The Blue Jackets nearly returned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2024-25. Is this the year a five-season streak without playoff hockey will end?
That’s the biggest question fans will want answered over the course of the upcoming season, but figuring out that puzzle will require several other variables to pan out in the Jackets’ favor.
With training camp starting next week, head coach Dean Evason and the Blue Jackets will look to improve on last season’s 40-33-9 record. That was a marked improvement from the year before and bumped the team from last in the Metropolitan Division to fourth place, but it still left the team just on the outside looking in when it came to the postseason.
When it comes to taking another step forward, what are the biggest questions Evason and his charges will look to figure out, starting when steel meets ice next week?
Here’s a look at what we’ll be watching for when camp begins.
Can they keep putting the puck in the net?
For the second time in four seasons, the Blue Jackets set a franchise scoring record, topping the 2021-22 team’s mark of 258 goals with 267 scored a year ago. That placed the team seventh in the NHL in scoring, and the goals often came in bunches; Columbus scored at least six goals in a franchise-record 16 games and at least five in 25 contests. On the other hand, the Blue Jackets were shut out nine times, a mark that tied for second in the NHL. A big key may be making the feast-or-famine attack a little more consistent, and that’s something that could come with age considering five of the team’s top eight point scorers were age 24 or younger a season ago. That’s also a reason for optimism, as it would seem there’s even more production possible from the likes of Kirill Marchenko, Dmitri Voronkov, Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger as they gain more NHL experience. Full seasons of health from Boone Jenner and Sean Monahan would only seem to add to the attack, so our guess is this remains one of the better offensive teams in the league, especially if Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood can fortify the bottom six.
Are the young players ready for another step?
This will be one of the biggest questions of the season, as in many ways, the Blue Jackets will go as far as the players we named above will take them. Sure, there is a strong veteran leadership core on the team, but much of the Blue Jackets’ bounce-back 2024-25 campaign was built on the fact that the five players above all posted career highs in points. Those players were drafted to be offensive difference makers and made major steps to fulfill that promise a season ago; now, what can they do for an encore? It is fair for the Blue Jackets to expect similar if not better production from that key group of maturing players this upcoming season. If they deliver, it's hard to imagine the Blue Jackets won't be in the playoff hunt.
Will the defense be better?
Columbus finished 25th in the NHL a season ago in team defense, allowing 3.26 goals per game, and you could argue this was the main reason the Blue Jackets missed the postseason. How important is keeping the puck out of your net in the NHL? The top 15 teams in scoring defense all made the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Defense is far from just the six players who line up on the back end – it also requires commitment from the forwards to defensive play, plus a group that works in concert with its netminders – but it is also fair to say the defensive corps was a key area of focus for Columbus this offseason. Ivan Provorov and Dante Fabbro were re-signed, Zach Werenski should lead the way, Denton Mateychuk emerged last season, and there are plenty of capable, veteran options to fill out the lineup. Columbus didn’t add Fabbro until November and called up Mateychuk in December; then, over the last 41 games of the season, Columbus allowed 2.90 goals per game to place 14th in the NHL. Add in another year of familiarity in Evason’s system and the ingredients are there to be a better defensive unit in 2025-26, but they'll have to show it.
How will the goaltending competition shake out?
If there’s one question I received more than any other when talking with fans this offseason, this was it. The June trade of Daniil Tarasov seems to make it clear Elvis Merzlikins and Jet Greaves are set to be the team’s goaltending tandem. Columbus is expected to continue to search for a third goalie who can go in should the need arise, but the veteran Merzlikins – he's going into his seventh season with Columbus, making him just the third goalie to reach that mark – and youngster Greaves are the top two netminders going into camp. Both have things to like about them – and question marks. Merzlikins has been lauded by Evason and GM Don Waddell this summer for how he performed much of last season (see his 43-save outing in the Stadium Series game), but he offset 19 starts where he allowed two or fewer goals with 12 starts where he ceded five or more. Greaves, meanwhile, has momentum coming off his best AHL season as well as his red-hot finish to the campaign, but he’s never gone through a full NHL campaign and will see the league adjust to his game as time goes on. So how will the playing time battle break down? It’s a question that will only begin to be answered in camp, as the long season tends to lead to plenty of ebbs and flows between the pipes.
Are there any surprises in store?
When we wrote out our first potential lineup for this season in mid-summer, it didn’t seem like there were too many spots available. The Blue Jackets return 17 of their top 21 point scorers from a season ago and added Coyle, Wood and Isac Lundestrom to be lineup regulars, which doesn’t leave a lot of spots up for grabs. Of course, the preseason is a chance for everyone to make their case, and there are players who can do so. Could one of the team’s prospects – say, Luca Del Bel Belluz or Jordan Dumais – burst through the door and earn an opening night roster spot? Will the bevy of veterans the team has brought in – forwards Hudson Fasching and Brendan Gaunce, or defensemen Brendan Smith, Christian Jaros and Dysin Mayo – use their NHL experience to provide Evason with a comfortable option? Time will tell, but it’s a long season, and the Blue Jackets used 35 different players a season ago. A good training camp can go a long way to putting yourself in a position to see time.
