now - with just 7 games remaining. Those 7 games are against some tough competition, so I don't see them getting anywhere near our optimistic preseason predicted 75-85 point level.
Hey, we were hopeful.
Worse, for the second year in a row, if it could go wrong, it did. The Jackets have been pulled through the knothole with injuries again. The locker room was fractured before the season even started. Young players who needed to break out, did not break out.
In short, it's just been a complete mess. The team has a lot to work out this summer, if they're going to get anywhere near the level they hoped to be at this season. It looks like they're at least two years away from being competitive.
So, with all of that aside, I'll point out the obvious. Our bold predictions weren't even close. They were very bold to begin with, based on the optimistic outlook we were given ahead of the season. Let's take a look.