The new NHL season starts today!  The new CBJ season starts tomorrow at Nashville for a pair of road games on Thursday and Saturday.  Then two more road games at Detroit on Monday and Tuesday next week before our first home games against Tampa Bay on Thursday and Saturday next week.  That's the way the 2021 pandemic schedule works - mostly two-game series to reduce travel instead of individual games against teams.

 

Below are the roster rundowns for 2021 from the Jackets Cannon website:

• https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/1/5/22215181/2021-blue-jackets-training-camp-battles-forwards
• https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/1/6/22215012/2021-columbus-blue-jackets-season-preview-tracking-the-training-camp-battles-among-defensemen
• https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/1/7/22216466/2021-columbus-blue-jackets-nhl-training-camp-battles-goalies-joonas-korpisalo-elvis-merzlikins

One of the changes for this pandemic-influenced 2021 season is that teams will have a six player taxi squad that will travel with the 23 player team roster.  This will allow quick roster replacement if needed instead of calling up players from the AHL.

 

Having two #1 goalies with Elvis and Korpi could be a big benefit with this condensed schedule.  The defense is still a strength.  Despite losing Murray and Nuti to off-season trades, the top-4 d-men return from last season.  And there are multiple options for the bottom pairing.

 

The biggest concern is offensive production.  And that was made worse with an injury to Nyquist that will keep him out for most of the season.  Adding Domi as the second-line center should be a good boost though.  And the resignings of PLD and Bjorkstrand return the two best offensive forwards to the top line.  Otherwise, increased offensive production will need to come from young developing players like Texier, Bemstrom and Foudy, from a reclamation project like Grigorenko, and with a rebound season from Atkinson.

 

This is the 20th season for the CBJ franchise.  Fans suffered through the first 15 seasons with only 2 playoff appearances and zero playoff series wins.  But the franchise has turned a corner with playoff appearances in the last four seasons that include opening series wins in the last two seasons.  Most experts think the team will be competitive for the playoffs again in the upcoming season.  So although the roster isn't perfect, there's alot to be thankful for.

 

LET'S GO JACKETS!

It's a happy day for CBJ fans because it's opening night for this covid-shortened 56-game regular season.

 

But two bits of unhappy news also greet CBJ fans - one was to be expected, the other was not:

 

The first bit of unhappy news, but not unexpected news during this pandemic, was that newly acquired 37-year-old center Mikko Koivu will not be available for the opening game due to covid protocol.

 

The second bit of unhappy news, but was unexpected, is that newly signed 22-year-old center Pierre Luc Dubois has asked to be traded.  There were rumors of this during his RFA contract negotiations, but many times you can discount any trade rumors as negotiation tactics.  Well, on Coach Tortorella's Wednesday interview with the CBJ's radio broadcaster, he confirmed PLD's trade request.

 

From https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus-blue-jackets-news/2021/01/5584/john-tortorella-said-no-one-is-quite-sure-why-pierre-luc-dubois-wants-to-be-traded -- "He wants out," Tortorella said. "(Dubois) hasn't given a reason why he wants to leave. He should get in front of it. That's the way I think you should go about your business, and be the best team you can be."

 

CBJ fans have unfortunately see many variations on this "trade request" theme though the franchise's history.  Adam Foote forced a trade in 2008 to Colorado for a 1st-round pick which got traded for R.J. Umberger and a 4th-round pick in which David Savard was selected (a pretty good deal).  Rick Nash forced a trade in 2012 to NYR for Dubinsky, Anisimov and a 1st-round pick (again a pretty good deal).  Ryan Johansen forced a trade in 2016 to Nashville in which the CBJ got Seth Jones (a very good deal).  And finally, the 2018-19 season was played under the cloud of Bob and Bread saying they would not re-sign with the CBJ after their contract's expired (the CBJ made the playoffs that season and upset TBL in the first round).

 

PLD's trade request is probably most like Johansen's.  They both had drawn-out RFA contract negotiations.  Although RyJo's seemed worse, as he held out though training camp.  The other's were about moving to a winning team (Foote and Nash) or using a once-in-a-career opportunity to move to their ideal location (Bob to Miami; Bread to NYC).  PLD's trade request is frustrating because the franchise has turned into a winner, and because PLD might not land in his "ideal spot" because as an RFA with no trade restrictions, he has no say over where the CBJ trade him.

 

And PLD hasn't even said why he wants traded.  Other than the protracted RFA talks (which is not uncommon in the NHL) he's been a model player.  He's played very well and hasn't bad-mouthed the team or the city.  So it will be interesting to see how this plays out.  The CBJ don't have to trade him right now, or ever, while he's an RFA over the next two seasons.  Even after that, the CBJ could qualify-offer him for an additional season and he couldn't do anything to stop them.  So they've got time to listen to many offers and take the best one, if necessary.  They could also get PLD to change his mind and stay - they've got at least two years to try.

