Blue Jackets Season Preview: Measured optimism, unrealized potential drive Columbus
The Columbus Blue Jackets aren't likely to have worse luck than they had last season.
They lost a league-high and franchise record 508 man-games to injury, en route to fifth-place finish in the Metropolitan Division and an 11th-place finish in the Eastern Conference.
Despite that forgettable campaign, there are a few reasons for cautious optimism in Columbus this season.
The Blue Jackets finished 2014-15 on a 12-0-1 run, making up significant ground, albeit after it was too late to qualify for the playoffs.
Columbus will look to carry over that late-season success into 2015-16 with a new first-line winger. The Blue Jackets acquired Brandon Saad from the Chicago Blackhawks in a seven-player trade in late June, then signed him to a six-year contract extension.
Promising prospect Marko Dano and veteran forward Artem Anisimov were among the players Columbus gave up to get Saad, who scored 23 goals while playing all 82 games for the Blackhawks.
Chicago thought highly enough of the 22-year-old to place him on their top line with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa, and Saad clicked with his star linemates, scoring eight goals in 23 playoff games as the Blackhawks won another Stanley Cup.
Saad should find himself on the top line with his new club as well, joining new captain Nick Foligno and 23-year-old center Ryan Johansen.
The Blue Jackets don't have much firepower on their other three lines and their blue line lacks the depth required to survive an 82-game season, but other than a couple of minor injuries, at least they're healthy again.
Considering the way last season went, that's an improvement.
Projected Depth Chart
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Foligno | Ryan Johansen | Brandon Saad |
| Scott Hartnell | Brandon Dubinsky | Boone Jenner |
| Matt Calvert | Alexander Wennberg | Cam Atkinson |
| Rene Bourque | Gregory Campbell | David Clarkson |
| LD | RD |
|---|---|
| Jack Johnson | David Savard |
| Fedor Tyutin | Ryan Murray |
| Kevin Connauton | Dalton Prout |
| G |
|---|
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Curtis McElhinney |
X-Factor
After playing the last three seasons without a captain, the Blue Jackets gave Foligno the "C" in May, and the pressure will be on the eight-year veteran to replicate his 2014-15 campaign.
Foligno is coming off a memorable season in which he signed a six-year extension of his own in December, led Team Foligno in Columbus at the All-Star Game in January, and established new career highs with 31 goals and 42 assists.
The 27-year-old had never hit the 50-point mark in any of his previous seven seasons before notching 73 in 79 games. Prior to 2014-15, Foligno had never scored more than 18 goals, nor had he eclipsed 32 assists.
As he enters his fourth season with the Blue Jackets, he'll need to at least approach the consistency shown in his contract year to get Columbus in position to battle for the final playoff spot in the East.
Player to Watch
The Blue Jackets had high hopes for Ryan Murray entering his second season, but the 2012 second-overall pick played only 12 games in 2014-15 due to knee and ankle injuries.
Murray has recovered from those ailments and is projected to take on a top-four role this season.
Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen raved about his prized prospect in June, boasting that a healthy Murray would be the summer's best acquisition.
If the Blue Jackets are going to make the playoffs for the third time in their 15-year history, they will need Murray to play more than a dozen games, and he'll need to contribute as he did when he posted a 40-assist season for the WHL's Everett Silvertips in 2010-11.