The Columbus Blue Jackets play hockey like they're skating on some sort of ice treadmill: You see a lot of effort, but they don't actually go anywhere. This is a squad that always listens to those jamokes in the stands who yell Shooooot, playing a fast and loose style that has them both third in the league in shots taken and third in the league in shots allowed.
If you want that aesthetic to win games, ideally you need both of two things: top-class finishers who convert more of their chances than the other team, and a steady goaltender to cover all the action in front of him. Right now, the Jackets don't have the skaters, and they don't really have the goaltending yet, so even though it might be tiring to play against them, they're one of the easier teams in the NHL to get a win against. These action-heavy games set Columbus apart as an especially entertaining cellar-dweller.
The Blue Jackets, historically, are the least successful team in the NHL, and even after a quarter-century of existence they're still struggling to shake the expansion-franchise blues. For five years in a row, they've missed the playoffs. However, last season was by far the most promising. They padded their stats a bit with a high-scoring six-game win streak to close out the year, but under new head coach Dean Evason they showed some real moxie. There was no defense to speak of outside of the perpetually overworked Zach Werenski, but the forward group was populated by the kind of under-25s that signal a new dawn. Lottery picks Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson combined with diamonds-in-the-rough Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov to form a relatively dangerous attack that was actually pretty efficient with its opportunities. After some truly horrifying goal differentials in years prior, Columbus finished the season plus-five, piquing the curiosity of those who hadn't completely forgotten the franchise existed.
It is so, so easy to make yourself believe that player development is a linear process. It's only natural to see a young guy take a step forward early in his career and project that, two years later, he'll have taken two more steps. That's rarely how it works in practice. Marchenko, Voronkov, and Fantilli have all stagnated a bit, scoring 16, 16, and 12 goals respectively. Another ex-first-rounder, 22-year-old Cole Sillinger, looks totally aimless after a few solid seasons. Johnson's been the biggest disappointment, with the winger scoring just four times in 45 games as he's seen his playing time sharply decline. Without those contributions, the Jackets have had to rely more on vets like Charlie Coyle, Sean Monahan, and Boone Jenner, who aren't up to the task of carrying an offense.
We all know what happens when an NHL team falls short of expectations. They fire the coach, then travel to league headquarters to pick a successor out of the Coaching Hat. (Fun fact: They let anyone pick names out of that hat. Just go and tell the sleepy guy at the front desk you're with the Lamoriello party.) In this case, after Evason was unceremoniously booted on Monday, the name on the piece of paper was ... Rick Bowness? Wow! He supposedly retired in 2024, but I guess they didn't prune him from the Hat.
The 70-year-old member of the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame is a lifer who's seen practically everything there is to see in North American hockey—even Tulsa. His hiring is an obvious reaction to the sloppiness or—gasp— softness of Evason's wards throughout the past several months, and at his introductory press conference, Bowness preached better defense and more grit.
"You don't score your way into the playoffs," he said, dubiously.
In his first game on the bench, at home against an even worse team in the Calgary Flames, there were definitely reasons to think that the Jackets will get better results from here on out—particularly the fact that they won, 5-3. The penalty kill was an absolute disaster, and that's where they allowed all three of their goals. But Jenner got in a fight (grit!) and scored the winner when it looked like they were headed for overtime. The defense at even strength appeared reasonably competent if not some sort of overnight miracle, particularly in the first 40 minutes. It definitely helps when 24-year-old Jet Greaves (not a nickname) is in goal instead of the elder netminder Elvis Merzļikins. "Elvis & Jet" would be a fantastic title for a '70s TV show, but it's Greaves who's making the case for himself as Columbus's long-term solution at the position, even with the abnormally high number of pucks his boys let fly in his direction.
CBJ supporters would certainly love for Tuesday night to be a turning point in a still-salvagable season. As someone who doesn't care about that, I instead hope that the core traits of this inefficient yet eager bunch survive the boss swap. It's tempting to want to frustrate better teams with disciplined obstinacy and then leverage their mistakes into counterattacks in low-scoring games. But let's spare a thought for reckless abandon—a bunch of players zooming across your screen like bees through a garden, motivated by primal desire instead of organized by a plan. My ideal is something like the Jackets' second goal of last night, when I felt extra-conscious of just how much my eyes were zipping around the screen. A couple of good effort plays denied the Flames a chance to exit the offensive zone, and then the Jackets haphazardly bopped the puck around until a chance presented itself. Jake Christiansen, who earned the primary assist, was a moment late in registering the cross-ice pass from Voronkov. He still picked it up off the boards and sent it right back across to Coyle, who'd stayed behind while the defense all shifted in Christiansen's direction.
You don't score your way into the playoffs, my ass!