 

In the short term, this might work out okay for the CBJ because it's in PLD's interest to play well so that other team's would make an offer the Jackets might except.  But in the longer term, this could be a big shake-up to Jackets future plans - depending on how this plays out.

The Jackets started this shorter regular season in Nashville.  And it started out on this fun note when a Predators fan threw a catfish on the ice before the opening puck drop.  The catfish is Nashville's version of the Detroit octopus - but this catfish was different for the covid pandemic, it was wearing a mask(!)

 

However, after that, it got less fun for CBJ fans.  In both Nashville games, the Jackets played the Preds even for the first two periods, only to get rolled in the third.  In game #1, it was tied 1-1 in the third, until the Preds got a go-ahead goal and added an empty-netter.  In game #2, it was tied 2-2 early in the third, until the Preds unleashed a 3 goals-in-4-minute stretch to win the two-game series.

 

In this shortened season, teams can't afford to dig a deep hole for themselves - so it seems like the Jackets need to sweep the upcoming back-to-back series at Detroit on Monday and Tuesday to get even.  Monday's MLK Day game being nationally broadcast at Noon on NBCSN.

The Jackets finished a pair of 3-2 games in Detroit.  A 3-2 regulation win on Monday and a 3-2 overtime loss on Tuesday.  3 out of the 4 points on the road is alot better than the 0 out of 4 in Nashville - but losing tonight's OT 15 seconds in because of a puck deflected off someone's pants is a pisser(!)

 

At least they didn't let Monday's game go to OT.  Although it came close because of a questionable goal (some might say wrongly called goal) with a minute left.  The sequence led to a double-fight after the whistle between Zach Werenski and Dylan Larkin (who were teammates and roommates on the Michigan hockey team, and still good friends!) plus Oliver Bjorkstrand (who never fights and earned the coveted Gordie Howie Hat Trick with a goal, an assist and a fighting major penalty!)

The CBJ return to C-BUS for their first home games of the season - a series against defending Stanley Cup champs Tampa Bay on Thursday and Saturday.  They'll need to step up their game.

I was going to wait until this afternoon's game with Tampa Bay to recap the two-game series between CBJ & TBL - but events forced this post.

 

As for Thursday's home opener with TBL.  The Jackets played the defending champs even - ending 2-2 after regulation.  And then TBL's offensive brilliance led to a 3-on-3 OT goal for the win.  Another OT loss for the CBJ - but they've gotten points in the last three games.

 

What was not encouraging for the CBJ was the effort of disgruntled center Pierre Luc Dubois.  PLD's effort has been lackluster in the previous four games.  So much that Torts didn't play him in the final five minutes of a close game in Detroit.  Reporters asked Torts if this was a "benching" of PLD.  Torts replied that "you'll know he's benched when you see it".

 

Well, reporters knew it Thursday night.  In this game, PLD saw five shifts in the first period for 3:55 of ice time and then set on the bench for the rest of the game(!)  Below is an iso of his final shift of the night - it was a lazy and disinterested effort:

 

After PLD's lack of effort and Torts' high-profile benching (on national TV no less!) the "PLD wants out" issue came to a head.  And so Jarmo Kekäläinen pulled the trigger on this deal with Winnipeg:

 

The main pieces are Pierre-Luc Dubois (22-year-old, 3rd overall pick in 2016) and Patrik Laine (22-year-old, 2nd overall pick in 2016).  However, Jack Roslovic is a 23-year-old, 25th overall pick in 2015 and was born and grew up in Columbus.  Roslovic was an unsigned RFA that was holding out on the Jets, but signed a two-year deal with Jackets at just about $2M per year.  He projects as a third-line center.  The Jets are also said to be retaining 26% of Laine’s salary for this season, which evens out cap hits between Laine and Dubois.

 

This is a classic NHL trade/swap of disgruntled players looking for new scenery.  PLD wanted out of Columbus.  Laine and Roslovic wanted out of Winnipeg.  Will any of those players like it better at their new locations.  Time will tell.

 

The danger for the Jackets is that Laine's current contract ends after this season and he will be a RFA - just like PLD was in this off-season.  So if Laine doesn't like it here either, the CBJ will be right back in the same situation as before.  However, Laine is already an elite scoring winger.  And that's something the Jackets really need - even at the expense of losing a 1C.

 

Ultimately though, with this situation coming to a head, Jarmo needed to ship PLD out for the best return possible.  Especially with PLD's high-profile benching having the potential to hurt his trade value.  And he did get a big name player in return.  Now whether or not this works out, we'll have the rest of the 2021 season to find out.

