Bold Prediction #2: The Columbus Blue Jackets have six players exceed 60 points this season… Result: miss.
I admitted up front: this one was really optimistic. But, remember that we made these predictions when we thought we were getting a certain head coach, whose teams have a tendency to hold onto the puck quite a bit.
"Alright, I’ll be the first to admit that this one is really bold. They’ve never had more than three 60-point scorers in the same season, but I think this year they can double that number for a few reasons."Curtis Deem, Union and Blue
My prediction went on to mention Johnny Gaudreau, Kent Johnson, Patrik Laine, Adam Fantilli, Zach Werenski, and one of Boone Jenner or Kirill Marchenko.
With 7 games remaining, I'm cautiously optimistic that they will have one guy exceed 60 points. Gaudreau currently has 56. Next on the team in scoring? Werenski, with 48. No other player has 40 points. Yikes.
To be fair, I did not see Pascal Vincent taking over this team. His game plan has been to grind his veterans into the ground on a nightly basis, which has meant less production than I'd hoped to see from at least half of the guys on my list.
Also, every player on that list except Gaudreau and Marchenko, have missed significant time due to injury.
With that said, none of them played anywhere near a 60-point pace, even when healthy. The team we thought would have no problem scoring, has definitely had problems scoring. This was a complete whiff.