We've been diving into offseason coverage this week, which is not what we would prefer to be doing. It would be a lot more fun to be putting out articles about the Blue Jackets and a first round playoff series - but that will have to wait at least another year.
After coming up painfully short of a playoff spot this year, the focus now shifts to what this team has to do this summer, in order to find those extra points in the standings to get into the postseason next year. The bar has been raised quite a bit after this team overachieved this season. Now, it's up to General Manager Don Waddell and his staff to bolster this roster and make them even better.
This week, we've already talked about the free agent situation (spoiler: there are a LOT of them). We've also talked about three guys that could be moved out to free up salary and roster space. Today, we'll look at the holes in the lineup, and try to zero in on what they may try to add this summer.
Even without making any roster moves, there are some jobs available right now, based on all of those pending free agents. At this moment, the Jackets have just 9 forwards, 5 defensemen, and 2 goaltenders signed to NHL only contracts for next season. As you can see, there is quite a bit for Waddell to do already.
Near the top of his list will be what to do with all of those free agents. In our article earlier this week, we talked about which ones would be good to bring back, and speculated on what the team might be thinking here. First and most important: getting Dmitri Voronkov signed to an extension. If Don gets that done, he's got 10 of his 12 (or 13-14, if you count the healthy scratches) figured out.
Lineup hole #1: a top-two line scorer.
The two other names we thought they might want back next year: James van Riemsdyk and Justin Danforth. That would get them to a full lineup of forwards, but it still does not fill all of the gaps. Even if both of these guys return, I think the Jackets are in need of another top-six scorer. Here's how the forward lines would look:
Voronkov - Monahan - Marchenko
Jenner - Fantilli - Johnson
van Riemsdyk - Sillinger - Chinakhov
Aston-Reese - Danforth - Olivier
Being blunt here, I don't think that's a forward group that is going to contend for a Stanley Cup. At least, not without some help. This is why I think a guy like Yegor Chinakhov could be dangled as part of an upgrade package. Had he blossomed into a second line scorer this year, all of the concern is gone.
He didn't make the jump though, and this is a big part of the reason I'd love to see them bring van Riemsdyk back for another year - especially if they might move Yegor out. JVR was solid on the second line, and can fill in up and down the lineup as needed. After all, you can never have too much scoring.
Going one step further: how much better would that group look with Jenner on the third/checking line, and another high end player thrown into the mix? Preferably, someone who can fill Voronkov's spot on the top line.
We love the big Russian here at Union and Blue, but I think he's probably better suited on the second line of a Cup contender. Putting "Big Boss" with Fantilli and Johnson could give them more space, and allow them to play their skill game with more freedom.
Late in the season, we saw this team's offense get shut down (and shut out) quite a bit. I think this is a direct result of them being short one more play driver inside of that top-six. On too many nights, they had one line going, but not the other. If they can remedy that this summer, they are going to be really hard to contain next season.
Other than that, I really like this forward group. There is a good mix of skill, grit, and depth; it would just be nice to see everyone playing left wing move down one line. Even if they can't add, they did score a lot this year, so maybe this is all moot. On the next slide, we'll look at where the real roster surgery needs to happen.