Everyone involved with the Jackets kept saying that the PLD drama wasn't a distraction while they went 1-2-2 over the first five games.  So it is interesting that on Game #6 - after the PLD trade - the Jackets played their best game of the season:

 

https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus-blue-jackets-news/2021/01/5629/blue-jackets-win-a-big-one-5-2-over-the-tampa-bay-lightning-at-nationwide-arena

 

Whether it was coincidence or not, this is the type of CBJ team that has made four straight playoff appearances.  And Laine and Roslovic haven't even joined the team yet.  Both Laine and Roslovic were interviewed during the intermissions - and both seem very happy to be coming to Columbus.  Particularly, Roslovic - who stayed in Columbus during his hold-out with Winnipeg(!)

 

No word on how quickly both players might join the CBJ roster - what with covid protocols to follow and other factors, like Laine listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Though the first 8 games of this 56-game season, the CBJ haven't been outstanding.  But they haven't been terrible either.  They've had a late chance to win in all 8 games - but have had difficulty getting that extra goal needed.  Which is why they've gone to OT in 4 of those 8 games.

 

Four of their past five games have gone to OT(!)  And those OT's started awful with loss 15 seconds in at Detroit; to improving with a loss 2 minutes in against Tampa Bay and then back-to-back shootout round results against Florida on Tuesday and Thursday.

 

Tuesday's game against Florida was nearly a magic trick, where the CBJ got outplayed by Florida but came within 2.5 seconds of a regulation win. (It helped that Florida's $10-million goalie let in some soft goals!)  But Florida got a very late game-tying goal and a shootout win.

 

Thursday's game was a dead-even affair that also reached the shootout round.  But this time young Texier pulled off this magic trick for the game-winning goal in the shootout:

So after 8 games (1/7th of this season) the CBJ are 3-2-3.  Not overly impressive, but not awful.  They're riding a 6-game point streak.  Plus, the PLD drama is over and they're getting some reinforcements.  Koivu made his season-debut Tuesday; Roslovic made his season-debut Thursday; and Laine is on-track to join the team for next week's games.

 

For now, the Jackets travel to the Windy City for a Friday and Sunday series against the Blackhawks.

The Jackets split their weekend series in Chicago - winning 2-1 on Friday and losing 3-1 on Sunday.  They finish January with a 4-3-3 record for 11 points in 10 games.  Not outstanding, but not terrible either.  Below is a Jackets Cannon recap for January:

 

https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/2/1/22259478/january-2021-columbus-blue-jackets-month-in-review-texier-bjorkstrand-korpisalo

 

After a tumultuous January that saw our #1 center force his way out of Columbus, February is hopefully calmer with that behind them.  One part of the PLD trade, Jack Roslovic, had played three games with the team and looks to be fitting in nicely.  But the biggest part of trade, Patrik Laine, hasn't played yet, but is set to play sometime this week:

 

The Jackets split their mid-week series with Dallas - losing 6-3 on Tuesday and winning 4-3 on Thursday.

 

After a stellar five starts, Korpi had his worst outing on Tuesday, giving up 5 goals in nearly 34 minutes, and getting pulled for Elvis, who stopped 9 of 9 shots in relief.  With the team following a strict alternating starts policy, Elvis was scheduled to start Thursday.  But a collision during Wednesday practice put Elvis on the IR with an upper-body injury, and Korpi got a chance to redeem himself on Thursday.  And he did, stopping 25 of 28 shots in the win.

 

Also in the Thursday win, new arrivals - Laine and Roslovic - got their first goals as Blue Jackets.  Plus Cam Atkinson got his 200th career goal.

 

The Jackets get a mini-break with no games until a back-to-back hosting Carolina on Sunday and Monday.

Another split series - this time with Carolina - losing 6-5 on Sunday and winning 3-2 on Monday.

 

Although that 6-5 loss was with the assistance of a Carolina goal that shouldn't have counted:

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/30857842/nhl-admits-carolina-hurricanes-goal-vs-columbus-blue-jackets-not-counted

 

But the CBJ were able to get the split the next night with this filthy game-winning goal from Roslovic:

 

The CBJ are now 6-5-3 with 15 points in 14 games.  Still not bad, but still not great.  But still above the playoff line, though with other teams having many games-in-hand due to early season postponements.

 

Some significant injuries are mounting.  Elvis is out for 1-2 weeks with an UBI from last Wednesday's practice.  The third-string goaltender Kivlenieks is out with a day-to-day injury.  And Werenski suffered an injury to his right leg near the end of last Thursday's Dallas game.  He is listed out for 1-2 weeks.

