SvoNotes: Blue Jackets already have fire to improve next season

SvoNotes is a weekly column by BlueJackets.com team reporter Jeff Svoboda.
Sean Kuraly took a full 10 seconds to answer the question.
If he could use just one word to describe the 2022-23 season for the Blue Jackets, with just a handful of games left this week, what would it be?

After thinking it over for what felt like an eternity, Kuraly replied with, "Disappointing."
He could have used any sort of adjective for the on-ice results, which currently place the Blue Jackets last in the NHL with two games to go. He could have used similar descriptors for the unreal streak of bad luck the Blue Jackets have faced, including a team-record 541 man-games lost to injury that will race past 550 tonight with 11 players set to miss the contest vs. Pittsburgh.
It's fair to wonder just how different things would be if the Blue Jackets could have stayed healthy -- not a single player will skate in 82 games this year, and only five players remain available tonight from the opening-game roster -- but Kuraly didn't want to subscribe to that camp.
In his eyes, you earn your own luck in the NHL, and the Blue Jackets didn't do enough of that this season.
"Every guy has to go into his summer and give himself a serious look in the mirror," Kuraly said. "There's gonna be injuries. There's gonna be mishaps. Every team is fighting the same stuff. It's going to be worse some years than others, but if we can't control some of the stuff that happens, we have to be the best players we can be, and that goes to every aspect of being an NHL player.
"I think we're all going to have to look ourselves in the mirror, me included, and be even more ready than we think we can be."
If there's a silver lining to everything that has happened, it's that the Blue Jackets were given plenty of chances to evaluate. There are young players who stepped to the fore and showed their stuff, from guys who project to be franchise pillars like Kent Johnson and Kirill Marchenko to unheralded prospects like Tim Berni. There are players who filled bigger roles than expected and grew in them, and others who will be able to take the adversity they faced and learn how to handle it better in the future.
For those in charge, the disappointment of the season is bitter, but there was also a lot to be taken from the difficulties and frustrations.
"I wouldn't choose this year," head coach Brad Larsen said. "But there's many times I said I'm glad we're going through it because you get to learn a lot about a lot of different things, things you would never see until you hit a circumstance like this. Because when it does get good, you know who you can trust and rely on. You know who's going to be there when the chips are down. When playoffs hit, if and when that comes, you know which guys are all-in because in these times, they reveal their character."
It has to be comforting, then, to hear just how ready Kuraly is to attack the offseason, especially as someone who has built a leadership role on the team throughout the season and will finish the campaign with an "A" on his sweater.
One gets the sense talking with Kuraly that he's inspired to begin getting ready for next year as soon as tomorrow night's finale ends, though he will follow a typical offseason routine. Still, the passion burns bright for someone who has compared the feeling at the end of this season to what it was like to lose in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2019.
"Things don't just turn around," Kuraly said. "You don't just show up and things start turning around. We're going to have to make things turn around."
The good news is there is a lot of positive pieces in place, and not just from the aspect of what the Blue Jackets learned from this season. There's still a veteran corps of All-Star level players like Johnny Gaudreau, Patrik Laine and Zach Werenski to build around. Marchenko and Johnson were among the top rookies in the NHL, and Columbus has a top-five farm system ready to churn out more young talent.
Then there are veterans like Kuraly and Erik Gudbranson who have played a lot of NHL hockey and burn to push this thing to a higher level. Another highly-touted youngster is set to arrive from the draft, and things have to be better on the injury front next year.
At the same time, none of it will happen without the Blue Jackets putting in the work to make it so.
"There's easily a really positive scenario out of this whole thing," Kuraly said. "Not easily, but there is a positive scenario in this, and we have to keep in mind there's a negative one, too. It's going to take a lot of effort. It's going to take a lot of preparation and a lot of work from a lot of people to move this thing in the direction we know it can go. We know we have the ability to go in that direction, but it's going to take some reflection and some hard work."

Jiricek Returns

The numbers won't end up being anything to write home about -- four games played, zero points and a minus-4 rating.
But you have to think the experienced gained at the NHL level this year by David Jiricek will serve him well down the road. And there isn't much reason to fret over how the No. 6 overall pick in the 2022 draft did in his NHL cameo, as Jiricek was a consistent standout everywhere else.
His dominant performance at the World Junior Championship while helping Czechia to its first medal in 18 years stands out, but Jiricek was also a force at the AHL level, posting a 6-32-38 line in 52 games and earning an All-Star bid with Cleveland.
All told, it was an incredible season for someone who is still just 19 years old. Getting two separate stints in Columbus, where he's learned what the NHL is all about on and off the ice, is just the cherry on top.
"It was great news for me," Jiricek said when he was recalled to play Saturday against the New York Rangers. "I was very excited."
It was his first call-up to Columbus since November, as the Blue Jackets have opted to let Jiricek's game continue to grow with consistent AHL minutes rather than put him into the lineup at the NHL level. Truth be told, he likely could have slotted in at times, but there was no reason to force things, especially with the NHL's contract slide rule at play.
Columbus kept close tabs on Jiricek throughout the season in Cleveland, and he's been a huge part of the playoff push for the Monsters this season. And CBJ brass has seen his game grow throughout his first pro season in North America, including in his return to the NHL level.
"I think he did some good things, some things he wants to work on," Larsen said after his game against the Rangers. "You can see the improvement form where he was here last time. I thought he had good legs. I thought he was assertive -- all those things that we expect from him. As you get more reps and more timing and playing more, I think he'll settle in even more. There's a real bright future for him."
After playing two games, Jiricek was not part of the latest group of recalls, as the Blue Jackets will hope he can help the Monsters get the necessary points this weekend to clinch a playoff bid.
"That's great for my development to play in Cleveland, to play in the playoffs," he said. "I hope we are going to make it, and I hope that will be a long season for me to play."

Family Day

One of the newest CBJ traditions took place on Monday, and it's one that can't help but make you smile.
Every team in the NHL takes a team picture, but in the two years that Larsen has been the head coach, the Blue Jackets have added a twist. After the team lined up Monday to take its official photo, there was a second picture taken that included the players' and coaches' significant others, children and, yes, pets.

That meant there were plenty of canines running around the Nationwide Arena ice before practice, plus quite a few kids as well. It's a focus for Larsen, who has spent a lifetime in hockey and knows just how much family life means to those involved.
"We started last year, bringing in everybody involved," Larsen said. "With the wives and the girlfriends and what they sacrifice, how much commitment they have. If you look at our month of March, we're home for three games, and the rest, guess who's picking up the slack? They are the unsung heroes. They're the ones back here. It's a lot of work, so it's something really small to have them be a part of the picture and let them know they are valued and we appreciate what they do. It's great."