The Columbus Blue Jackets have shown great signs of growth as a team, and a resolve to find ways to win recently that they didn’t have even two short weeks ago.
Two very strong third periods in back-to-back games have given this team a silver lining headed into 2026 that this season could be different from others. However, there is also a striking reality that stares them in the face: they are currently dead last in the Eastern Conference, yet also being just five points out of a playoff spot.
There are still a few things this team has to get in order if they want to compete in the most jam-packed Eastern Conference in recent memory. This team needs a defining trait to help them stand out above the rest and make a matchup in Columbus, Ohio a nightmare for teams.
So, what are some New Year’s Resolutions for this team heading into 2026?
Have to Finish Games in the Third Period
A problem that was growing more and more worrisome down the stretch in the month of December was the Blue Jackets’ inability to put teams away in the third period. They may have quietly ended that trend with back-to-back games in which the Blue Jackets owned the third period and forcefully put the game out of reach. In their recent game against the Islanders, they even came from behind to win in the third period.
The Blue Jackets’ top priority has to be locking down and shutting down the opposition with a lead in the third period. Far too often the same song and dance has played in 2025, and it only leads to the Blue Jackets missing out on an extra point, which has become all the more critical in the playoff race.
If the Blue Jackets have a lead late in games in 2026, they will need to make sure they walk away from the game with two points and the opposition leaves with nothing. They can’t afford to give away a point anymore with where they currently sit. It has to be full steam ahead for this team; no more pity points.
Projected 2025-26 NHL standings at the Christmas break. pic.twitter.com/Bm8zgSLXWv
— dom ???? (@domluszczyszyn) December 24, 2025
According to the current state of the playoff race, via a playoff prediction model by Dom Luszczyszyn, the Blue Jackets are certainly on the outskirts of the playoff race. With a projected 11 overtime or shootout losses, the Blue Jackets have to find a way to finish games with wins in regulation.
This is not an overnight fix, and as we have heard from coach Dean Evason multiple times before, there is nothing imminent that the team believes sticks out as an issue or an outstanding problem. The Blue Jackets brass believes they need to just play through this rut and the results will come.
Lean Into the Pest Identity
I think one of the problems the Blue Jackets have struggled with for a while is a lack of identity. Are they a team that will outscore you? Are they a team that will sit back and wait for you to make a mistake first? Are they a team that will try to outwork you? Are they a team that will outskate you? What are they?
I think the identity of this team has recently become crystal clear. They are a team that is going to push you around, make you uncomfortable, annoy you, and then when you fight back, they will beat you with skill. This team has finally leaned into what their team reflects: a bunch of 200-foot skating pests.
The recent addition of Mason Marchment made that identity clearer than ever, and he has really been the catalyst alongside Mathieu Olivier in being that annoying presence on the ice who is consistently under the skin of the opponent.
"We were very aggressive of trying to get [Marchment] when he became available"
— The Sheet with Jeff Marek (@thesheethockey) December 31, 2025
Don Waddell joined @JeffMarek to discuss the pursuit of Mason Marchment and the trade that brought him to Columbus
Presented by @FanDuelCanada #CBJ #TheSheet pic.twitter.com/5vFBmYziTr
They have found a great balance with guys like Marchment and Olivier, as well as players who are a little more tame in Boone Jenner and Dmitri Voronkov. All in all, this team has found an identity in making teams earn every inch of the 200-foot game. It gives them an edge, and Don Waddell is giving his team the best chance to make a run being built for the playoffs.
However, it is a new year, which means this team has to be different. They have to do things that haven’t been done in this city before, and they need to take that next step as a franchise.
Leave the Past in 2025
This team needs to stop allowing people to define them by what they once were, or by their past shortcomings and inability to hold onto stars.
This upcoming offseason will be one of the biggest in Blue Jackets history with some of their top talent looking for extensions and attempting to turn this good young core into something the Blue Jackets can really build around.
They have to find a way to make this new identity one that sticks and allows them to build on. However, they also need to find a way to leave the shortcomings of this season in 2025. That refers to a lot of things, but mostly their inability to close out opponents in games that can be seen later as a potential must-win game.
After last season, when the Blue Jackets fell two points shy of a postseason berth, they want to have the answer they didn’t have last year. They do not want to have to rely on rattling off five consecutive wins to end the season and praying on someone else’s downfall in order to get in. They want to control their own destiny.
That can start right now. It needs to be a mission early on in 2026, and they need to start stringing wins together as quickly as they can. This team is built to be a threat in the postseason, and after comments that the team made early this season and in the preseason, they set it as the expectation. Now, they need to ring in the new year with some fireworks to work their way back up the standings.