 

And although the PLD drama is over - some Laine drama might be starting.  Laine got 2 goals in Sunday's game.  But a lack of defensive coverage that allowed a goal in Monday's game got Laine benched for the entire third period.  The CBJ are off until Thursday, so there's plenty of down-time for a Torts-Laine conversation(!)  Stay tuned.

 

Welp, the Mikko Koivu Columbus experience was short lived:

 

9 hours ago, Columbo said:

Although the PLD drama is over - some Laine drama might be starting.  Laine got 2 goals in Sunday's game.  But a lack of defensive coverage that allowed a goal in Monday's game got Laine benched for the entire third period.  The CBJ are off until Thursday, so there's plenty of down-time for a Torts-Laine conversation(!)  Stay tuned.

This report puts a new spin on the Laine benching:

 

https://www.thisweeknews.com/story/sports/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets/2021/02/09/john-tortorella-benched-patrik-laine-mouthing-off-assistant-coach/4460656001/

 

Head Coach Tortorella benched Patrik Laine for an off-ice interaction with an assistant coach -- Laine 'mouthed off' to the coach during the off-ice incident, leading to his benching for the final 6:19 of the second period and entire third Monday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

John Tortorella famously screamed at Pierre-Luc Dubois in the playoffs last year with Dubois yelling back at him.  No benching then.

 

This team has more drama than a Bravo reality TV show.

 

PLD trade request, Koivu gets covid, Domi semi-benched, PLD semi-benched, PLD fully benched, PLD traded / Roslovic & Laine acquired, Elvis hurt in practice, Werenski injured, the weird penalty reversal for the correct challenge but not the goal coming off the board, Laine benched, Koivu retires.

On 2/10/2021 at 9:22 AM, DarkandStormy said:

This team has more drama than a Bravo reality TV show.

 

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our Blue Jackets:

 

https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus-blue-jackets-news/2021/02/5705/the-blue-jackets-and-patrik-laine-are-by-it-and-ready-to-move-on-after-in-house-incident

 

 

40+ NHL games have been postponed/cancelled this season due to covid.  A bit tone deaf of the team (on their social accounts) to be celebrating possibly getting the arena filled up to 10% of capacity when there are teams in the NHL *right now* with team-wide covid outbreaks.

4 hours ago, DarkandStormy said:

40+ NHL games have been postponed/cancelled this season due to covid.  A bit tone deaf of the team (on their social accounts) to be celebrating possibly getting the arena filled up to 10% of capacity when there are teams in the NHL *right now* with team-wide covid outbreaks.

 

Below is the statement the CBJ released on twitter.  I don't see any "celebrating" about the possibly of getting the arena filled up to 10% capacity.  It's a sober statement about working with local health officials to safely welcome a minimal amount of customers to their games.  Just what the public should expect from any business trying to operate during these difficult pandemic times.

 

14 hours ago, Columbo said:

 

Below is the statement the CBJ released on twitter.  I don't see any "celebrating" about the possibly of getting the arena filled up to 10% capacity.  It's a sober statement about working with local health officials to safely welcome a minimal amount of customers to their games.  Just what the public should expect from any business trying to operate during these difficult pandemic times.

 

 

Perhaps I took "very pleased" as a tone of celebration.

 

These employers can't keep their employees safe (pretty good evidence out now that covid is being transmitted in-game, the NHL completely bungled the Vegas situation "waiting" on covid test results after a presumed positive but let the teams play) but ~2k fans should be permitted into the stands.  Makes sense.

 

If they're going to do it, they should let vaccinated healthcare workers in first for a few games.  Of course, this being the NHL, they'll manage to screw it up I'm sure.

The CBJ split their two games in Chicago - but did manage to get three of the possible four standings points - with a 6-5 regulation win on Thursday and a 3-2 overtime loss on Saturday.

 

That 6-5 win on Thursday was a wild ride with the Jackets scoring 4 goals in the third period to come from behind.  Then Chicago got a less wild tying goal with 3:45 left in the third on Saturday and scored the game-winner 35 seconds into the 3-on-3 OT.

 

Korpi started both games, although Elvis was off the IR and available as a backup on Saturday.  Werenski also returned from the IR on Saturday and got an assist in over 22 minutes of playing time - so he's good.  As for the Laine-Torts drama, the big Fin played in both Chicago games, scoring a goal on Saturday - so in Torts words "everything's fine guys".

 

The team travels to Carolina for a rare one-game series (this season anyway) on Monday.  Then a Thursday-Saturday home stand against Nashville.

