SvoNotes: The light at the end of the tunnel

SvoNotes is a weekly column by BlueJackets.com reporter Jeff Svoboda.
Make no mistake -- this exact moment is not a fun time to be a Blue Jacket.
Columbus has lost eight of its last nine games and is entrenched in last place in the Metropolitan Division with an 11-23-2 record. Barring a historic run, one that seems even unlikely more than usual because of injuries that have knocked out some of the team's key players, a season that began with such hope will end without playoff hockey.

You can never say never, but with 46 games to go, when it comes to this season's standings, the Blue Jackets are currently playing more for lottery balls than playoff positioning. No matter the circumstances outside of the Jackets' control that have led to the situation, it's disappointing and frustrating for everyone involved.
Take Sean Kuraly, who signed a four-year contract with his hometown team in the summer of 2021 expecting to help build a winner. He was one of the key pieces of a team that exceeded expectations a season ago, but now at age 29, the Dublin native is staring a lost season in the face.
"Every time you lose, it sucks," Kuraly said. "It really does. When it's a different situation now (from the start of the season) and you expect yourself to maybe handle it a little differently, it's really hard to do. I think that's probably the biggest challenge. I realize we're undermanned with injuries and stuff at this point, but it's definitely a challenge, there's no doubt about it."
But there are plenty of reasons to believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel -- and it's not a train barreling down the tracks. Any major roster turnover in the NHL is going to lead to ups and downs --
something the Blue Jackets did see coming at the end of last year
-- and when you're trying to build around a young core, there's going to be some lumps along the way.
Columbus couldn't have anticipated the lumps -- long-term injuries to such players as captain Boone Jenner, assistant captain Zach Werenski, last year's leading point scorer Jakub Voracek and goal-scoring dynamo Patrik Laine -- this season would entail dressing lineups that at times have included nine skaters and a goalie with fewer than 100 NHL games to their credit.
Facing teams that have been together for years like Tampa Bay, Boston and Pittsburgh makes for an unenviable task with such a young squad. But as head coach Brad Larsen pointed out recently, as difficult as things feel right now, these are the types of moments that help teams grow into winners.
"The biggest thing is (avoiding) frustration," Larsen said. "It's just a waste of time to get frustrated. We've all been there. As coaches, we've been frustrated, as managers, as players. It's human nature to get there, but these things can serve you well down the road if you can push through this.
"And it's a grind right now. It's hard. You're in a losing streak, and there's no cavalry coming. We're still banged up. It's not changing that way. The (current) personnel has to get it done, so it's gut check time for everyone. We're all in this together. It's no fun, no fun at all.
"But when you get to the other side -- which we will; at some point, we will -- you can look back and there's a lot of growth in these moments. There just is. Character gets revealed in these moments with a lot of guys. They're still going to make mistakes. They're still going to handle situations wrong just like we all have, but if you're humble enough and you're accountable to it and you check yourself, you have an opportunity to grow."
This is where it's fair to point out the positives that have come amid the struggles. Blue Jackets rookies lead the NHL so far this season with 17 goals and are fourth with 39 points, and such players as Kent Johnson (20 years old), Yegor Chinakhov (21) and Kirill Marchenko (22) have shown flashes of being consistent offensive forces as they grow into their games. Cole Sillinger (19) is fighting a sophomore slump, but he still has a high ceiling as a top-six two-way player in the middle of the ice.

On the defensive side, Marcus Bjork (25) and Tim Berni (22) have been pleasant surprises, while 23-year-old Daniil Tarasov has shown the mettle to be a starting goalie sooner rather than later.
On the farm, David Jiricek and Stanislav Svozil, both 19, have been dominant defensemen at the IIHF World Juniors, and Jiricek's point-per-game stat line at the AHL level portends the 2022 first-round pick will be in the NHL sooner rather than later. Add in first-round blue line choices Corson Ceuelemans (2021) and Denton Mateychuk (2022) as well as several other prospects on the horizon, and you can see a young core developing that should mesh with the veterans to produce a winner down the road
Already, someone like Erik Gudbranson is seeing the benefit of having the young Jackets learning along the way.
"Guys are battling hard," the defenseman said. "These guys that have come up from the minors have done a really good job for us. They're getting some valuable reps that I don't think they'll ever forget. As vets, we're getting a good opportunity to be in a position we're not used to being in, how to manage it, and now we're learning from it as well. We're trying to take as much as we can from the situation we're in."
At the end of the day, the key is the struggle can't go for naught. Going through the lessons and the hard times isn't fun while they happen, but the Blue Jackets should be able to take a lot from where they are and use it to build a knowledge base that will help them for years to come down the road.
"You just try to learn from it and do the best you can," Kuraly said. "We have a lot of learning and getting better to do. There's no drill to waste. There's no practice to waste. You try to find some meaning in that and try to get a little better every day. We have no time to spare in terms of if we want to get where we want to go, we have a long way to go and there's no time to waste."

