Hockey season is not too far away on the calendar, despite it feeling like it is. As of the day I’m writing this (Aug. 20), we are 50 days from the Columbus Blue Jackets season opener on the road vs the Nashville Predators, and 54 days from the home opener vs the New Jersey Devils.
This has been quite the long offseason with a lack of big moves across the NHL, so I am going to take a look at some tough stretches for the Blue Jackets this coming 2025-26 season, particularly three stretches of the schedule. When taking a deeper look at the schedule, according to the 1st Ohio Battery, 41% of the home games (17 of 41) are on the weekend, slightly below the 44-55% league average.
The schedule overall is loaded around the end of the week. The Blue Jackets have 50 games from Thursday through Sunday: 17 on Thursdays (nine at home), just three on Fridays (two at home), 22 on Saturdays (11 at home), and eight on Sundays (four at home).
The Blue Jackets had 12 back-to-back sets last season and struggled in them tremendously, especially in the second game, where they went a whopping 2-9 record-wise. There are 15 back-to-back sets this season, and the Blue Jackets “must” do better, especially in their conditioning, an area that many raised questions about after last season. However, this appears to have been handled this offseason with the hiring of a new (and former) strength and conditioning coach, Barry Brennan, who was with Columbus in that same role from 2005 to 2010.
Now, let’s break down what I consider the three toughest stretches of the upcoming season.
October Gauntlet
The Blue Jackets open the season with a tough stretch. From mid to late October, they face the New Jersey Devils, Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Dallas Stars in consecutive games. To close out the month, they have two back-to-backs, each featuring one home/road game.
The toughest opponents in those sets are the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs, both of which they’ll see at Nationwide. October features 10 games in total, with seven against teams that made the playoffs last spring, according to Jeff Svoboda.
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It’s important for this team to at least go .500 in October, given the talent of the opponents they’re facing. This stretch will also serve as an important measuring stick for the goalie tandem and the true trajectory of this team.
Heavy Load Before the Break
Heading right into the Olympic break, the Blue Jackets face a heavy workload against some decent opponents. This part of the season is when injuries piled up earlier in 2025, with Sean Monahan, Cole Sillinger, Boone Jenner, Kirill Marchenko, and Yegor Chinakhov all missing time, some being significant.
One notable tough stretch is a late-January three-game homestand in just five days against the Ottawa Senators, Stars, and Lightning, part of nine games in 15 days to close out the first half, closing it out with two sets of back-to-backs. One begins with a road trip to Chicago, followed by St. Louis, and another starts in New Jersey before the Blue Jackets fly home to face the Chicago Blackhawks the very next day.
The opponents themselves during this section aren’t the toughest when looking holistically at the season, but the volume of games in such a short span could take a toll on the team’s health and energy as they try to reach the 19-day Olympic break.
The Final Stretch
The final stretch of the season is just as demanding, with a three-game road trip from April 7-11 at the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, and Montreal Canadiens. With playoff hopes/position possibly (and hopefully) on the line, these games could be huge.
The closing stretch is packed thanks to the long Olympic break in February, much longer than the typical All-Star Break and last season’s 4 Nations Face-Off. The Blue Jackets will play 16 games in the final 29 days, with zero two-day breaks. That’s a brutal grind for a team that may be fighting for a playoff spot, but one that all teams will be dealing with, so no excuses.
Tougher opponents during this run include the Winnipeg Jets, Carolina Hurricanes (three times), and Boston Bruins (twice). By this point in the season, every player is banged up, and the physical toll will always be a challenge.
The Blue Jackets wrap up the season with two games at home, and if all goes well, they’ll be playing in front of a fired-up crowd as the team heads into the playoffs.
