As the NHL season enters the month of November, the Blue Jackets are off to another start full of mixed results. Blowout losses, exciting OT winners, surprise performances, and a handful of players who still find themselves in a major slump. No player's dry spell has been more noticeable this year than Conor Garland.
After being acquired for in a trade with the Canucks at last year's deadline, Garland rocketed out to a scorching hot start with the Blue Jackets. After netting 4 goals in his first 3 games with Columbus, the pair of picks we gave Vancouver to acquire him seemed like a steal.
Unfortunately, that torrent pace did more than just slow down. Garland practically disappeared during the Jackets' extremely tight playoff race, with 0 goals and 1 assist in the final 13 games of the season en-route to the Jackets narrowly missing the playoffs yet again.
Frustrating, but he was far from the only player to struggle during that stretch. No player is immune to being snake-bitten from time to time. The key for Garland was to look ahead to this season and become a helpful part of the core. After all, the Jackets did not acquire him as a rental. They took on the entirety of Garland's 6-year $36 million extension he signed in Vancouver before he was traded. An extension that didn't kick in until this season.
Regardless, Garland has shown throughout his career that he can be a quick, smart, versatile water bug of a forward who has reached the 50 point mark more than once in his career. Well worth the money if he could find a way to slot into the middle-six as a hard-working valuable winger. Add to that a roster full of forwards with no true superstars, and the opportunity to cement himself on the second line was his for the taking.
But to start the season, Garland spent all of October a little too into the Halloween spirit. He was a ghost.
In the Jackets 12 October contests, Garland failed to register a single point, with a +/- of -4 to boot. It's clear the coaching staff is unsure how to use him, as he's spent this year bouncing between the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines on a regular basis. His last NHL goal was March 19th, 2026. Eye-test, counting stats, advanced analytics, doesn't matter. They all point to a player who needs to be contributing more given his situation.
He finally broke the curse in the Jackets recent game vs the Avalanche, registering an assist on an Ivan Provorov power play goal after spending the game on the 2nd line. Hopefully nabbing his first point of the season is enough to shake something loose and get him producing again, but that doesn't change his struggles he's dealt with until now.
With his assist in the first period, Conor Garland breaks a 20-game scoreless streak that dated back to last season. #CBJ
— Union and Blue (@UnionAndBlue) November 4, 2026
There could be a number of explanations as to how this happened. Bringing in Valeri Nichushkin and Matthew Knies before the season meant there was less ice time for top end wingers than we initially thought. Or maybe Garland just isn't a fit in a Rick Bowness offense. It could also be a general depth issue with the team, as there are a number of players who can't seem to find their first point of the year up front. Lomberg, Heinen, and Del Bel Belluz also find themselves with zeroes so far.
The difference is that arguably none of those other names were expected to be major offensive contributors this season, and none of them make even half of Garland's $6M cap hit. With 2026 being year 1 of his 6-year extension (that includes 3 years of a full no-movement clause, plus 3 more with trade protection), that could become an ugly road block of a contract if he can't find old form again.
With any luck, breaking the pointless streak could be a sign of things to come. If the veteran winger is able to better use his tools that he flashes on a nightly basis to help the Jackets put more pucks in the net, people will be quick to forget his tough start.
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