Last night's game at Carolina started okay ... but it didn't end that way:

 

https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/2/15/22284502/game-17-recap-burn-the-tape-who-cares-nick-foligno-john-tortorella-boone-jenner-blue-jackets-suck

 

Visual representation of the Jackets Cannon recap:

After Monday's loss, the Columbus Blue Jackets really needed a win - and they got one on Thursday with a 3-0 win over Nashville.  Probably the most complete win of the season.

 

But on Saturday night, the Columbus Red Jackets lost 4-2 against Nashville.  The CRJ overcame a 2-goal deficit to tie it 2-2 going into the third period.  And then Nashville scored two goals in the first 45 seconds of the third(!)  Then later in the third, goalie Elvis Merzlikins lands awkwardly on his left arm and is now week-to-week on the IR(!!)

 

These Reverse Retro Red Jerseys that the NHL and Adidas are forcing the Jackets to wear haven't been good for us.  So far this season, the Columbus Blue Jackets are 8-5-4.  However, the Columbus Red Jackets are 0-2-0.

The only bit of good news for team on Saturday was learning that the Ohio Department of Health approved its request to allow 10 percent of Nationwide Arena's capacity (1,953 fans) for home games, starting on March 2.  This ruling matches what the Cavs have been allowed since December in their arena.  More info below from Business First:

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2021/02/20/blue-jackets-fans.html

The CBJ dropped a pair against Chicago with a 6-5 SO loss on Tuesday and a 2-0 regulation loss on Thursday.  In one of hockey's ironies, the CBJ arguably played better in the 2-0 loss (because it was 0-0 until Kane scored 9 minutes into the third and the 2nd goal was an empty-netter) versus the 6-5 SO loss that got them a standings point (because CBJ needed 3 PP goals to force OT).  

 

So 21 games into this 56-game season, the Jackets sit at 8-8-5 (aka hockey .500).

 

The next three games are a back-to-back at Nashville on Saturday-Sunday and a Tuesday home game against Detroit.  These are two teams that are below C-BUS in the Central.  If the Jackets can't get a majority of available points in these next three games, this 2021 season could get ugly.  Because after those three games, the Jackets next 10 games are against Dallas (4), Florida (2) and Carolina (4).  These are teams above us in the standings.  At the end of that 10-game stretch, 34 games in this 56-season would be been played.  And if the Jackets are too far behind at that point, its time to look towards 2021-22 instead of the 2021 playoffs.

• https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets/2021/02/25/ohio-governor-mike-dewine-statement-ups-seating-capacity-sporting-events-25-indoors-30-outdoors/6822572002/
• https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2021/02/25/dewine-sports-outdoor-capacity-rules.html

Less than a week after a plan for the CBJ to host 10% capacity for home games was approved by the state — starting Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings — Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday that indoor sports and entertainment events will soon be cleared to host up to 25% capacity, along with 30% capacity for outdoor events.

 

The initial plan to host 10% capacity or 1,953 people, will still apply to the first game with fans on Tuesday.  However, preparations are also being made for expanded capacity in future games.  Although the CBJ would limit the Nationwide Arena capacity at 23% — roughly 4,500 — to maintain a six-foot spacing mandate for seating pods.

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2021/02/26/covid-protocols-columbus-blue-jackets.html

 

Business First article above about the covid protocols that will be in place when fans return to Nationwide Arena.  Those protocols begin with the elimination of paper tickets and having fans complete a brief health screening in order to be admitted.  Those who don't meet the screening requirements will be turned away and have their tickets refunded.

 

In the concourses, tables and other elements that encouraged congregating have been removed.  Hand sanitizing stations and signage throughout the venue were added to remind people to keep their masks on and to socially distance.  At the concession stands, foods will be pre-portioned and all purchases will be cashless in order to reduce contact.

 

Masks will be required at all times unless people are actively eating and drinking.  Fans in their seats will be spaced out throughout the arena in pods of up to six people (if all six arrive and leave together), otherwise the pods will be between two and four people.

On 2/26/2021 at 1:05 PM, Columbo said:

The next three games are a back-to-back at Nashville on Saturday-Sunday and a Tuesday home game against Detroit.  These are two teams that are below C-BUS in the Central.  If the Jackets can't get a majority of available points in these next three games, this 2021 season could get ugly.

 

Because after those three games, the Jackets next 10 games are against Dallas (4), Florida (2) and Carolina (4).  These are teams above us in the standings.  At the end of that 10-game stretch, 34 games in this 56-season would be been played.  And if the Jackets are too far behind at that point, its time to look towards 2021-22 instead of the 2021 playoffs.

 

I said, "If the Jackets can't get a majority of available points in these next three games, this 2021 season could get ugly."  Well, they dropped both games at Nashville (2-1 & 3-1), so they won't.  The CBJ are 0-4-1 in their last five; 1-5-2 in their last eight - and now sit at 8-10-5.  To put that into perspective:

Most of last season's 18-3-4 run was on the back of Elvis standing on his head in the net.  And Elvis ain't doing that this season because he's week-to-week on the IR(!)

