Columbus Blue Jackets 2024-25 midseason report card: As, Bs and a couple Cs
There’s a long way to go, but the Blue Jackets are in the race for a playoff spot at midseason.
They took possession of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot Tuesday night with a soul-cleansing 4-3 shootout victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena and host the Seattle Kraken on Thursday with a respectable 18-17-6 record.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets end Pittsburgh woes on push from Fantilli,Voronkov: 5 takeaways
Nobody outside the Blue Jackets’ locker room thought that was even possible , especially after Patrik Laine was traded to Montreal in August and Johnny Gaudreau was killed a week later in a tragedy that also took his brother Matthew’s life as they rode bikes in South Jersey.
Most analysts predicted the Blue Jackets would finish last among the NHL’s 32 teams and gain the best odds to win the draft lottery. Others were barely more optimistic. The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, are writing their own script as they continue to mourn the loss of Gaudreau and his brother.
Here’s a look at their midseason report card:
Columbus Blue Jackets : offense
Outside of a six-game winless skid in November, scoring hasn’t been an issue for the Blue Jackets . Their collective skill level matches up favorably against any team in the league, which has led to them scoring six or more goals in nine games already.
That’s already one more than last season’s eight games with six-plus goals and just two short of tying the franchise record (11) with 41 games to play. The Blue Jackets are averaging 3.37 goals per game thus far, which has them on pace to break the franchise record of 3.15 goals per game set during the 2021-22 campaign, and their 138 goals (not counting goals added for shootout wins) are the most in team history through 41 games of a season.
Zach Werenski’s prowess as one of the NHL’s elite scoring defensemen is a big reason for the success, along with center Sean Monahan’s addition to the top line as a do-it-all catalyst, plus big breakout efforts from Kirill Marchenko, Dmitri Voronkov, Kent Johnson and Yegor Chinakhov. Chinakhov, however, suffered an upper-body injury that’s sidelined him for 19 games.
Grade:A+
Columbus Blue Jackets: defense
The flip side to having such a potent offense has been an inflated 3.61 goals-against per game through the season’s first half. Forwards and defensemen have struggled with turning the puck over in their own zone, and Columbus' goalies have paid a steep price.
It’s not all bad, though. Werenski has led the way defensively and meshed nicely with Dante Fabbro, a solid defender claimed off waivers from the Nashville Predators . Ivan Provorov has provided a steady presence in the defensive top four as a pending free agent, while veteran Damon Severson got off to a fast start before inconsistency and a recent turnover or two landed him in the doghouse.
The third pairing absorbed a huge blow when Erik Gudbranson went down early with a shoulder injury that required surgery, but gritty veteran Jack Johnson picked up the slack. Jake Christiansen has stayed in the lineup in his first full NHL campaign, but Jordan Harris has struggled to earn regular ice time. Rookie Denton Mateychuk has joined the defensive rotation, skating primarily with Provorov on the second pairing, and Blue Jackets forwards have also played a role in the team’s defensive outcomes.
Grade:B-
Columbus Blue Jackets: goaltending
The Blue Jackets’ struggles with turnovers and defending have contributed to their goalies’ inflated statistics, but that’s not the sole reason Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov are one of the NHL’s most inconsistent goaltending tandems.
Merzlikins' unpredictable play on a nightly basis keeps him from becoming one of the league’s elite goalies, while Tarasov’s impressive finish to last season feels like ancient history. After an early funk, he’s been unable to find his top form while not playing for long stretches as the primary backup.
Tarasov’s slump is one of the reasons the Blue Jackets recalled rookie Jet Greaves from AHL Cleveland and opted to carry three NHL goalies for a stretch. Getting more consistent playing time might help Tarasov turn things around, but it’s difficult for a team that’s locked in a tight playoff race to live with a struggling goalie’s hiccups while trying to work out of a slump.
As for Merzlikins, he’s still working to provide consistency. There are times when he plays like the best goalie on the planet and others when he struggles to stop routine shots that turn into game-altering goals. Improvement by Merzlikins and Tarasov in the second half could give the Blue Jackets a needed boost.
Grade:C-
Columbus Blue Jackets: special teams
After the Blue Jackets’ penalty kill and power play groups struggled to start the season, the two units headed in starkly different directions. The power play started clicking in early December and hasn’t slowed up, lifting the Jackets to a 23.9% success rate for the season that’s tied for ninth in the league.
They’ve scored at least one power-play goal in four straight games, including a 2-for-2 performance Tuesday in Pittsburgh, and rank second in the NHL at 37.2% since Dec. 8 in Winnipeg. After struggling on power plays for roughly seven years, the Blue Jackets are finally a dangerous threat with the man advantage.
That’s not the case for Columbus' penalty killers. They are ranked 28 th with a success rate of just 72.9%, and that’s a reflection of a recent uptick. The Blue Jackets sank to the bottom of the NHL in penalty-killing during a stretch from Nov. 12 to Dec. 10 in which they allowed power-play goals in 14 straight games . The PK units did improve during the three weeks following the dubious streak, but they've allowed power-play goals in three straight games again.
Grade:C+
Columbus Blue Jackets: coaching
Todd McLellan, who was once the Jackets' top choice to replace Pascal Vincent, offered Dean Evason a big compliment when his Detroit Red Wings recently visited Nationwide Arena. He said Evason’s “fingerprints” were all over the Blue Jackets as he studied video to prepare for the matchup, which is high praise in the coaching profession.
The Blue Jackets are working hard for Evason while striving to live up to a mantra that's now painted on a wall inside the locker room: “This is earned ... not given.”
Evason’s lone bit of criticism during his first season with the Blue Jackets is his tendency to gamble a little too freely with coaching challenges for goaltender interference in situations that appear to have 50/50 odds of winning, but that’s a quibble. He and the assembled staff of assistants are mostly pushing the right buttons to get the most out of their team.
Grade:A-
Columbus Blue Jackets: front office
Don Waddell jumped straight into a critical, fast-paced offseason in Columbus and handled it impressively. He meshed with his inherited front office, especially Rick Nash, and reworked the Blue Jackets’ roster into a competitive group by the time he finally sent Laine off to Montreal in August.
He got Kirill Marchenko, Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger all re-signed on bridge deals as restricted free agents. He created salary-cap space by trimming some fat from last year’s organizational depth chart and made impressive veteran additions with Monahan, Fabbro, James van Riemsdyk, Jack Johnson, Zach Aston-Reese and Kevin Labanc.
That’s without mentioning his pivot from McLellan to Evason as head coach, which was soon followed by the heartbreaking loss of Gaudreau – a tragedy that left the Blue Jackets in emotional tatters . Waddell handled it all with integrity, professionalism and profound compassion in just a few short months on the job.
Time will tell whether it was worth risking a fourth overall pick last June by drafting power forward Cayden Lindstrom , who eventually required back surgery , but there’s a solid chance that works out too.
Grade:A
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets midseason report card: As, Bs and a couple Cs