Defensive Depth Grows

One place where all the adversity has led to some positive signs is on the CBJ blue line. Losing Werenski and Jake Bean for the season in the first 15 games was not how Columbus drew it up, especially when Adam Boqvist and Nick Blankenburg have missed around two months as well, knocking four of the seven defensemen from the opening night roster out of the lineup.
But Columbus has found some good signs in the performances of Berni, Bjork and Jake Christiansen (23 years old). The trio came into the season with a total of eight NHL games between them -- all from Christiansen -- but all have turned in some credible minutes when pushed into action.
The return of Boqvist sent Christiansen back to Cleveland, and the impending return of Blankenburg will likely mean another odd man is out shortly. But it's hard not to like what you've seen from Bjork and Berni, especially when you consider neither was a big part of the preseason conversation about what the blue line would look like.
"I have lots to think about, let's put it that way, which is a great scenario to be in," Larsen said when it comes to what has to be done to insert Blankenburg into the lineup. "When he's ready to go -- I'm not sure when that will be, but it looks like the near future -- there will be some tougher decisions. It's great."
Bjork has stepped right into the top pairing with Vladislav Gavrikov, as well as the No. 1 power play at times, and acquitted himself nicely. The Swedish veteran has been one of the league's top rookie defensemen in goals and points with a 3-7-10 line in 23 games, and he and Gavrikov haven't looked overmatched defensively when going against top-line opposition.

Berni, meanwhile, has an international pedigree having been a big part of Switzerland's junior national teams coming up. He also played for one of the top teams in his home country, the ZSC Lions in Zurich, before coming to North America a season ago to debut with Cleveland. So far he has played in 13 games and formed a solid partnership with veteran Erik Gudbranson.
"Through all the negative circumstances you go through, there is a positive," Larsen said. "The Bjorks and Bernis have been great stories for us. Bjork started with us and by game two, he's in our top pair. He's 20-plus games in, and he's been very serviceable -- actually, that doesn't do it any justice. He's been way better than that, playing against top guys every night.
"Berns has come in and been another great surprise. You're not sure what you have there, and he's translated what he did in the American League right here. He's not afraid to go in the tough areas and make plays under pressure, he skates out of trouble, he has poise with the puck -- all those things you look for in a defenseman, you don't know if it's going to translate, but it has in a top-four role."
So as Larsen said, there are tough decisions to be made. The Blue Jackets won't be fully healthy on the blue line the rest of the season, so there are roles to be had, but next season Werenski and Bean will return, while such youngsters as Jiricek, Svozil, Ceulemans and Mateychuk are coming up through the system.
But, as Larsen said, "what (Bjork and Berni have) done is put themselves on the map for sure. It gives me a lot to think about, which is great. It ups the accountability with all our defensemen right away."

Boqvist Returns

When you watch the game from the press box, as I do on a nightly basis, it doesn't seem all that fast. OK, you know it's fast -- these are the best players in the world, after all -- but the benefit of being five stories above the ice is that you can see the time players have on the ice while watching everything develop.
But I also know that when you watch the game from the front row, the players might as well be skating 100 miles per hour. The speed of the game has never been higher than it is right now, and when you're on the glass, you can feel just how fast and intense it is.
This is also a realization Boqvist has come to. His return to the lineup Dec. 23 came after he missed about two months with a broken foot, and players often talk about how when they're out of the lineup, they watch from above and realize just how much time they actually have to make plays.
What feels like a tornado on the ice looks somewhat calm from above. But … good luck convincing yourself that when you step back on the ice.
"I feel like it's just a different view from up there," he said recently. "It looks slow from up there. Then when you get down on the bench you realize, 'Oh man, this is a fast game.'"
That's the circle of life in the NHL, and Boqvist knows it as much as anyone. He's showcased plenty of promise in his NHL and CBJ tenures, as the eighth overall pick in the 2018 draft debuted in Columbus last year at age 21 with 11 goals -- tied for sixth all-time in one season among Blue Jackets defensemen.
He has skill and he can put the puck in the net, but the thing Boqvist hasn't mastered yet in Columbus is staying healthy. He's played in just 60 of 118 possible games since arriving in the capital city thanks to a list of maladies, and for a young player who needs games, it's not an ideal situation.
"You gotta play," Larsen said. "There's no substitute for games. Being out two months, anybody who is hurt and you're out long term, you're playing catchup right away. It doesn't matter what you're doing in the gym … as far as the timing and the one-on-one battles and the things that happen instinctively in a game, you just have to play."
It's a reality Boqvist knows well, and he admits it's hard to get back in and shake the rust off.
"I feel like it's mental, to be honest," he said. "You try to at least watch a lot of hockey at home and you try to stay in the game. You do a pregame nap as it gets closer, try to get the mind-set ready. But it's more in the head than the body when you come bac. You haven't had to focus for that long, four hours, in a game like that."
The best thing for Boqvist would be to string together a long stretch of games, as he has just a single assist in eight contests this season. He might have to knock on wood to stay healthy, but it would be worth it.
Boqvist also admits he's heard the talk that his current jersey No. 27 might be cursed given the issues that have struck him and Ryan Murray in the past. He might not be one that believes too much in jinxes, but anything that can keep him on the ice might be worth a look.
"I saw some tweets about my number," he said. "I don't know if that's something. I'll see what happens for next year. I might change it. But I don't focus on that too much. It's a good number, but it has to work, too."