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/30990374/blue-jackets-gm-jarmo-kekalainen-gives-john-tortorella-vote-confidence

 

GM Jarmo Kekalainen gives coach John Tortorella the dreaded "vote of confidence"(!)  So let the countdown to Torts' firing begin.

Well, the Torts firing won't be tonight.  The CBJ got a 4-1 win over Detroit in the return of fans to Nationwide Arena.  It was less than 2,000 fans, but they still made the CBJ chant heard at the end of the game:

 

Also, a nice moment after the game when team captain Nick Foligno addressed the fans:

 

The Blue Jackets will sell about 2,500 more tickets per game starting March 9

 

The Columbus Blue Jackets will once again prioritize season ticket holders as the team starts selling additional tickets for games starting March 9.  But the public could still have a chance to visit the arena.

 

The Blue Jackets are now allowed to have up to 25% capacity per the state’s updated Covid-19 rules.  The Blue Jackets say they will welcome a total of 4,500 fans, up from slightly less than 2,000.

 

A limited number of tickets will be available to the public starting Saturday morning.  Purchases will be limited to six tickets per game, and each group will be spaced out in the stadium to maintain social distancing.

 

MORE:  https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2021/03/03/blue-jackets-process-new-capacity-rules.html

So, with a Monday win over Detroit and a Thursday win over Dallas, the CBJ had an opportunity for their first three-game winning streak this season with a win at Dallas last night.  Strive for greatness or nah?

 

Nah:  https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus-blue-jackets-news/2021/03/5805/blue-jackets-soundly-beaten-by-stars-in-saturday-night-matchup

With last night's humbling loss, the CBJ are now 10-11-5 at two games short of this season's halfway mark.  The Jackets have a four-game home stand next week - with two against Florida on Tuesday and Thursday; then a Saturday-Sunday series against Dallas.

 

The next four games are against Carolina - two road games on Thursday 3/18 and Saturday 3/20; then two home games on Monday 3/22 and Thursday 3/25.

 

At the time of this post, Florida has a 15-4-4 record and Carolina has a 16-6-1 record.  So if the CBJ keep playing the mediocre hockey they've been playing lately, they're gonna lose alot of games over the next 18 days and be sellers by the April 12 trading deadline.

The CBJ faced a high-flying Florida team on Tuesday and Thursday in a two-game series that would take them to the 28-game halfway point of this 2021 season.  They dropped both, 4-2 in regulation on Tues then 5-4 in OT on Thurs (after giving up a 4-1 lead in the 3rd!) to fall to 10-12-6 at the halfway point.

 

That 10-12-6 record is good enough for 5th in points in this 2021 Central Division.  But they're a distant seven points behind Chicago for the last playoff spot and only 6th in points percentage in the division.  So, barring some amazing winning streak, the 2021 playoffs look very unlikely.

 

Going into this 2021 season, it seemed we knew what kind of team we had.  Similar to last year's team - great on defense but struggling on offense.  But with a strengthened center corps of PLD - Domi (acquired via trade) - Texier and then FA veteran Koivu to bolster the bottom lines and act as a mentor to the young centers on the roster.  That, combined with a strong top-4 d-corps of Jones-Werenski and Savard-Gavrikov, plus a strong goalie tandem of Korpi and Elvis, was going to bring some improvement and see the Jackets back into the playoffs for a 5th straight season.

 

And then PLD forces a trade, the young centers Domi and Tex get moved to wing, plus Koivu gets COVID during training camp and then retires a month into the 2021 season.  Also, the top-4 d-pairings start badly and the goalie tandem becomes Korpi starting 20 of 28 games when Elvis gets injured.  So much for the off-season planning(!)

 

Now, the Jackets did get an offensive boost from Laine and Roslivic joining the team in the PLD trade.  Plus, Jones and Werenski are playing better.  And Elvis has returned from the IR.  But with the shortened 56-game season, the Jackets don't have as much time to dig out of a seven-point hole.

 

Plus, the team has really lost its defense-first identity that made them difficult to play against last season.  Although the CBJ has improved slightly in offense with 2.64 GF (24th overall in 2021) vs 2.57 (27th in 2019-20).  They've plummeted on the defensive side with 3.29 GA (26th overall in 2021) vs 2.61 (3rd in 2019-20).

 

Two weekend matinee games against Dallas await this weekend - followed by four straight games against Carolina, who sit at first-place in the Central right now.

