The Blue Jackets were expected to be contenders this season. Ten games in, they had the worst record in the NHL after one of the worst starts to the season in recent memory. They fired their coach a quarter of the way through the season, bringing in seasoned veteran John Tortorella. Can Tortorella turn this team around in his first full season, or will the Jackets’ potential remain unfulfilled?
1. Defensive Leadership
The Blue Jackets are one of the youngest defenses in the NHL – they have an average age of 25. With veteran Jack Johnson, the Blue Jackets have one solid, older defenseman. The others are all still quite young, trying to find their way in the league. This includes Seth Jones, who needs to be re-signed, acquired for former captain and first line center Ryan Johanson; Ryan Murray, his pairing mate; Dean Kukan, who provides a level of depth to the Blue Jackets defense; and David Savard, just 25, but contracted to the Blue Jackets until 2022.
This is a defense desperately in need of someone to act as an older statesmen for this defense, someone who has been around the league and understands it, and can still maintain a level of play, that if not first pairing worthy, may be able to work with prospect Zach Werenski, who, aside from Kerby Rychel, may be the best prospect in the Blue Jackets system. So the defense can only get younger.
Expect the Blue Jackets to be looking for someone able to help raise this defensive group of toddlers, because Tortorella may be busy tinkering with the offense. Heaven knows, at 29 and with his own issues to figure out, Jack Johnson can’t do it alone.
2. Third Overall
The Blue Jackets won the lottery and have ended up jumping ahead only a few spaces to the third overall selection. Mock drafts have unanimouosly agreed upon the top three being Auston Matthews, Patrick Laine, and Jesse Puljujarvi. The first two will be selected by the time the Blue Jackets are on the board, but Puljujarvi is a terrific selection, and is the best right wing available in this draft – Laine is a left wing and Matthews is a center. The question becomes, with captain Nick Foligno and Cam Atkinson at right wing, is this a position of priority for the young Blue Jackets.
The answer is yes. With Torts constantly tinkering with the offense, Foligno found himself falling from the first line, where he started the season, to finishing on the fourth alongside Gregory Campbell and Scott Hartnell. Atkinson is a good wing, but would be better suited with less pressure. That means there is a hole on the wing of current first line center Brandon Dubinsky and long-term left wing Boone Jenner. With Jenner being just 22, perhaps the Blue Jackets could look at Puljujarvi as someone to work with Jenner long term, a partnership akin to how Toronto used James Van Reimsdyk and Phil Kessel. This would allow Tortorella to continue messing with centers until he found the right one for these two.
The Blue Jackets also have no truly great right wings in their system, and so to be able to grab Puljujarvi could help develop the weakside of the Blue Jackets offense. I say weak side because on the left are Boone Jenner, Brandon Saad, and Scott Hartnell.
3. Consistency
The Blue Jackets have to be able to find stable lines. It’s something that Tortorella couldn’t do the past year, and it’s something that needs to happen for the team to improve.
Examples of instability include moving the entire starting season first line down to the fourth at various points – Brandon Saad, Ryan Johanson, and Nick Foligno all played on the fourth at various times throughout the year.
If lines are unable to be kept together, the Blue Jackets will continue to be shaky, inconsistent, and without chemistry, and when teams are winning its because none of those three factors exist.
It will be important for the Jackets to take a look at the roster this summer, figure out lines, and set them going forward. A top 6 forward that isn’t scoring isn’t a bottom 6 forward. It’s a forward that needs to be coached.
4. Trading David Clarkson
When the Blue Jackets first traded for Clarkson, it was a smart move. Moving a dead contract – that of Nathan Horton, who, because of injuries and concussions, will likely never play again, for someone who was still playing, albeit not well. Clarkson could continue to be productive, and play as a fourth liner. Fortunately, the Blue Jackets improved enough over the last year that Clarkson did not need to be on the team. What that means, though, is that they are now paying Clarkson 5.25 mil a year for the next 4 years not to play. That’s dead cap they could use to re-sign important players like Boone Jenner, Seth Jones, and Alexander Wennberg.
It will be extremely tough to find a trade partner who would willingly take on Clarkson’s contract. But if they were able to find a partner, and the Blue Jackets were able to package a little more – perhaps veteran defenseman Fedor Tyutin – they could replace their losses and be free of a dead-weight contract.
Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen needs to prove himself after the rough season the Blue Jackets had. What better way than to turn around a team that has the potential to be a very young contender, and one that could develop into a perennial producer?