Reviewing our 5 bold predictions for the 2023-24 Columbus Blue Jackets

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.

Bold prediction #1: Elvis Merzlikins comes out of his funk, bounces back and plays like a #1 goaltender… Result: miss.

Elvis did bounce back, and for good chunks of the season he has looked like his old self.

At other times, however, he's let his emotions get to him, resulting in ugly losses. His save percentage has come up a bit - from .876 to .897; and he's given up fewer goals on average (4.23 to 3.45).

In those regards, he has come out of his funk. But, to say he's played like a #1 goaltender is a big stretch. In fact, over the last six weeks or so, he's been vastly outplayed by Daniil Tarasov.

He's played just 41 games this year, leaving the lineup due to various injuries and illnesses several times. And when he's been in the lineup, the results just aren't there.

Elvis accounts for just 13 of this team's 25 wins - and only six of those have come since the new year.

The enigmatic goaltender has come to a crossroads with this organization. I won't say they can't mend the fences and find common ground with a new GM - but, it's going to be really hard.

A separation seems imminent this summer, whether it's via trade or buyout. Things just aren't working here, and a change of scenery could help Elvis get his career back on track.

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.

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.

Bold Prediction #3: Both Adam Fanilli and David Jiricek get Calder Trophy consideration… Result: miss.

To be fair to our own Matthew Duffey (his prediction), I do think Fantilli would have been in the Calder discussions this season if he'd stayed healthy. He was playing at a roughly 50-point pace, which would have him inside the top-5 amongst rookies.

For that reason, this was probably our closest prediction. Fantilli was terrific for the Jackets, and looked every bit the part of our future #1 center.

David Jiricek, on the other hand, has had a disastrous season. He started the year in Cleveland, then came up and played in Columbus for a few months - then got demoted back to Cleveland for further development.

I do believe that his comments made after his demotion, contributed in part to the team deciding to move on from GM Jarmo Kekalainen. There was obviously some dissention here.

When he's been in the NHL, Jiricek has been stubbornly buried by Pascal Vincent. He has yet to see a power-play shift - which hasn't given him the chance to show off the bread and butter of his game.

He was recently recalled, and will spend the rest of the season in Columbus. We're hoping for improvement with the big Czech, but in the end, neither of these players will get any Calder love.

Bold Prediction #5: The Blue Jackets will finish fourth in the Metropolitan Division standings. But, they’ll still miss the playoffs… Result: miss.

The Jackets are a full 20 points behind fourth place in the division (Washington). They are going to finish 8th in the division, and aren't even close to 7th (14 points behind New Jersey).

We were right in one regard: they'll miss the playoffs.

If you've kept score at home, you already know that we went 0-5 in our bold predictions this year. A lot would have had to go right for us to hit on any of these, let alone all of them. That's why they were bold.

Instead of pushing towards competing, we head towards another off-season with more questions than answers.

Our hope is that the new GM is hired soon, rather than later; and that person gets to work pushing the right buttons.

I do think this team is closer than its place in the standings. A healthy roster is the first thing they need. Then, if they fill in the obvious holes they have, the sky is the limit.

The next step for us: 5 bold off-season predictions. And we promise you, they will be bold!