Prior to this weekend's games, the CBJ made a trade with Toronto:

 

https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/3/12/22328068/columbus-blue-jackets-trade-veini-vehvilainen-to-toronto-maple-leafs-for-mikko-lehtonen

https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus-blue-jackets-news/2021/03/5827/blue-jackets-acquire-defenseman-mikko-lehtonen-from-the-toronto-maple-leafs

 

24-year-old goaltender Veini Vehvilainen, who played in Cleveland last season and was a backup for one game in Columbus this season while Elvis was injured, was traded for 27-year-old defenseman Mikko Lehtonnen, who played 9 games for Toronto in his NHL rookie season after being a KHL all-star.

 

You kind of wonder if this is the prelude to additional trades before the deadline.  Of the Jackets' expiring contracts, d-man Savard was listed as #2 on a leading hockey pundit's trade-bait list.  Toronto has been rumored to very interested in acquiring captain Nick Foligno.  Veteran center Riley Nash is the type of depth player playoff teams love to acquire.  Plus Del Zotto is on a very affordable contract for a depth defense move.

The CBJ took both of last weekend's games to overtime.  Winning the first in OT and dropping the second in the SO.  Below is how Werenski won the first game with only 4.5 seconds remaining.  And it was the first win of the season in their reverse retro red jerseys:

Even tho the Jackets split last weekend's two games with Dallas - both teams got 3 out of a possible 4 points, because of the regulation point/OT-SO extra point alchemy the NHL uses.  And that's one of the reasons why its difficult to gain points on teams ahead in the standings.

 

Despite that, the CBJ did actually gain three points on 4th-place Chicago to narrow the playoff-line deficit to only 4 points.  But these games leading up to the April 12th trade deadline don't look promising.  They start a four-game away-and-home series against 1st-place Carolina tonight.  Then they will have four games against Tampa and two games against Florida in that stretch.  10 of their next 12 games will be against top three teams in the Central(!)

The Jackets took a pair of wins at Carolina on Thursday and Saturday.  The Thursday win was via OT and the Saturday win was via SO.  The CBJ have now played five straight OT/SO games for a 3-0-2 record and a five-game point streak in which they've managed 8 of a possible 10 points.

 

I wrote on March 13 that Columbus was 7 points behind Chicago for the Central's final playoff spot and the 2021 playoffs looked unlikely.  Since then Chicago has lost four straight games in regulation and Columbus has earned 7 of a possible 8 points from their four games.

 

The CBJ made up the entire 7-point deficit and are now tied in points with Chicago plus holding a tiebreak lead over Chicago for the Central's final playoff spot(!)  So the playoffs look not so unlikely now(!)

Welp, after winning a pair in Carolina, the Jackets dropped a pair in Columbus to Carolina - Monday in regulation and Thursday in OT.  The CBJ are now 3 points behind Chicago for the Central's final playoff spot.

 

The Jackets have a Saturday-Sunday pair at Detroit (the worst team in the Central) before six straight against Tampa Bay and Florida (two of the top three in the Central).

8 days ago the CBJ were tied in points with Chicago for the Central's final playoff spot.  But after badly losing back-to-back games in Detroit this weekend, the Jackets fell to sixth-place in the Central.  They're still three points behind Chicago, but they're also three points behind Nashville - who passed the Jackets in the standings.  And although three points up on 7th-place Dallas, Dallas holds four games-in-hand and can easily pass us when they make up those games.

 

https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus-blue-jackets-analysis/2021/03/5916/message-received-the-blue-jackets-futile-losses-to-the-detroit-red-wings-signal-the-time-is-now-to-recoup

 

So it is no wonder that the 1st Ohio Battery article (linked above) is calling for the CBJ to be sellers into the April 12th trading deadline.  Kekalainen might wait until the next stretch of six games against Tampa Bay and Florida is finished on April 8 to do it.  But barring a miracle-like win streak against these top teams in the Central, the Jackets will likely be selling off expiring UFA players into the trading deadline.

Since my last post, the Jackets won their first game in TB and lost their second game on two late goals in the third.  Somewhat encouraging.

 

Then they dropped both games in Florida and didn't look that good in the process.  Shades of the previous weekend's losses in Detroit.

 

So the CBJ went 1-3-0 last week; 1-6-1 over the last eight games.  They've now dropped into 7th-place with only 16 games remaining in 2021.

 

Time to start trading away UFA's for assets Jarmo.

Sunday:  Riley Nash suffers season-ending knee injury

Tuesday:  Boone Jenner suffers season-ending broken finger

Thursday:  David Savard is held out of the lineup in anticipation of a trade

Friday:  Zach Werenski will miss remainder of the season with hernia surgery

 

The tank is on(!)

https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/4/9/22376365/columbus-blue-jackets-trade-riley-nash-to-toronto-maple-leafs-2021-nhl-trade-deadline-news

 

The first of the deadline deals was a surprise.  Injured forward Riley Nash was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a conditional 2022 7th round pick - which would become a 6th if he plays in 25% of Toronto’s playoff games.

