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5 things the Columbus Blue Jackets can improve to make the playoffs
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- 5 things the Columbus Blue Jackets can improve to make the playoffs
The Blue Jackets were supposed to be dreadful .
After the team traded Patrik Laine on Aug. 19, 2024, and lost Johnny Gaudreau to a tragedy 10 days later, hockey analysts universally wrote them off before the season began. The Athletic, using a predictive model, even projected them to finish with 69 points and vie for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
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Instead, the Blue Jackets found their footing. After starting training camp in a somber mood just a couple weeks after Gaudreau's funeral, they forged strong bonds around their shared grief and turned it into a strong motivating force.
Combined with an impressive roster filled with talented players, they took the NHL by surprise and finished two points shy of making the playoffs. Looking forward to next season, here are five things that must improve for them make it to the postseason:
Apr 5, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Matthew Knies (23) battles for the puck with Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski (8) during the second period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Columbus Blue Jackets must improve on the road
Even after rallying to win road games April 13 in Washington and April 15 in Philadelphia , the Blue Jackets finished with a 14-23-4 record away from Nationwide Arena. Among 16 teams that qualified for this year's field, only four have sub-par road records and none finished as far below the .500 points percentage line as the Jackets.
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Winning road games is one of the biggest challenges for upstart teams due to the NHL's rules regarding line changes during stoppages. Coaches at home can put new forward lines and defensive pairings out last, which gives them the opportunity to get the most favorable matchups on the ice.
Teams with young centers tend to struggle on the road primarily for that reason. Getting unfavorable faceoff matchups can skew possession times and decide the outcomes of key situations such as power plays, penalty kills and 6-on-5 empty-net situations late in games. Adam Fantilli and Cole Sillinger are both well under 50% on draws in the early stages of their careers, which places added importance in veterans such as Sean Monahan , Boone Jenner and others to stay healthy.
Had the Blue Jackets finished closer to .500 on the road this season, they likely would've sewn up a playoff spot in early April.
Winnipeg Jets center Cole Perfetti (91), Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski (8), Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Mikael Pyyhtia (82) and Winnipeg Jets left wing Nikolaj Ehlers (27) watch the action during the first period at Nationwide Arena on November 1, 2024 in Columbus, Ohio.
Columbus Blue Jackets' record in back-to-backs is holding them back
Going hand-in-hand with improving road success is winning more sets of back-to-back games. Completing sweeps isn't necessarily a requirement, but avoiding sweeps and winning more back-to-back finales would help quite a bit.
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The Blue Jackets went 6-4-2 in games that started back-to-backs this season but went 2-10-0 record in the finales. In 12 back-to-backs, they were swept in regulation four times, swept with an overtime loss followed by a regulation loss twice, split four sets and swept two.
Columbus is a team that usually sees double digits in back-to-back games on their schedule, so improving in them would go a long way toward qualifying for the postseason.
Elvis Merzlikins of the Blue Jackets posted an .892 save percentage this season, which ranked 23 among goalies who played starters’ minutes.
Columbus Blue Jackets must get better in goaltending
The elephant inside the Blue Jackets' locker room reared back on its hind legs and knocked over portable locker stalls with its trunk.
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Jet Greaves ' sterling performance as an emergency recall for an Elvis Merzlikins injury in the final week of the season put then put a spotlight directly on that raging elephant. The simplest way to put it is to say the Blue Jackets' goaltending, as a whole, wasn't good enough to get them into the playoffs.
Merzlikins, despite an impressive stretch of solid play and several outstanding outings to steal wins, finished with a 3.18 goals-against average and .892 save percentage. Among goalies who played 40-plus games, his GAA ranks 27thand the save percentage is 26thin the league.
Daniil Tarasov struggled even more in his 20 appearances, finishing with a 7-10-2 record, 3.54 GAA and .881 save percentage. Tarasov also failed to fully gain coach Dean Evason's trust, which led to Greaves' dazzling recall stint to close out the season.
Looking to next season, the Jackets need to improve their goaltending situation to give themselves a better shot at making the playoffs.
Columbus Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli (19) skates around New York Islanders left wing Pierre Engvall (18) during the second period of the NHL hockey game at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on April 17, 2025.
Columbus Blue Jackets' young core must take another step
Fantilli scored six goals in his last four games to finish his second NHL season – first full one – with 31 goals. He also stepped in admirably as Monahan's injury fill-in on the top line and showed multiple signs that he's the type of center the Blue Jackets lacked.
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Even better news for the Blue Jackets is the core of talented youngsters who are rapidly developing into impact players along with Fantilli. Kirill Marchenko challenged Zach Werenski for the team's scoring lead with 31 goals, 43 assists and 74 points. Kent Johnson finished third in scoring with 24-33-57 despite missing 14 games with a shoulder injury.
Dmitri Voronkov finished with 23-24-47, Sillinger continued to develop into a solid two-way checking center in the mold of captain Boone Jenner, Denton Mateychuk earned a role on the second defense pairing and Greaves appears ready for at least a look at the NHL backup next season.
Jake Christiansen , Yegor Chinakhov , Luca Del Bel Belluz , Mikael Pyyhtia and Jordan Harris also had impressive moments. Getting further development out of their young core will be imperative for the Jackets to become a playoff team.
Columbus Blue Jackets center Boone Jenner (38) warms up prior to the NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on March 28, 2025.
Columbus Blue Jackets are due for better injury luck
Once again, the Blue Jackets topped 300 in man-games lost due to injuries by finishing with 324. Most of their injury woes the past three years were due to terrible luck, but a full look into potential causes is warranted anytime one team has the number of health issues as the Jackets.
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The biggest losses this season were Jenner and Gudbranson to shoulder surgeries in October, Johnson and Voronkov to shoulder injuries in October and Monahan to wrist surgery in January. Imagine what the Jackets' point total might've looked like with that group heathy enough to play full seasons.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets: 5 things CBJ can improve to make NHL playoffs