 

I wondered why Toronto would trade for an injured player - but it does make sense for them.  Nash should be available for the playoffs and during the regular season they can use Nash's LTIR cap hit to give them additional cap space.

The CBJ acquired a 2021 first-round pick and a 2022 third-round pick from Tampa Bay in exchange for David Savard:

 

https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/4/10/22374652/columbus-blue-jackets-trade-david-savard-to-tampa-bay-lightning-2021-trade-deadline-news

 

But they got Tampa's picks via a complicated three-way deal that involved both Columbus and Detroit retaining a portion of Savard's salary so that TB could fit Savard under their salary cap:

 

Jarmo did some more three-team trade alchemy to get a 2021 1st-round pick and 2022 4th-round pick from Toronto for captain Nick Foligno:

 

https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/4/11/22377033/blue-jackets-trade-captain-nick-foligno-to-toronto-maple-leafs

 

Much like the Savard trade to Tampa that used Detroit as an intermediary to absorb some of the salary cap hit - the Foligno trade used San Jose to absorb some of his salary before arriving at Toronto:

 

Amazingly, the CBJ now hold three 1st-round draft picks in the upcoming 2021 draft.

On March 20, the CBJ won and moved into the Central's 4th playoff spot by a tiebreak with a 13-12-7 record.  But since then, it's been a steep decline with the Jackets going 2-12-2 in the next 16 games.

 

One month later, the CBJ sit last in the Central via a tiebreak and have the 5th-worst record in the NHL.

 

Jackets fans haven't been in this situation for a while - the CBJ reached the playoffs in the last four seasons.  But prior to that, the Jackets had many seasons where they were realistically not going to make the playoffs, but went on late season winning streaks, after the pressure was off.  So instead of the CBJ getting a top-5 pick, they might get a pick outside the top 10.  Which, in the NHL, is a big deal.

 

Many hard-core fans - like those at the Jackets Cannon - bemoaned those "meaningless late season wins".  Well, that's not happening this season(!)

It's been that kind of a season:

 

https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus-blue-jackets-news/2021/04/6016/joonas-korpisalo-out-for-rest-of-season-due-to-injury-suffered-vs-lightning

In the 2000's, when the CBJ were a lowly expansion team in the Central Division with the Detroit Red Wings - who were winning Stanley Cups - I'll bet Jackets fans said "I wish one day we can be as good as the Red Wings in the Central".

 

Well, this season is finishing with a back-to-back home stand hosting the Red Wings.  The Jackets are 7th (second-to-last) in the Central with 46 points and the Red Wings are 8th (in last-place) in the Central with 45 points.

 

Wish granted and the monkey's paw moves:

 

https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/5/7/22424180/game-55-preview-columbus-blue-jackets-and-detroit-red-wings-run-out-the-clock

The weekend series between the bottom two teams in the Central is now over.  So who won the race to the bottom?

 

Detroit won Friday's game to move ahead of the Jackets 47pts to 46 pts.  The CBJ won tonight in OT - which gave Detroit one point and the CBJ two points - tying both teams at 48 pts.  But Detroit had the tiebreak with more reg wins.  So the Jackets won the Tank Bowl(!)

(Credit to UO's DarkandStormy for the above Tank Bowl image he posted at https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/5/8/22426455/season-finale-gamethread-detroit-red-wings-at-columbus-blue-jackets.  He goes by BrightandSunny at Jackets Cannon after changing his name there from DarkandStormy.  The name change is a funny story, if he wants to tell it.)

 

With the season over, Tortorella and the CBJ have announced they have mutually parted ways.  Not at all a surprise announcement.  Torts went into this season on the last year of his contract.  And with the way everything went this season, "mutually parting" is probably an accurate description for both sides.

 

John Tortorella leaves as the most successful head coach in the 20-year CBJ history.  He replaced HC Todd Richards seven games into the 2015-16 season (after the CBJ started 0-7 that season!) and didn't reach the playoffs that season despite the team having a 34-33-8 record (slightly over NHL .500) under his reign that season.  Then the CBJ reached the playoffs for the next four seasons with Torts(!) before crashing hard this season.

 

NHL front offices generally believe that coaches have expiration dates.  And Torts definitely reached his this season.  I was almost always a big Torts fan.  He was a fun, feisty and entertaining presence for the CBJ and Columbus.  His outspoken and confrontational coaching style was at times a help and hindrance to the team.  But it worked - until it didn't.  So it's time to say goodbye and farewell to Coach Torts: